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US to fingerprint its friends and allies

Thousands of visitors from 27 US allies, including Britain, Japan and Australia, will be fingerprinted and photographed on arrival in the US to tighten border security, US officials said on Friday.

The policy, to begin at airports and seaports by Sept. 30 and at the 50 busiest US land crossings by the end of the year, extends a program that started on Jan. 5 in which everyone who comes to the US on a visa -- except diplomats -- is fingerprinted and photographed on arrival.

With the new policy, this will be extended to citizens of the 27 "visa waiver" nations whose citizens generally do not need visas for short visits.

US officials say taking two digital index-finger scans and a photograph takes seconds and helps prevent attacks like those on Sept. 11, 2001, but the policy has upset many visitors and its expansion drew protests from the tourism industry.

The 27 nations affected are Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Britain, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

US officials said the new policy reflected the likelihood that those nations would miss an Oct. 26 deadline to begin issuing passports with biometric data such as fingerprints.

The Bush administration said it asked the US Congress for a two-year extension to the deadline and said that its decision to fingerprint and photograph even visitors who do not need visas was designed to close a loophole.

"It will add security by allowing us to check against our terrorist criminal watchlist those foreign visitors who are traveling from Visa Waiver Program countries," said Homeland Security Department Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson.

Citizens from these countries, which include some of the closest US allies whose governments backed the invasion of Iraq, are generally permitted to visit the US without a visa for up to 90 days for pleasure or business.

The old policy applied to people from these nations who required US visas, for example to study or work legally.

It has angered many visitors and triggered retaliatory measures from nations including Brazil, which now fingerprints US visitors, and China, which has said it will require some US citizens seeking Chinese visas to appear for interviews.

US and British travel groups criticized the policy.

"[We are] greatly disappointed and very concerned about potential negative reactions in key inbound tourism markets in western Europe, Japan and other important ... countries," said US Travel Industry Association president William Norman.

"These new moves clearly will not help to encourage UK citizens to travel to the USA, and we would urge very strongly that the American authorities reconsider their actions," said a spokesman for the Association of British Travel Agents.

US officials said most Canadian citizens, most of whom do not need visas, will not be fingerprinted or photographed.

They also said Mexicans carrying border crossing cards -- which include biometric identifiers and are only issued after the person has had a background check -- are also exempt if they enter for 72 hours and stay within the "border zone."

Hutchinson said the US would not oppose moves by other countries to impose more security measures on US citizens.

"We recognize that it's a two-way street," he said.
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