The United States said on Friday it will fingerprint and photograph the citizens of 27 nations that do not require US visas, including visitors from Ireland and close allies like Britain, Australia and Japan.
State Department spokesman Mr Adam Ereli said the new policy would be put in place at all US airports and seaports by September 30th , requiring citizens of the 27 Visa Waiver Program countries to provide "two digital index finger scans and a digital photograph" to verify their identity.
The photographs and fingerprints are already required from citizens of other nations that do require US visas and have proved unpopular among many, although US officials say the process takes a matter of seconds and is needed to protect against attacks like those of September 11th , 2001.
Under US law, the 27 nations must introduce passports with "biometric" data like fingerprints by October 26th but the State Department and the US Department of Homeland Security have asked Congress to approve a two-year extension because most, if not all, are not expected to meet the deadline. "We believe that an extension ... will avoid potential disruption to international travel and at the same time (requiring the fingerprints and photographs) will help mitigate the security concerns related to extending the deadline for biometric passports," Mr Ereli told reporters.
The 27 countries affected are Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.