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Hi all,

Can anyone please explain me why HO I requesting biometrics from EU citizens?

The booklet states that they will use them to verify my identity only and they will only retain them until I have attended the citizenship ceremony.

Since I never had my fingerprints taken and I don’t think they will ask me to prove my identity through biometrics before obtaining citizenship what is the purpose of it?

I would appreciate your input.

Because if you are applying for citizenship you follow the same set of rules. Biometrics are not only to check your immigration status, but also to check in police system.

yesilgozlerim wrote: Everyone, who applied after April 6th 2015,regardless of where theyre from has to submit biometrics. It is a mandatory requirement.

I know that yesilgozlerim, I was just asking for the reason behind.

Ziuta wrote:Because if you are applying for citizenship you follow the same set of rules. Biometrics are not only to check your immigration status, but also to check in police system.

Ziuta if they need to check them in their databases why they don't just say that, instead of saying that they need them to confirm my identity? If I don't have any records they will not be able to "confirm my identity".

For me confirming ID mean that they have my biometric in their records an the new one that I gave them are there to compare them to. I know it is just semantics but wouldn't it be better to have it clearly explained by them instead of us having to guess?

pny wrote:

yesilgozlerim wrote: Everyone, who applied after April 6th 2015,regardless of where theyre from has to submit biometrics. It is a mandatory requirement.

I know that yesilgozlerim, I was just asking for the reason behind.

You must keep in mind that citizenship is a privilege not a right ( page 8 ) therefore, a country can do as many checks as she wants. And since you are here on PR card/ILR visa, so your immigration rights are not in question, that is why in case of rejection, you only have a request for reconsideration, you do not a right to appeal against decision.

I hope this clears things up for you.

Well, the fact that you're not in their identification database actually tells them something very important. It actually tells them you're not making up a new identity and applying again.

The whole fingerprint thing was started by the EU to stop people applying (I believe it was mainly asylum seekers) from one country, being refused and trying again somewhere else.

For non-EU/EEA citizens it also doesn't confirm their identity either, just that it's the same person applying each time.

I could be wrong, but I believe that the requirements for biometrics were mainly brought in for non-EEA citizens. At all stages of their stay in the UK, they had their biometrics taken, except the period between applying for citizenship and applying for their passport. By law, I think it is the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, biometric data acquired before naturalisation had to be destroyed after getting naturalisation.

So the rules for naturalisation were amended to allow biometrics to be re-acquired at that stage. But as the naturalisation process is blind as to whether the applicant is an EEA or non-EEA citizen before naturalisation, all applicants, irrespective of their previous nationality, have to submit biometric data.

This is my hypothesis, not a certain answer. You could submit an FoI request to the Home Office for documentation regarding this decision.