The Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) was an executive agency of the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Home Office

Home Office

The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...

, created on 1 April 2007. The Agency assumed the responsibilities of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

The Immigration and Nationality Directorate was part of the Home Office, a department of the United Kingdom government. The headquarters were in Croydon, South London where it occupied thirteen buildings...

 (IND) for managing immigration control in the UK. The BIA also considered applications for visas to enter the UK, permission to remain

Leave to Remain

The Leave to Remain is the legal status of a person issued by a government office of internal affairs to one who is not yet a citizen. In most stable countries, Indefinite leave to remain is granted to these foreign citizens after a specified period spent within its borders...

, citizenship, asylum

Right of asylum

Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...

 and in-country enforcement of immigration law. The headquarters were located in Croydon

Croydon

Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...

.

The BIA was responsible for delivering the e-border programme, a modernised border control system proposed by UK Government and a new programme of biometric

Biometrics

Biometrics As Jain & Ross point out, "the term biometric authentication is perhaps more appropriate than biometrics since the latter has been historically used in the field of statistics to refer to the analysis of biological data [36]" . consists of methods...

ally controlled identity document

Identity document

An identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card...

s for foreign national

Alien (law)

In law, an alien is a person in a country who is not a citizen of that country.-Categorization:Types of "alien" persons are:*An alien who is legally permitted to remain in a country which is foreign to him or her. On specified terms, this kind of alien may be called a legal alien of that country...

s.

On 1 April 2008 the BIA became the UK Border Agency

UK Border Agency

The UK Border Agency is the border control body of the United Kingdom government and part of the Home Office. It was formed on 1 April 2008 by a merger of the Border and Immigration Agency , UKvisas and the Detection functions of HM Revenue and Customs...

 following a merger with UKvisas

UKvisas

UKVisas was the executive arm of the British Government responsible for processing applications for entry clearance to the United Kingdom. It was an executive agency jointly run by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Border and Immigration Agency. On 1 April 2008, UKVisas was absorbed into...

 and the port of entry

Port of entry

In general, a port of entry is a place where one may lawfully enter a country. It typically has a staff of people who check passports and visas and inspect luggage to assure that contraband is not imported. International airports are usually ports of entry, as are road and rail crossings on a...

 functions of HM Revenue and Customs.

External links

• UK Border Agency
• Home Office
• "Government plans travel database", BBC News, 8 February 2009