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US introduces finger scan for visitors

PRESS RELEASE, Dhaka
The United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) programme has been launched on January 5, 2004, at all 115 US international commercial airports and 14 major seaports served by cruise liners.
The goals of the US-VISIT are to enhance the security of US citizens and visitors, facilitate legitimate travel and trade, ensure the integrity of the US immigration system and safeguard the personal privacy of foreign visitors, said a US Embassy press release yesterday. It said many of the ongoing procedures are already familiar to international travellers. The US customs and border protection officer will take a digital photograph and use an inkless digital 'finger scanner' to capture electronically two 'finger scans' of arriving visitors holding visas.
Biographic and 'finger scan' date collected will be used to verify the identity and bona fides of the visitor. These procedures should reduce the risk of fraud, identity theft, or other bases of illegal entry, the press release added.
In addition to the procedures now in place, the US will inaugurate early this year a departure confirmation system that involves automated, self-service kiosks where visitors with visas will be asked to scan their travel documents and repeat the inkless digital 'figer scanning' process.
The press release went on to say the new entry and exit procedures will allow the travellers to confirm compliance with the US immigration law for future visits to the US.
The US-VISIT has been designed to be convenient to the travellers and easy to use. A recent pilot programme at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport involving about 20,000 visitors to the United States has shown that the process takes only a few more seconds than the average inspection.
While the implementation of the US-VISIT has required some changes in the entry and exit procedures, many things have not changed. The United States of America is still a nation where diversity is celebrated and people from across the world are welcomed, the press release said.
The US, as is the case with most other countries, is working to maintain secure borders while safeguarding fundamental freedoms. By retrieving vital arrival and departure data from those with visas, the US-VISIT programme will enhance the security of American citizens and visitors to the US while expediting legitimate travel and trade.
Although separate from the US-VISIT, the National Security Entry
Exit Registration System (NSEERS) remains in effect. Individuals subject to the NSEERS will continue to be registered under the programme when they enter and will be required to report when they depart.
Failure to comply will result in a presumption of visa ineligibility or inadmissibility for re-entry.
There is, however, no longer any requirement for the NSEERS registrants in the US to reregister periodically or for persons already in the US to register for the NSEERS.
Compliance with the requirements of the US-VISIT will not satisfy the requirements of the NSEERS and persons subject to the NSEERS must go to the special checkout station dedicated for the NSEERS checkout.
Persons subject to the NSEERS checkout requirements are not required to undergo a separate checkout at the US-VISIT kiosks.
Details about the US-VISIT can be found on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) website, www.dhs.gov/us-visit. Further information is also available at the Department of State website for visa information, www.unitedstatesvisas.gov and the website of the US Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh, www.usembassy-dhaka.org.