Avoid border troubles

Anyone who has ever got into trouble with the authorities in the United States - even if no charges were laid - would be well advised to check before arriving at Los Angeles Airport after September 30.

From that date New Zealanders entering the US under the visa-waiver programme will have to register in the US-VISIT programme.

And that means on arrival in the US they must have a digital photo taken and their index fingers scanned.

It is a process that already applies to anyone who has to get a visa to enter the US and is all part of a drive to use what is referred to as biometric data to make more reliable identification of visitors.

Originally the proposal was that a country wanting to continue to be part of the visa-waiver programme would have to include biometric data in passports issued after October 26.

Failure to meet that requirement would have meant every New Zealander visiting the US would need a visa.

But the Department of Homeland Security now appears to accept that many of the 27 countries will be unable to provide biometric passports in time.

In fact, according to Richard Adams, chief of the US consular section in Auckland, New Zealand is "probably the most advanced country in meeting that requirement".

Already 97 per cent of New Zealand passports are machine readable and the Department of Internal Affairs said this week it was working towards being able to issue biometric passports from October 26.

That suggests that either way most New Zealanders will continue to be able to enter the US without the need to get a visa.

But they will have to go through the scanning programme which, among other things, enables immigration officials to identify anyone with a record in the US.

The practical effect of that is any New Zealanders who think they may be in the Department of Homeland Security's vast centralised computer data-base would be well advised to check in advance (see story above) or risk being turned back at the border.

The Department of Homeland Security says that since system was introduced in January 2.5 million foreign nationals have been screened "without adversely impacting wait times".

It also says the system has identified more than 200 people with criminal or immigration records.