London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Jul 22, 2025

No way for border officers to validate if Covid tests are legitimate, UK Immigration Service warns

No way for border officers to validate if Covid tests are legitimate, UK Immigration Service warns

The Immigration Service Union has warned that Covid-19 border restrictions are ineffective at combating the spread of the virus, as officers have no way of validating tests or ensuring travellers self-isolate on entry to the UK.

Speaking to Sky News, the Immigration Service Union’s Lucy Moreton explained the measures that are currently in place. These include inbound travellers being required to complete a passenger locator form and provide evidence of a negative Covid-19 test in the previous 72 hours. However, she stated that, as border officials have no ability to verify the information they are provided or to enforce self-isolation, the restrictions are ineffective.

"There’s simply no way to validate it. Border force have no control."


As it stands, there is no international standard for Covid-19 tests, which means certificates showing a negative result vary from country to country and might not be in English or even legible to border officials. With the burden of proof being on immigration staff to prove or disprove validity, unless the document is clearly a fake, they are “obliged to accept it”, even if they can’t read it.

Moreton also raised concerns about the benefits of presenting a negative test within 72 hours of travel, as “a test is only as good as the day you take it”, suggesting that individuals could contract the virus between testing negative and travel, defeating the purpose of the measure.

The warning from immigration officials comes as the Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been facing significant pressure from within his own cabinet and party to implement stricter border control measures to protect the UK from further mutated versions of Covid-19.

UK ministers are meeting on Tuesday to decide whether to enforce a blanket border policy in England that would require all arrivals, regardless of where they have come from, to quarantine at their own expense in a hotel designated and monitored by the government. However, Johnson and his transport secretary, Grant Shapps, are said to prefer taking a stripped-back, targeted approach, in which only travellers from high-risk nations are forced to self-isolate at such hotels.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×