The Home Office has been criticised for failing to complete a project
to boost UK border security - despite spending at least £830 million
on it.


The e-borders scheme was meant to collect and analyse data on everyone
travelling to and from the UK before they arrive at ports and
airports.


But the National Audit Office says checks remain "highly manual and
inefficient", and IT systems outdated.


The Home Office says all UK arrivals are checked against watch
lists.


The e-borders scheme has been dogged by problems since its launch in
2003, and in 2014, the head of the UK Border Force, Sir Charles
Montgomery, told MPs it had been "terminated" in its current
form.


By collecting advanced passenger information (API), such as passport
numbers and nationalities, it was meant to allow officials to "export
the border" by preventing people from embarking on journeys to the UK
where they were considered a threat.


Eight years late
Among the report's key findings:
• £830m was spent on the project between April 2006 and March 2015,
with another £275m likely to be needed by March 2019
• Among those costs was £150m on an out-of-court settlement paid after
the original e-borders contract was cancelled
• The project is not set to be finished until 2019 - eight years
late


• API was only collected from 86% of arrivals in September this year,
despite the target being 100%


• Moreover, API still is not available for most rail and ferry
journeys


• Only 20% of booking data - more comprehensive than API - is being
collected. Again, the target is 100%.


The NAO said a database known as the Warning Index - designed to flag
up known criminals or terrorists - was still being used eight years
after it should have been retired.


While it has been upgraded, it is "still far from good" and suffers an
average of two "high priority incidents a week".


These breakdowns include situations where part of the system is not
available or performing too slowly to function, or where it is
inaccessible at 30% or more control points at a port or airport.



The Home Office insisted contingency arrangements were in place for
when those incidents occurred.


________________________________________
Analysis: Danny Shaw, BBC home affairs correspondent
This is a devastating critique of a project presented by the Home
Office, first under Labour, as the key to securing Britain's borders.
In fact, as the report reveals, the programme has been torpedoed by
its ambition.


Collecting and assessing advance passenger information on more than
200 million journeys a year was always going to be hard task -
involving co-ordinating the supply of data from 600 air, ferry and
rail carriers and 30 government agencies.


Add in creaking computer systems, a high turnover of key staff and

a
draining legal dispute with the private contractor, and it's clear
that ministers and officials over-reached themselves.


There's little doubt more advance passenger information is available
now than in 2003, when the scheme was first developed, but the costs
have risen hugely with some border checks still being conducted using
scraps of paper.


________________________________________
The Warning Index operates alongside another system called semaphore,
but the NAO said the failure to integrate them meant staff still had
to check passports manually and consult printed A4 sheets when probing
suspicious vehicle registrations.


Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said e-borders had not "delivered value
for money".


"Some valuable capabilities have been added to our border defences
during the life of this project, though their efficiency is impaired
by a failure to replace old IT systems," he added.


Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, described
the report as a "devastating indictment" of the e-borders
project.


"With the terrorism threat level currently at severe, a failure to
properly cover millions of people entering the country without having
passenger information in advance gives a green light to people who
wish to come to the UK for illegal or dangerous activity," he
said.


________________________________________
What are e-borders?
• Launched in 2003, the scheme was originally meant to collect details
from passenger lists of all people entering and leaving the UK


• The US firm handed the £750m contract, Raytheon, was fired by the
coalition in 2010


• The e-borders contract was split in two with IBM and Serco given the
job of getting a system in place at nine airports before the 2012
London Olympics


• In 2014, the director general of the UK Border Force said "full
e-borders capability", as originally envisaged, would not be achieved,
but the checks and screening would be incorporated into a new
programme.


________________________________________
Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said every passenger arriving
in the UK was checked against a range of watch lists.


"The e-borders programme was set up under the Labour government and
when that contract ended in 2010, our immediate priority was to invest
in stabilising the crucial but old-fashioned systems, to tackle the
fast-evolving terrorist, criminal and illegal immigration threats
faced by the UK.


"The Border Systems Portfolio, in conjunction with a range of
programmes across security and law enforcement, is working effectively
to keep our citizens safe and our country secure."

