Press Releases 2004

On August 9, 2004, the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw and the U.S. Consulate in Krakow will begin collecting digital fingerscans from visa applicants as part of a worldwide security upgrade.

In the past several years, the United States has taken several concrete steps to safeguard the integrity of the U.S. visa system. Recent U.S. visas incorporate many new characteristics designed to thwart counterfeiting and fraud and to facilitate legitimate travel. U.S. law now requires that biometric data be collected in the form of fingerscans from all applicants for U.S. visas. By October 26, all visa-issuing posts worldwide will be fingerscanning.

The new system involves electronically collecting two fingerprints from each applicant using a scanner. No ink is used and the process takes only seconds – just like the scanning procedure at U.S. ports of entry.

As part of the visa application process, U.S. consular officials will take scans of the left and right index fingers of all applicants. Exceptions will be made for children 13 and younger and applicants 80 and older, and certain employees of foreign governments and international organizations traveling on official business (A, G, and NATO visas).

Only those who are applying for a new U.S. visa must have their fingers scanned. Previously issued visas will remain valid; no one needs to renew a valid visa until it expires. Because fingerscans are becoming an essential part of the application process, visa applicants who decline to have their fingers scanned will not be able to complete the visa application process.

Fingerscans will not appear on U.S. visas. Rather, the electronic scans will be made available to immigration inspectors at airports and other points of entry to the U.S. where they will be used to verify the traveler’s identity. The use of fingerscans will increase the speed and reliability of immigration inspections, greatly facilitating the entry of visitors to the United States.


Contact: Jim Bond or Dick Custin, U.S. Embassy Public Affairs, (022) 504-2323