- British travellers to the United States will soon need
a visa even for short visits under new security measures imposed by the
US Congress, a British newspaper said.
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- Under the new rules, after October 26 this year all passports
must contain "biometric indicators" -- computer chips carrying
a digitally encoded record of the bearer's face and possibly fingerprints,
The Daily Telegraph said.
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- British officals have reportedly said that these cannot
be produced until the middle of 2005 at the latest, requiring all new British
passports issued in the interim to be accompanied by a visa obtained from
offices in either London or Belfast.
-
- The ruling will affect all British passports issued after
October 26 and passports issued before then will still entitle people to
enter the US without a visa, The Daily Telegraph said.
-
- Currently, Britons can enter America for up to three
months without a visa, under the "visa waiver programme".
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- On Monday, stringent new security regulations were introduced
at 115 of the US's international airports and 14 major seaports, requiring
people entering on a visa now to be fingerprinted and have their photographs
taken.
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- Those on the visa waiver scheme are not currently affected,
but those on work visas are.
-
- The system allows officials to instantly check an immigrant
or visitor's criminal background.
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- Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said the US aimed
to be "open to visitors but closed to terrorists".
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