 V.1439

One of the highlighted topics: Critical Skills Visa.

- Key Insight: Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast track to working in South Afr...
- This matter relates to critical skills visa and its broader implications.
- Individuals are advised to seek professional guidance.

Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast trac V.6139
Click here for full article

One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, became a victim of identity theft in 2012 when fraudulent transactions occurred, using her personal details.

-The Pretoria High Court found that the department of home affairs had violated constitutional rights without due process.
-Only half of Lawyers for Human Rights` test group has been unblocked, while 385 000 identities remain blocked nationwide.
-LHR appeals extension, urges affected people to seek help now.

Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) are intensifying pressure on the department of home affairs over the national ID-blocking crisis, accusing the state of acting too slowly to unblock qualifying individuals despite a landmark court ruling.

In January last year, the Pretoria High Court found that the department`s practice of blocking IDs without due process was unlawful and unconstitutional. One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, a Swati citizen and South African permanent resident since 1998, fell victim to identity theft in 2012 when fraudsters used her personal details.

 V.6133
Click here for full article

The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6128
Click here for full article

The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6129
Click here for full article

A Washington state mother and her 6-year-old son have been released after spending more than three weeks in US immigration detention due to a brief trip to Canada and a small paperwork mistake, her attorney told CNN on Saturday.

Sarah Shaw, a New Zealand citizen who has lived legally in the US since she arrived in 2021, was detained at the Blaine, Washington, Customs and Border Protection checkpoint when returning home after dropping her two oldest children off at the Vancouver airport for a flight to visit their grandparents in New Zealand. Shaw, 33, chose the flight out of Vancouver because it was direct and she didn`t want her children to have to navigate a layover alone, her attorney Minda Thorward, told CNN.

 V.6130
Click here for full article

On 22 July 2025, the Gauteng High Court dismissed Sitrusrand Boerdery`s review of the Department of Employment and Labour`s refusal to issue a Working Conditions and Salary Benchmarking Certificate, an essential precondition for obtaining corporate visas under the Immigration Act.

Acting Judge Kekana AJ held that the Department`s decision was lawful, rational and procedurally fair. This judgment illustrates how businesses can - and must - structure their corporate visa applications to meet statutory requirements, and how legal practitioners should prepare robust review challenges when administrative authorities decline to recommend foreign-work permits.

 V.6131
Click here for full article

The United States could forfeit an estimated 9.4 billion dollars in visitor spending over the next three years following the introduction of a new 250 dollars `visa integrity fee,` according to industry groups, who warn the policy risks undermining tourism and costing thousands of jobs.
The United States’ decision to introduce a 250 dollars `visa integrity fee` on international visitors has triggered sharp criticism from the global tourism industry, with officials warning that the measure could deter millions of travellers and cost the U.S. economy billions.
The 250dollar `visa integrity fee,` part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed on July 4, 2025, will take effect later this year. According to immigration law firm Envoy Global, it applies to all nonimmigrant visa holders which include students, tourists, temporary workers, and business visitors particularly from African countries. V.6132
Click here for full article

The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6127
Click here for full article

1. Right to Legal Representation•You have the right to consult with a legal representative.•Contact an immigration practitioner, legal aid clinic, or attorney urgently.•Do not sign any documents without understanding them fully. 2. Section 34 of the Immigration Act•You must be brought to court with 48 hours to confirm arrest but you can remain locked up very long as courts figure out what to do with you •If you`re found to be illegally in South Africa, you may be detained for up to 30 days (extendable by a magistrate) pending deportation.•BUT this cannot happen arbitrarily. You must be informed of your rights, and Home Affairs must follow due process.- becomes a nightmare , you could lose your job , business , place to stay V.6121
Click here for full article

Driving for Bolt, Uber, Mr D, or Checkers Sixty60?If you`re undocumented, you`re risking more than just your income.The Risks if You`re Not Legal: - Vehicle impoundment - Heavy fines - Arrest & deportation - Permanent bans from working in SA V.6122
Click here for full article