The Passport Service (UKPS) is to streamline its online application procedure by integrating its web site to its back-office systems.

With the current process, applicants can fill in their details online but must wait for the completed form to be sent in the post for signature and return.

Using the new system, data captured on the web will be transferred directly to UKPS systems and payment will be electronic. Applicants will only need to print off a short summary to sign and send in.

'The system is planned for early 2005 and will cut out the delay while the paper form is sent to the customer,' said a UKPS spokesman.

The electronic application plan is one element of UKPS' aims for the coming year, outlined in its Corporate and Business Plans 2004-2009, published this month. Another key initiative is the Personal Identification Project.

A pilot is underway in the Glasgow office to use data supplied by credit reference agency Equifax to help confirm an applicant's identity.

'The extra information we need to do this, for example on previous addresses, is supplied voluntarily by the applicant and data sharing links will also soon be established with the Department for Work and Pensions and the DVLA,' said the spokesman.

Participation is voluntary and a decision will be made later in year whether to go ahead with the scheme.

The agency is also working with the Office of National Statistics on linking to the births, marriages and deaths database as another source for confirming identity.

And work is on-going on biometric passports and facial recognition systems.

UKPS' biggest challenge is to respond to the growth of identity theft through harnessing advanced technology and improving systems and processes to strengthen identity authentication, says the agency.