The UK Government has announced a consultation and future legislation intended to introduce a compulsory digital ID card for all adults, designed to prove an individual’s right to work in the UK. The Government’s aim is for the digital ID to become mandatory by 2029, when the current parliamentary term ends. The move reflects the Government’s ambition to strengthen immigration control, boost economic resilience, and digitise Government services.
The UK already has a mature digital ID infrastructure in place. For British and Irish nationals, right-to-work is proven via passport checks via digital services.
Digital Verification Services (DVS) like OneID® are already enabling right-to-work, right-to-rent, and other regulated checks. These services are tried, tested, and trusted, showing that digital ID is already delivering real value today.
Since 2025, non-UK nationals have used their digital eVisas to generate share codes from the GOV.UK website. Before 2025, they used to share their Biometric Residence Permit, issued by the UK Government, with their employers, who would generate a share code and validate it using the applicant’s date of birth.
If the legislation is passed and the Government issues the new digital ID, businesses will need a way to accept and process these credentials. OneID is a certified Orchestration Service Provider that can use the new digital ID for right-to-work checks.
Certified under the UK Government’s Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF), OneID® ensures that:
This is exactly how right-to-work checks are conducted today — and it is how they will continue to operate when the new digital ID is introduced. The difference may be a change in the right to work rules as to what ID evidence is allowed (new digital ID card instead of passport), but the process will remain as it is today – this means less change for OneID customers, as OneID will handle the necessary new integration.
While the Government’s ID scheme will initially support right-to-work checks, digital ID is already enabling a much wider range of services. OneID® can help businesses better serve their customers, helping them to complete identity tasks with speed and trust in everyday life, including:
These examples show that digital ID is not only about compliance. It is about building trust, safety, and convenience into the fabric of daily digital interactions.
The Government announcement proves that digital ID has come of age in the UK:
OneID became the first certified UK digital ID wallet (Holder Service Provider) in June.
The consistent thread running across these developments has been trust, privacy, and safety — the same principles OneID® has always championed.
At OneID®, we believe identity should remain firmly in the hands of the individual. Users should decide what data they share, and with whom.
Unlike centralised models that create vulnerable “honeypots” of personal data, OneID® keeps identity data decentralised and secured at source, drawing on trusted systems such as banks and mobile operators. This approach minimises the risk of hacks while giving individuals confidence in the safety of their digital ID data.
The Government’s new digital ID will be an additional source of ID data for OneID, and reinforces the importance of our orchestration service, which ensures credentials can be used safely and effectively across the economy.
OneID® has worked with the UK Government for 5 years to build a strong, privacy-preserving digital ID ecosystem. By working together, we can continue to deliver on the shared objective: making digital interactions simpler, safer, and more trusted for everyone in the UK.
About OneID®
OneID® is the only UK Identity Service that uses bank-verified data to create absolute certainty between a business and its customers in a fast, simple, secure and truly digital way.
Along with bank-verified data, we also offer businesses the flexibility to choose from trusted data sources, like mobile network operators, government identity documents, and our own digital identity wallet—depending on the business and compliance needs they have to meet.
OneID®’s real-time verification solutions balance digital ease with the strongest counter-fraud measures. It seamlessly blends into the digital habits of today’s customers, enabling businesses to verify 98% of UK adults with minimal friction and maximum confidence.
In addition to identity verification, OneID® simplifies age verification, Direct Debit setup and customer and employee onboarding. By streamlining these processes, OneID® partners with businesses to implement key regulations like the Online Safety Act, reduce operational costs, improve customer engagement, and drive growth.
OneID® is certified under the UK government's Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF), FCA-regulated, and a B Corp business committed to making the digital world safer. Headquartered in the UK, we’ve brought together experts in Digital Identity, Payments, Banking, Technology, and Government to help businesses build trust and security at scale.