A supplier to the lettings industry is producing a system for checking the immigration status of tenants that it says takes two seconds.

The app can be used on any smart phone or tablet, and uses optical recognition software as it scans documentation.

UKtenantdata managing director Tony Williams said the system will make doing immigration checks as simple as sending a text. It will be  made available free to agents that already use its tenant screening services, and to other agents as a stand-alone service.

The date of the roll-out of Right to Rent is still unconfirmed, along with other details.

However Williams said: “It is a fact. Letting agents and landlords are now unpaid immigration officers.

“We thought: If you have to do the job, we may as well make it an easy one.”

The app – to be launched in advance of the national roll-out of the Right to Rent scheme – can ‘read’  worldwide passports, EU ID cards, UK Visas, and UK drivers’ licences and extract the relevant information.

The data is then passed to servers for validation, and  all the data captured is then placed in the applicant’s reference file.

The software will also flag up visas that are about to expire, giving the agent time to update the system with new documentation.

Should an applicant fail to provide that new documentation, there is an option to “report to border control”.

In the event that the agent is subject to an audit, the software will show the checks that have been made.

Williams, whose firm has made a £250,000 investment in the optical recognition software, said that initially will be available in IOS, but developed for Androis users and other platforms later this year.

He said: “Current beta testing for the new system has exceeded our expectations, and we believe letting specialists will be astounded at what it can do for their business.

“Back in 1998 the overseas landlord scheme came into play; no one really paid that much attention until the audit letters started to come in from HMRC. The result:  fines all around!

“Non compliance of Immigration Act 2014 won’t be any different and will, if ignored potentially put agencies out of business or worse the principals in prison.”

A year ago, Williams warned on EYE that the Immigration Act, with its requirement for tenants’ immigrant status to be checked, was a sleeping dog that would bite when it woke up.

The firm’s website is here