The United States Embassy in Helsinki has begun taking fingerprints of visa applicants. The fingerprints of all applicants, except children under 14 and seniors over 79 are to be stored electronically.
Citizens of Finland and many other European countries do not need a visa for travel to the USA as tourists if the visit lasts less than three months.
The procedure itself is quite easy: the applicant places the forefingers of his or her right and left hand on a device which records the fingerprint. After a few seconds the fingerprint appears magnified on the computer screen of the official taking the visa application, and is transferred to a data bank.
The United States has also considered requiring that foreigners visiting the United States without a visa should have a passport with biometric identification, in which either the iris of the eye or fingerprints would be recorded on a microchip.
Finnish officials say that biometric passports could be introduced in May next year at the earliest.
