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

Needed to verify my ID to get a tax refund. Process was going well until it got to the facial scan section, where after it finished scanning it just stopped completely. Tried again, same result. For an official government app, this just isn't good enough.

The navigation through the system is difficult. I am trying to write a guide for over 70s on renewing their driving licence on line and the need to use two different apps complicates things. The facial recognition is not easy for over 70s to use, and passports do not lie flat making photographing them difficult. the screen flashing during facial recognition might trigger a seizure in epileptics. In essence the system works perfectly if you are a retired sysadmin and data scientist. Otherwise no.

The app is not user friendly, I have been going round and round in circles and always end stock at the same place (gov.ukid check). Each time I open the page it takes me back to "link gov.ukid check button. There are no links where I can scan my I'd or photograph my id and send it to them. As a result I cannot reclaim my tax refund from my self assessment. Before it use to be easy to reclaim my tax refund simply by entering my account details and the payment arrives within one week.

What’s new

We've made improvements to the security of the app.