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April 2 (Bloomberg) -- Travelers from western European nations and Japan will be added in September to the list of foreign visitors fingerprinted and photographed upon arrival in the U.S., the State Department said.
The extension is designed to address security concerns stemming from a U.S. agreement last month to delay for two years a new passport requirement for visitors from 27 countries, mostly in Europe, who are allowed to enter the U.S. without visas, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.
The rule being delayed until December 2006 will require visitors from those 27 ``visa-waiver'' countries to carry new passports that contain a machine-readable bar code and other information such as digital fingerprint identifying the holder.
The new requirement on visitors from Europe and Japan, which is drawing protests from the travel industry, followed administration talks with congressional leaders concerned about the need to improve border security while awaiting the new December 2006 passport deadline, Ereli said.
``Everybody recognizes those security needs, and that the U.S. Visit program is a very low-hassle unobtrusive way of protecting the public and protecting the United States,'' Ereli said. Fingerprinting under the U.S. Visit program drew protest upon its introduction in January from countries that include Brazil, which began retaliatory fingerprinting of U.S. visitors.
Travel Industry Worried
The new rule requiring fingerprint and photographs of U.S. visitors from the 27 visa-waiver countries will take effect Sept. 30, Ereli said. The only countries whose visitors will not be subject to such requirements are Canada and Mexico.
The Travel Industry Association of America, which last month praised the two-year passport extension, warned today that the fingerprint rule could diminish business and leisure travel by alienating European and Japanese visitors.
``While we appreciate the rationale for the federal government's action, TIA is nonetheless greatly disappointed and very concerned about potential negative reactions in key inbound tourism markets in western Europe, Japan and other important Visa Waiver countries,'' said William Norman, president of the travel association, whose members include AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, and owners of leading hotel chains such as Cendant Corp. and Host Marriott Corp.
Entry Process Been Smooth
The travel association, in a statement today, acknowledged that so far the new entry procedure at U.S. airports ``has operated relatively smoothly with no significant delays.''
The association, however, fears the U.S. does not have enough staff to handle by September another 13 million visitors from the 27 visa-waiver countries, on top of the 19 million visitors already subject to the fingerprinting rules, spokeswoman Cathy Keefe said.
Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and transportation security at the Department of Homeland Security, said today he was ``very confident'' that agents can handle the additional work.
``This is a substantial addition to the system, but we have our inspectors who are trained now, the system has worked, and so we're confident that this can be implemented without any delays in travel or any increase in the lines,'' Hutchinson said.
The current US Visit program covers 114 airports and 50 seaports, he said. It will be extended to the 50 busiest land border crossings by Dec. 30, he said.
`Insult Factor'
In addition to addressing concerns about potential delays, the travel association wants the U.S. government to head off the ``insult factor'' among travelers who won't understand why they need to be fingerprinted, Keefe said.
Inbound overseas travel to the U.S. has declined by 27 percent since the Sept. 11 attacks, and the travel association this year is predicting the first increase since then, about 3 percent, mostly from Britain, Keefe said. Today's announcement could endanger that, she said.
Hutchinson said U.S. officials are talking with counterparts from the 27 affected countries to try to answer any concerns.
``Our allies will see this as a good security measure and there won't be a problem,'' he said. ``This is not a security measure that we are putting in place to lengthen the waiting lines or wait times. We fully expect other nations will adopt similar procedures.''
More than 2.6 million visitors have been fingerprinted and photographed since the program began in January, Hutchinson said. About 200 of those people were on the agency's criminal watch list, he said. None was identified as a terrorism suspect.
Spokesman for the European Commission office and the Japanese embassy in Washington said they had no immediate comment.
The Bush administration told Congress last month it would agree to extend the passport rule until December 2006 because many visa-waiver countries said their citizens would not have time by then to obtain the new machine-readable passports.
April 2 (Bloomberg) -- Travelers from western European nations and Japan will be added in September to the list of foreign visitors fingerprinted and photographed upon arrival in the U.S., the State Department said.
The extension is designed to address security concerns stemming from a U.S. agreement last month to delay for two years a new passport requirement for visitors from 27 countries, mostly in Europe, who are allowed to enter the U.S. without visas, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.
The rule being delayed until December 2006 will require visitors from those 27 ``visa-waiver'' countries to carry new passports that contain a machine-readable bar code and other information such as digital fingerprint identifying the holder.
The new requirement on visitors from Europe and Japan, which is drawing protests from the travel industry, followed administration talks with congressional leaders concerned about the need to improve border security while awaiting the new December 2006 passport deadline, Ereli said.
``Everybody recognizes those security needs, and that the U.S. Visit program is a very low-hassle unobtrusive way of protecting the public and protecting the United States,'' Ereli said. Fingerprinting under the U.S. Visit program drew protest upon its introduction in January from countries that include Brazil, which began retaliatory fingerprinting of U.S. visitors.
Travel Industry Worried
The new rule requiring fingerprint and photographs of U.S. visitors from the 27 visa-waiver countries will take effect Sept. 30, Ereli said. The only countries whose visitors will not be subject to such requirements are Canada and Mexico.
The Travel Industry Association of America, which last month praised the two-year passport extension, warned today that the fingerprint rule could diminish business and leisure travel by alienating European and Japanese visitors.
``While we appreciate the rationale for the federal government's action, TIA is nonetheless greatly disappointed and very concerned about potential negative reactions in key inbound tourism markets in western Europe, Japan and other important Visa Waiver countries,'' said William Norman, president of the travel association, whose members include AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, and owners of leading hotel chains such as Cendant Corp. and Host Marriott Corp.
Entry Process Been Smooth
The travel association, in a statement today, acknowledged that so far the new entry procedure at U.S. airports ``has operated relatively smoothly with no significant delays.''
The association, however, fears the U.S. does not have enough staff to handle by September another 13 million visitors from the 27 visa-waiver countries, on top of the 19 million visitors already subject to the fingerprinting rules, spokeswoman Cathy Keefe said.
Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and transportation security at the Department of Homeland Security, said today he was ``very confident'' that agents can handle the additional work.
``This is a substantial addition to the system, but we have our inspectors who are trained now, the system has worked, and so we're confident that this can be implemented without any delays in travel or any increase in the lines,'' Hutchinson said.
The current US Visit program covers 114 airports and 50 seaports, he said. It will be extended to the 50 busiest land border crossings by Dec. 30, he said.
`Insult Factor'
In addition to addressing concerns about potential delays, the travel association wants the U.S. government to head off the ``insult factor'' among travelers who won't understand why they need to be fingerprinted, Keefe said.
Inbound overseas travel to the U.S. has declined by 27 percent since the Sept. 11 attacks, and the travel association this year is predicting the first increase since then, about 3 percent, mostly from Britain, Keefe said. Today's announcement could endanger that, she said.
Hutchinson said U.S. officials are talking with counterparts from the 27 affected countries to try to answer any concerns.
``Our allies will see this as a good security measure and there won't be a problem,'' he said. ``This is not a security measure that we are putting in place to lengthen the waiting lines or wait times. We fully expect other nations will adopt similar procedures.''
More than 2.6 million visitors have been fingerprinted and photographed since the program began in January, Hutchinson said. About 200 of those people were on the agency's criminal watch list, he said. None was identified as a terrorism suspect.
Spokesman for the European Commission office and the Japanese embassy in Washington said they had no immediate comment.
The Bush administration told Congress last month it would agree to extend the passport rule until December 2006 because many visa-waiver countries said their citizens would not have time by then to obtain the new machine-readable passports.
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