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Recent Changes to the U.S. VISIT Program
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Recent Changes to the U.S. VISIT Program Effective January 5, 2004, US-VISIT, the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program, was put in place at 115 airports in the United States, Canada, Caribbean islands, and Europe, and at 15 seaports in the United States and Canada. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in consultation with the Department of State (DOS) implemented this automated entry/exit program. The US-VISIT system requires two digital index finger scans and a digital photograph from a traveler to verify his or her identity and compare it to a database of known criminals. Since its institution, the US-VISIT program has undergone several major expansions. Visa Waiver Program First, to address security concerns, people entering the country under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) after September 30, 2004 must participate in the US-VISIT program. The VWP allows citizens from 27 countries to enter the United States as visitors without first applying for visas. On top of this security measure, VWP travelers must obtain machine-readable passports by October 26, 2004 and biometrically enabled passports by October 26, 2005. Departure Second, the U.S. VISIT program is currently concerned almost entirely with screening travelers entering the country. However, on August 3, 2004 the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began the pilot phase of the US-VISIT program departure process at Chicago's O'Hare airport. The departure pilot program has since been expanded to several other airports and seaports. Participants in the pilot program may receive a perspective very different from what the final departure procedures will look like. For example, as of early September O'Hare Airport in Chicago only had departure kiosks in one terminal, causing problems for travelers using United Airlines, American Airlines, US Airways, and Lufthansa, which are in another terminal. As the program expands, travelers may expect to check out at an automated kiosk or with a U.S.-VISIT attendant using a hand-held scanner. To facilitate this process, upon entering the United States travelers will receive printed cards explaining the process. Land Border Ports of Entry Third, by December 31, 2004 the DHS plans to extend the US-VISIT program to the 50 most highly trafficked land border ports of entry. Nonimmigrant foreign nationals traveling to the U.S. using visas or passports will be subject to US-VISIT. These travelers will be directed to secondary inspection areas, where they will undergo US-VISIT processing. In an effort to expedite the process, travelers across U.S borders will automatically receive their I-94 cards when their travel documents are scanned. Canadians visitors are exempt from US-VISIT processing (except for those entering on visas), as are Mexican visitors traveling with border crossing cards (BCCs). Canadian visitors do not require a passport to enter the United States. Mexicans with BCCs have been pre-screened as part of the BCC application process. (The limit on border crossing has recently been extended to 30 days to reward legitimate business.) The land border program will be piloted in Douglas, Arizona; Port Huron, Michigan; and Laredo, Texas in mid-November and is scheduled to reach all land ports by December 31, 2005. Initially there will not be an exit policy for part of US-VISIT. Exempted from all the above requirements are certain officials of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) and their dependants. Additionally, persons under 14 and over 79 years of age and persons who are admitted on A-1, A-2, A-3, C-3 (except for personal employees of accredited officials), or NATO 1-6 nonimmigrant visas. Finally, U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents are exempted from the requirements of US-VISIT. For more information about the US-VISIT program please visit:
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