Tougher identity checks for travellers to US

Irish citizens travelling to the United States will have to be fingerprinted and photographed before entering the US from this autumn, it was announced in Washington last night.

Citizens of 27 countries, including Ireland and most EU states, which have been allowed to travel within the United States without a visa for up to 90 days will be subject to the new regulations announced by the US Homeland Security Department.

Under changes which are to take effect on September 30th, travellers from Ireland will be required to provide two "inkless" digital index-finger scans and a digital photograph to verify their identity at either Dublin or Shannon Airport before flying to the US.

The photographs and fingerprints are already necessary for citizens of nations that require US visas, and for Irish citizens holding work visas, including the student J1 summer work visa.

The new security procedures are intended to deal with the delay in introducing "biometric" passports in the 27 countries.

Under US legislation, enacted after the September 11th attacks, visa waiver states - including Ireland - were expected to introduce passports with biometric data such as fingerprints and iris scans by October 26th, 2004.

However, the State Department and the US Department of Homeland Security have asked Congress to approve a two-year extension because most countries are not expected to meet this deadline.

"We believe that an extension will avoid potential disruption to international travel.

"At the same time it will help mitigate the security concerns related to extending the deadline for biometric passports," a State Department spokesman, Mr Adam Ereli, said yesterday.

The biometric data collected will be checked against "watchlists", the Department of Homeland Security said, to improve the ability to make "admissibility decisions" and visa determinations.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said last night that Ireland would have been ready to introduce the new passports by the October deadline. "Ninety-five per cent of Irish passports are machine-readable already, so it wouldn't have been a huge problem for us," the spokeswoman said.

The United Kingdom is also among the 27 countries affected by the new US procedures.