The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is planning to make its new digital Apply for a National Insurance (NINo) service available at the end of this month.
DWP minister Guy Opperman MP (pictured) provided the details in response to a parliamentary question on the service, under which foreign nationals working in the UK can apply for a NI number, from Daniel Zeichner MP.
He said a partial digital solution has been tested on a small scale since October, providing a service to collect the applicant’s data but not carry out the online verification of their identity. But it also involved the use of alternative identity verification solutions.
It received approval for the approach from the Government Digital Service in January, as a result of which DWP no longer has to limit the number of applicants it can service.
“Our current plan is that by the end of March 2021 we will be able to offer a servics to all applicants who do not require their identity to be verified face to face,” Opperman said.
“This means that we have moved from a position in March 2020 of only offering a NINo service to the most vulnerable, to a place where we are able to provide a service to the majority.”
Image by Chris McAndrew, CC Attribution 3.0 Unported
