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  • 2016-05-06 (xsd:date)
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  • Biometric Passports (en)
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  • On 1 May 2016, Facebook user Vic Ryan published the above-reproduced commentary, saying that an upcoming vacation to the United States was disrupted by a biometric passport requirement that had gone undisclosed by his travel agency. Ryan said he was the only member of his group affected by the biometric passport rule change, and while his passport was still valid for six months, he was unable to use it to get into the U.S. due to new standards there in passport technology; his claims were generally accurate. New, tighter U.S. laws introduced in late 2015 and implemented on 1 April 2016 mean that travelers to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (such as visitors from the United Kingdom) need to update their passports if they still have an older-style passport: Ryan provided further details about his passport trouble to The Independent, maintaining that several other travelers found themselves ineligible to enter the United States during the same time, and for the same reason: United Kingdom passports are valid for ten years from the date of issuance, and according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's web site, the e-Passport requirements began nearly ten years ago, which means there is a subset of people from the UK (and other countries) who still could potentially be prevented from traveling to the United States: According to the Independent, thousands of people are potentially affected, as they are unwittingly still in possession of passports that are not yet biometric: On 6 May 2016, a representative from the Department of Homeland Security told us that new requirements were indeed implemented in late 2015: A number of UK citizens traveling to the United States retained valid (but not biometric) passports issued as late as 2007. The United Kingdom began issuing ePassports in 2006, but didn't phase out the prior format fully until the following year. The Department of Homeland Security is recommending that visitors from the UK (or any of the 38 countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program) take steps to make sure their passports contain the necessary digital chip and information. (en)
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