mr mahs Posted April 2 Report Share Posted April 2 US fingerprints 'allied' visitorsMillions of fingerprints are being be checked each year A US requirement for visitors to be fingerprinted and photographed is being expanded to include citizens from America's closest allies. The move will affect visitors from 27 countries - including the UK, Japan and Australia - whose nationals had been able to visit the US without a visa. The change in the "US-Visit" programme is due to take effect by 30 September. The programme is designed to fight terrorism, but has been criticised by many - notably in Latin America. Secure passports The US has been routinely fingerprinting and face-scanning foreign visitors since January. But Washington decided to extend the programme after determining that "visa-waiver countries" will not meet an Ocrober deadline to introduce sophisticated passports - which include "biometric data" - and make counterfeiting virtually impossible. The administration also announced on Friday that it would seek from Congress a two-year extension of the deadline. This means that citizens from the 27 countries will still be allowed to visit the US without a visa, although they will now have to be fingerprinted and photographed before they enter. The UK authorities have said they will not be able to issue the new passports including "biometric data" before mid-2005. The other countries concerned are Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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