Website of the UK government

Register your interest in identity cards and the National Identity Service

The National Identity Service is being developed by the Identity and Passport Service and the UK Border Agency. When you register your interest in the service you will receive regular e-newsletters which will help you:

• understand more about the National Identity Service
• keep up to date with its progress
• learn how you will be able to use an identity card and how it might benefit you
• know when identity cards become available in your area, so that you can apply for one

You must be at least 16 years old to register. The information you provide on registration will also be used by the Identity and Passport Service to help it meet your needs.

If you would like to know more about how your data will be used, stored or secured, more information can be found in the privacy statement linked below.

• Register your interest in identity cards and the National Identity Service Opens new window

• Identity and Passport Service privacy statement Opens new window

Getting an identity card

Like you, your identity card will be unique. It will feature your photograph and basic personal information on the front of the card. This information will also be contained on the card's chip together with two of your fingerprints.

Getting an identity card will eventually be as straightforward as applying for a passport, and the cards will be processed and managed in the same secure way that passport applications are handled.

In addition, if you are a British citizen you will be able to travel in Europe with your identity card without the need for a passport.

Over the next year or so the government will focus on issuing identity cards (for a fee of £30) to those who will most benefit, particularly young people aged 16 and over.

Identity cards will be issued in selected locations first, starting in the Greater Manchester area in November 2009, and then extending to other locations in northwest England early in 2010.