The US is implementing tighter restrictions for its visa waiver program. The program, which allows visitors from 38 partner countries to enter the US without a visa for stays of less than three months, will now require that participating visitors present ePassports with biometric data.
It’s a security measure aiming to reduce the risk of terrorist attacks on US soil, and comes amid increasing concern about the participation of citizens from partner countries in conflicts in the Syria-Iraq region. One prominent senator who is part of the Senate Intelligence Committee has previously referred to the visa waiver program as an “Achilles heel” for America’s national security, and that kind of concern has prompted the Department of Homeland Security to implement the measure. The DHS is also putting more air marshals on international flights.
While the US may have a particularly strong concern about national security, the use of biometric screening and ePassports is on the rise around the world. Very often it has a strong focus on convenience, as in the US’s own TSA PreCheck biometric screening program at a number of domestic airports, but it’s also very much about security, with countries like Saudi Arabia also implementing strict biometric border controls, and the European Union investigating such measures as a matter of region-wide policy.
Source: Eyewitness News
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August 7, 2015 – by Alex Perala
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