US security to tighten for Aussie visitors
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Australian visitors to the United States will be required to provide photographs and fingerprints when leaving the country under a new exit policy to be introduced next year reports the Sydney Morning Herald.
From 2010, all non-US citizens who enter the country on a visa or the visa-waiver programme available to most Australian tourists will be required to follow the revised departure procedure.
The “biometrics” process will be similar to one already in place at US ports of entry where visitors are photographed and have digital copies of fingerprints taken by immigration officers.
Robert Mocny, Director of the US Visit programme with the department of Homeland Security, said the intention was to monitor those overstaying visas.
The US Government estimates 12 million people are in the US illegally, with up to 40% having entered the country on legitimate visas.
The new system will be cross-checked with international crime agencies such as Interpol.
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