Visa applicants headed to U.S. must now undergo fingerprinting procedure

VANCOUVER (CP) - Visa applicants to the United States, including Canadians who want to study or work there, are now being fingerprinted as part of a new biometric identification program.

The non-immigrant visa fingerprinting began earlier this week at the U.S. consulate in Vancouver and has previously been underway in other large Canadian cities, said Vancouver consular chief Bradford Johnson.

"It has to do with the enhancement of security," Johnson said at a news conference.

"It has a history that predates Sept. 11," he said in reference to the terrorist attacks of that date in 2001 in the United States.

Visa applicants must submit to two fingerprints - the index finger of each hand - as well as the usual photograph.

The program dates back to 1996, he said, when Congress decided it wanted a system to determine who was entering and leaving the United States.

"Previously, the U.S. had no way of knowing who had left our shores," he said.

Under the program, the person's visa would be examined by U.S. Customs officials in the usual way. In addition, while under questioning the person will give another set of fingerprints that can be checked against those given when the visa was applied for.

When the program is completely in place by 2005, visa holders will be required to undergo a third fingerprinting when they depart the country.

The information that is gathered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will not be shared with the CIA or FBI or other agencies, said Johnson.

"The State Department has a fine record and its confidential procedures can't be changed."

Eventually, the system will be in operation at 115 airports and 14 seaports in the U.S., said Johnson.