Passports: Interviews
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many naturalised British people are called for first-time adult passport interviews; and whether those interviews are chosen by risk-based selection.
Answered by Mike Tapp
Passport interviews are part of a range of checks to confirm the identity of a passport applicant. Where a customer applying for their first British passport has been naturalised within the last 12 months and UK Visa and Immigration records confirm the customer’s photograph, identity and personal details, they will not routinely be interviewed unless their application has increased complexity or other indicators of risk. His Majesty’s Passport Office reserves the right to interview any applicant where its checks to confirm the applicant’s identity have not been satisfactorily completed.
The number of naturalised British citizens who have been interviewed as part of the passport application process is not held in a reportable format, and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
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