The government plans to scrap paper landing cards for non-EU arrivals at airports and sea ports.
The Times reports today that the proposal, that would save £3.6 million a year and is designed to speed up passport control, has been criticised.
Currently around 16 million visitors and migrants who arrive in the UK are required to fill in an arrivals card with details of where they intend to stay.
The move to scrap as system that has been in use for nearly half a century is part of the digital transformation of border controls.
However the move has prompted concerns that security agencies will miss out on vital intelligence.
The Times reports a consultation document states new digital information may not be provided until the end of the year.
After the landing cards are scrapped the UK will rely on the advanced passenger information that all travellers provide.
Quoting David Wood, former director-general of immigration enforcement at the Home Office, told the newspaper:
“It seems the most incredible haste to abandon the system of landing cards.
“We could access them to find out where someone was staying or where they had stayed if we were carrying out an investigation.”
Keith Vaz, chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on immigration and visas, said:
“The completion of landing cards has always added an extra layer of security providing something is done about the data that is collected.
“If we are going to move to a digitalised system, it needs to be 100% guaranteed that there will be no technical problems that prevent us getting the information.”
Lucy Moreton, general secretary of the Immigration Services Union, which represents immigration officers, said:
“What the consultation supposes is that cards are only used to provide statistics.
“That simply is not true. The consultation does not say how the intelligence element of the landing card is to be replaced.
“This is being done in an immense hurry. I am surprised it has not been mentioned to us.
“What I am most worried about is that they are not going to replace the intelligence . . . gathered by officers at the border and that will undermine the security of the border.”
A spokesman for the Home Office told The Times: “The withdrawal of landing cards will not result in the loss of any data that is used for security checks.
“All passengers arriving from outside the EU will continue to be checked against the variety of police, security and immigration watchlists, which are used to verify the identity and confirm the status of every passenger arriving at UK airports.
“This is the latest stage in a wide-reaching consultation and security and immigration colleagues have already been involved in the development of this proposal.”