According to him, these changes will be a response to recent events that revealed weaknesses in the immigration and nationality department of the relevant ministry.
Reid's predecessor as head of the Home Office, Charles Clarke, was forced to resign in May when it emerged that more than a thousand foreign prisoners who had served sentences in British prisons were not deported from the country after their release, as the existing procedure required.
The UK authorities plan to establish clearer cooperation between state penitentiary and immigration units, and also to reduce the period for processing deportation and asylum cases to six months. Within five years, nine out of ten asylum cases should be processed within this timeframe. In turn, those who are legally subject to deportation from the UK must undergo this procedure within six months of their arrival.
By 2008, the UK plans to issue biometric visas to citizens of countries that are in the highest risk group for illegal migration. It is expected that by 2014, immigration control on exit from the UK, abolished in the 1990s, will be reinstated. Currently, only random document checks are carried out when leaving the country, without any markings in passports.
One of the most notable upcoming innovations will be a new uniform for immigration officials, who currently work in civilian clothes. In the coming years, officers working at immigration control counters in UK ports and airports will wear uniforms.
To implement the planned changes, the UK authorities intend to increase spending on immigration units to £280 million (double the current year) by the 2009-2010 financial year.
Based on materials from RIA Novosti.