Press Releases

Biometric Collections Begin at the United States Consulate General in Guangzhou

Thursday, April 22, 2004

On Friday, April 23, 2004, the United States Consulate General in Guangzhou will begin collecting fingerprints as biometric identifiers for nonimmigrant visa applicants.  This program was mandated by the United States Congress in Section 303 of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002.  The United States Embassy in Beijing has already begun collecting fingerprints.

This law requires that, by October 26, 2004, the United States government shall issue to international visitors “only machine-readable, tamper-resistant visas and other travel and entry documents that use biometric identifiers.”

These biometric visas will facilitate rapid and precise identification of travelers, protecting the identity of the visitor while enabling more secure processing of travelers at ports of entry in the United States. The biometric identifier will be checked at the port of entry in the United States to verify that the person presenting the visa is the same person who was issued the visa.

The two index fingers of a visa applicant will be electronically scanned in an inkless process at the beginning of the nonimmigrant visa interview. Collecting the fingerprints should add no more than one minute to the application process and in most cases will take only seconds.  The electronic data from the fingerprints will be stored in a database and will be available to Department of Homeland Security immigration officers at ports of entry in the United States.

This worldwide biometric program began in September 2003.  As of today, there are more than 70 U.S. Embassies and Consulates worldwide collecting biometrics for visa applicants, including several in Asia.  All visa-issuing Embassies and Consulates will be doing this for visa applicants by October 26, 2004.

Applicants for U.S. visas between the ages of 14 and 80, except for diplomatic or central government personnel traveling on official business, are required to be fingerprinted. This means that certain people who were previously eligible for a personal appearance waiver will now have to come to the Consulate to have their fingerprints collected.  Visa information and appointments for visa application is obtained by calling the Visa Information Call Center at 4008-872-333 from within China (toll free call, but call center information fees apply), or from overseas at (86-21) 3881-4611 (both phone call and call center information fees apply).

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