One application received every 3.6 seconds for veteran ID card, minister reveals

Former Armed Forces personnel applied for a new ID card every 3.6 seconds in the first day of the card's launch, Veterans' Affairs Minister Johnny Mercer has announced. 

As of Sunday, more than a million Armed Forces veterans were given the option to apply for a new card online.

The Ministry of Defence is delivering the service, together with the Office for Veterans' Affairs, as part of ongoing improvements to veteran support.

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Mr Mercer posted on social media site X: "Every 3.6 seconds today someone has applied for a veteran's ID card.

"It's been a tough ride getting there. But veterans do matter in this country. There's a lot of them, and I hope their lives are beginning to get better."

What is the veteran ID card?

The new veteran ID card provides a memento of service and maintains a tangible link to the Armed Forces, while also allowing veterans to easily verify their service to the NHS, their local authority and charities, enabling them to access support and services where needed.

After five months of testing of the new digital service, veterans who left before December 2018 can now apply for their cards by visiting the GOV.UK website at gov.uk/veteran-card

According to the Office for National Statistics, in 2021 some 1,853,112 people in England and Wales reported that they had previously served in the Armed Forces. 

But until the veteran ID card was created, there was no way for former personnel to easily prove they had been in the Armed Forces.

Previously, they had been required to hand back their ID card, known as a MOD 90, when they were discharged.