The US-VISIT system, in which visa holders entering the US are digitally fingerprinted and photographed, went into effect on Monday. Although there have been reports of significant delays at some airports, the system overall seems to be operating smoothly so far. This program does not apply to citizens of the 27 countries in the visa waiver program. However, there are a couple of points of which your societies should be aware:

  1. The Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) admits it has not done a great job of international outreach on this system, although there has been a lot of international press coverage. If you are planning a meeting at which you expect many foreign visitors, in addition to sending information about the new visa policies, you may wish to make them aware that upon arrival at an air or sea port, they can expect to be fingerprinted and photographed. In the future, they will have to undergo a similar procedure upon exiting the country - although this has not yet been implemented. In the next 2 years, those entering by land will be expected to comply, as well.
  2. The current policy of DHS is to protect the information collected in a manner similar to compliance with the Privacy Act, as if the visitor was a US citizen. This is not a statutory requirement, so it is subject to change in the future, but more info is available at: http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/USVISIT_Privacy_Poliicy.pdf
  3. One of the next steps in implementation of the US-VISIT program is expected to cause significant problems. By October 26, 2004, all countries in the visa waiver program (almost all European) are supposed to issue biometrically enabled passports - they'll have an embedded computer chip containing a digital photograph and possibly fingerprint data. It is expected many of these countries will be unable to meet this deadline, at which point their citizens will be required to have a visa to enter the US. Unfortunately, there is currently no statutory loophole that would allow the US to grant countries extensions on this deadline. The travel industry and business interests are lobbying hard to change this, and I suspect they will be successful, but be aware that if this deadline remains firm, it could have serious impact on Europeans' ability to travel to the US.
  4. One Brazilian city has begun fingerprinting US travelers in retaliation for the new US-VISIT program. Although this appears to be an isolated incident, there is a concern that other countries will institute such a policy as well. Or they may choose to adopt the system because it has proven successful in the US. US travelers going abroad should be aware that this is a possibility.

As the system moves forward, or should any new information arise, FASEB will pass it along.