By Ron Thaniel
January 12, 2004

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began fingerprinting and photographing foreigners arriving at U.S. Airports and seaports on Monday, January 5 at 115 airports and 14 seaports meeting a Congressional deadline. Congress has mandated that an automated entry-exit program be implemented at the 50 busiest land ports of entry by December 31, 2004, and at all land ports by December 31, 2005.

U.S. Visit stands for U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology.

U.S. Visit is intended to track down wanted criminals and suspected terrorists as well as recognize visitors who overstay visas by utilizing biometrics. Biometrics are physical characteristics unique to each individual, to verify identity. Biometric technologies are the basis of an extensive array of highly secure identification and personal verification solutions.

US-VISIT requires that most foreign visitors traveling to the U.S. on a visa have their two index fingers scanned and a digital photograph taken to verify their identity at the port of entry. The program will keep records of more than 24 million foreigners who enter the United States each year largely from Central and South America, Africa, and Asia. It does not apply to 28 nations, including Japan, Australia, Singapore and many countries in Europe. Under some circumstances, citizens from exempt countries are still subject to the new rules.

The Department of Homeland Security has been testing the new entry procedures since November 17 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The test showed that the new procedures add an average of 15 seconds to the entry process at primary inspection for foreign nationals traveling with visas. More than 20,000 passengers from Central and South America, Europe, Asia and South Africa participated in the voluntary test.

The Department of Homeland Security on January 5 also began a pilot test of exit procedures for departing passengers holding visas. A departure confirmation program using automated kiosks is being tested at Baltimore-Washington International Airport and at selected Miami Seaport cruise line terminals. Foreign visitors exiting the United States from those locations will be required to confirm their departure at the kiosk. US-VISIT officials will evaluate the tests and consider alternatives to the automated kiosks for departure confirmation throughout 2004.