Last week President Bush signed H.R. 4417, which will extend by one year, to October 26, 2005, the requirement for Visa Waiver Program countries to include biometrics in passports. According to a State Department press release, the extension was necessary in order to avoid impending interruption of international travel and provide more time for improving the biometric passport.  The Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002, the original legislation that mandated the requirement for Visa Waiver travelers to have biometrics included in passports, required that Visa Waiver Program country passports issued on or after October 26, 2004, be biometrically enabled for use in Visa Waiver travel.

The Department of Homeland Security will begin enrolling Visa Waiver Program travelers through the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program at all airports and seaports on or about September 30, 2004.  Enrollment in US-VISIT is an effort by the United States to enhance border security while facilitating international travel.  The US-VISIT system requires two digital index finger scans and a digital photograph from a traveler to verify his or her identity.

There is a requirement for Visa Waiver Program travel that will still come into effect on October 26, 2004.  On and after that date, all passports used for travel in the Visa Waiver Program must be machine-readable.  A postponement was granted from October 1, 2003, until October 26, 2004, as the date by which Visa Waiver Program travelers from 22 countries must present a machine-readable passport to be admitted to the United States without a visa.  According to the release, all domestically produced U.S. passports will be biometric passports by the end of 2005.