New US entry rules also affect Finnish travellers
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Finnish citizens, and citizens of other countries entitled to travel to the United States for three months without a visa, will soon be subject to tighter procedures on entry.
As of September 30, each traveller arriving in the United States will be required to give his or her fingerprints and submit to being photographed.
From October 26, all travellers entering the United States will have to have a passport that can be read mechanically. Even small children be required to have a passport of their own; having their names entered in their parents’ passports will not be enough.
In addition to electronic readability, all passports issued after October 26 next year will be expected to include biometric identification if the bearer is to travel to the United States on a visa waiver. Those with passports issued before that date will be allowed to travel to the United States as long as the passport is valid. Those with non-biometric passports issued after October 26, 2005 will have to get a separate US visa to travel to the USA.
Helsingin Sanomat
