UK plans face-scanning cameras to find visa overstayers

The UK government is moving ahead with cameras that scan faces in public and compare them with a list of people wanted by immigration authorities. The target is people who overstayed a visa or broke the conditions of their stay. If you travel to or through the UK, your face could be scanned in the process.

What is planned

The Home Office is developing a live facial recognition program. Cameras capture faces in a set area. Software then compares them with a pre-approved watchlist. The list covers people who overstayed, entered unlawfully, breached immigration conditions or face a removal order. Possible locations include transport hubs, travel routes, ports and selected high-footfall events, meaning places with very large crowds.

What the trials showed

There were three trials at Holyhead port in north Wales between November 2025 and February 2026. They focused on travelers coming from Ireland who were subject to deportation orders or wanted over immigration-related criminal offenses. The Home Office has since moved the program from proof of concept to a pilot and is considering more deployments.

How it would work

A camera match only raises an alert. Trained staff review it, and officers must run further identity checks before deciding anything. The Home Office says the system cannot confirm someone's identity, prove an immigration breach, or decide whether a person is stopped, questioned, arrested or detained. It also says the tool will not be used for general monitoring or speculative surveillance. People under 18 will not be on watchlists.

The concerns

• The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants has raised concerns about facial recognition in public places.
• The Open Rights Group questions transparency, public consent and protection against discriminatory results.
• Biometrics commissioner William Webster says he was not consulted and that immigration use falls outside his remit.

That last point leaves open who will oversee the technology as it grows. Critics have also compared the approach with facial recognition in China, which Amnesty International has criticized over mass surveillance.

Who it affects

The policy does not single out any nationality. Still, the report says communities with large migration links to Britain, including Nigerians, Indians, Pakistanis and South Africans, could face more scrutiny. Anyone passing a scanned location would have their face checked, whatever their status.

What happens next

The program is a pilot, and further deployments are only being considered. The material does not say when or where new cameras might appear, or who would oversee them. Separately, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said police use of facial recognition must be fair, safe and proportionate.