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Journalism of Courage
More than two dozen industrialised countries are expected to miss a US-imposed deadline for providing their citizens with computer-coded passports later this year, according to Congress officials. That would leave State Department officials bracing for a surge in demand for visas from millions of travelers who would not normally need them to visit the United States, the officials said. Twenty-seven countries—including Japan and 22 European nations— must begin providing passports with facial-recognition technology by October 26, 2004. Visitors from those countries who are issued passports without the technology after that date will be required to apply for visas to travel to the United States. The rules were mandated by Congress as an anti-terrorism measure. Maura Harty, assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, said nearly all of the countries would miss the deadline, including Japan, Britain, Germany and Italy. As a result, she said, demand for tourist visas would likely surge to about 12 million in fiscal year 2005, from about 7 million in 2003, creating a workload that would likely swamp consular staff in US embassies and create significant visa backlogs. “It’s a frightening prospect,” said Harty, who testified before the House Committee on Government Reform. She said the shift would significantly disrupt tourism and business travel from those countries. “In the short term we would see a serious impact,” she said. Harty said the passport deadline could only be extended by Congress. Her testimony highlighted the difficulties being encountered by some Bush administration officials as they strive to put in place a new round of security measures designed to screen foreign visitors. — (NYT)
