Smith opens new passport office

Aug 21 2007

A NEW multi-million-pound centre to tackle passport fraud has been unveiled in Birmingham by the Home Secretary.

Jacqui Smith described identity theft and passport fraud as "the tip of the iceberg" in serious organised crime.

The Suffolk Street centre, part of a £200 million shake-up of the national passport system, will be used to interview all new applicants before they are given their documents.

At present the Identity and Passport Service only interview two per cent of applicants, but that figure will rise to 10 per cent this year as all applications from 16-year-olds and new citizens will be subject to a 10-15 minute face-to-face grilling.

Waiting times for new applications will double from three to six weeks, as compulsory interviews are introduced at 69 sites across the country including Birmingham, Warwick, Shrewsbury, Stoke-on-Trent and Cheltenham.

Redditch MP Ms Smith said: "The first stop for a lot of crimes is the theft of somebody's identity.

"The face-to-face interviews play an important role."