In a significant move, implementing border checks are being considered for crossings at the border between British and the Irish Republic. The main purpose of this move is to crack down on illegal immigrants. The plans do not establish fixed checkpoints at the border between Northern Ireland and the republic of Ireland.

Once issued, a Home Office consultation document will propose the initiatives and the necessary formalities for carrying out more formal checks in between these two countries. The main purpose of the immigration crackdown is to mainly focus on those traveling by air and sea. However, eventually the procedure might expand to some other forms of immigration check in between Northern Ireland and its adjacent neighbour to the south.

It is very unlikely that domestic travellers would be affected by these procedures. The new arrangements would primarily take into account passport inspections. The primary technique that would be enforced for this purpose will include electronic border management systems that can count people in and out of the country. Most notably, Northern Ireland is the only country in the whole of the United Kingdom that shares its land border with a foreign nation.

In a joint statement issued by the UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and Dermot Ahern, the Irish Minister stated, "We are both introducing electronic border management systems so we can count people in and out of the country, and identify those people who may be of interest to our law-enforcement authorities."