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Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

(www.reuters.com)
525 points alex77456 | 2 comments | 26 Sep 25 02:09 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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remarkEon ◴[26 Sep 25 03:45 UTC] No.45382398[source]▶
>The proposals are the government's latest bid to tackle illegal immigration, with the new ID being a form of proof of a citizen's right to live and work in the UK.

How does a digital ID solve an illegal immigration problem? I watched the video and the suggestion is that this makes it easier for employers to verify that someone is authorized to work. Is that actually true? I don't live in the UK and have not visited in several years. If the idea is that a digital ID authorizes employment ... well I hope people can see the problem, here.

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viraptor ◴[26 Sep 25 05:17 UTC] No.45382925[source]▶
If anything it could help legal immigration. There's a bootstrapping issue where you need a utility bill to open a bank account and a bank account to get paid and get paid to pay the utility bill. And also need all 3 to rent a property to live in. You can choose the right providers to work around that with just your passport, but that involves a bit of work and research.

No idea how that would solve anything illegal though and realistically, I don't think they do either.

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monerozcash ◴[26 Sep 25 05:27 UTC] No.45382999[source]▶
Presumably most legal immigrants already have bank accounts overseas and do not suffer from this bootstrapping issue.
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piperswe ◴[26 Sep 25 06:04 UTC] No.45383216[source]▶
Good luck paying rent/utilities in the UK, or proving a UK address, with a foreign (especially non-SEPA) bank account
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cdsghh ◴[26 Sep 25 06:52 UTC] No.45383540{3}[source]▶
I have been doing so for years, never had a problem.
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1. viraptor ◴[26 Sep 25 08:46 UTC] No.45384273{4}[source]▶
You have not been proving your UK address with your account abroad. You may have used it for other purposes, but not that.
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2. cdsghh ◴[26 Sep 25 09:58 UTC] No.45384689[source]▶
I have done that once too, just changed the account address to my UK address and printed a PDF statement. No problem whatsoever.

But anyway, you can just get utilies and pay with foreign account. This gets you an utility bill.