GOV.UK ID Check

Government Digital Service

About this app

Use GOV.UK ID Check to prove your identity when you:
• access some HMRC services with Government Gateway
• need to change how you get security codes to sign in to your GOV.UK One Login

It works by matching your face to your photo ID.

Before you start
You can use any of the following types of photo ID:
• UK photocard driving licence
• UK passport
• non-UK passport with a biometric chip
• UK biometric residence permit (BRP)
• UK biometric residence card (BRC)
• UK Frontier Worker permit (FWP)

You can use an expired driving licence if it expired in the last 90 days and it was issued by DVLA.

You can use an expired BRP, BRC or FWP up to 24 months after its expiry date.

You will also need:
• a well-lit area where you can take a good quality photograph
• an Android phone running Android version 10 or higher

How it works
If your photo ID is a driving licence you will:
• take a photo of your driving licence
• scan your face using your phone

If your photo ID is a passport, BRP, BRC or FWP you will:
• take a photo of your photo ID
• scan the biometric chip in your photo ID using your phone
• scan your face using your phone

What happens next
The app only helps confirm your identity. You will return to the website of the government service you were accessing to view the results of your identity check.

Privacy and security
Your personal information will not be stored in the app, or on the phone when you finish using it. We collect your data securely and delete it when it is no longer needed.

Ratings and reviews

I tried scanning my passport it was showing a green border as described but it still wouldn't capture a photo of it, if it can't do this essential thing then what's the point of this app. typical government app everything is made to be as hard as possible

Needed to identify myself on the hmrc government gateway for a tax refund. The use of the qr code to link the app to the gateway was simple, but all the challenges came after that. The scan of the passport photo page was very sensitive and its challenging to get it just right so it scans, the read of the passport chip is easy once you remember to move the phone up and down to read chip, the selfie again a little sensitive before it scans. The app does work but it takes time.

Step by step instructions are clear. Scan of passport photo page and biometric chip work smoothly, but the selfie face scan took multiple attempts with the scan starting and stopping before eventually capturing. Unclear if you need to retain app in your phone after successfully proving identity first time.

What’s new

We’ve made design improvements to make it easier to use the app and technical updates to the document sharing part of the journey.