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| Europe |
| EU Threatens "Visa War" Over Biometric Passports |
| 2005-04-01 |
| The European Union might consider demanding visas of US citizens if the US Congress sticks to an October deadline for EU countries to start issuing high-tech biometric passports, European officials warned on Friday. The European Commission in Brussels said it was "concerned and disappointed" by a letter from the US Congress suggesting it was unlikely further to delay legislation that could require millions of European visitors to have visas to enter the US. The US has said only countries that have begun issuing such passports will maintain their visa-exempt status. Any EU retaliation would require the backing of a qualified majority of the bloc's member states. Similarly, the US has yet to make a final decision on altering its timetable. When the US agreed to postpone by a year an initial deadline of October 2004, it did so only at the last minute. "Sorry, dude, we were like, really busy determining what condiments to put on our cafe tables to, you know, do this high tech stuff." The row has arisen because Franco Frattini, the EU's commissioner for justice and security, had asked the US to extend the deadline to August 2006. However, James Sensenbrenner, the Republican chairman of the Congress committee on the judiciary, replied that such an extension was "unlikely" at a time of continued security fears in the US. He added: "I strongly suggest that the European Commission plan without the expectation that there will be an extension of the deadline." "This has potentially major implications in several areas," said a spokesman for Mr Frattini yesterday. "Reciprocity is a standard consideration when deciding whether or not to give visa exemption to a country." He hoped Mr Sensenbrenner's reply would not be "the final word" from the US. Note to the EU: Don't have Chirac, Zappy or Schroder come over to plead your case.... Under the new US rules, passengers with fresh passports issued after the deadline must have a biometric version - which includes a digital photograph embedded on a chip - or apply for a visa, which can take weeks. The threat of imposing visas on passengers from most of the 27 currently visa-exempt countries, which include 15 EU states, worries US business, in particular, the tourism sector. US companies and universities have also complained about tighter US border policies, with visitors sometimes facing lengthy waits even to obtain a visa interview. |
| Posted by:Desert Blondie |
| #11 Folks, its time to love and accept the biometric passports. Domestically, within the US, the only hope for us frequent travelers to avoid the airport check-in death march is through a similar measure. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2005-04-01 11:37:10 PM |
| #10 Formerly Dan, with one euro costing 1,30 dollars I can see a lot of hotels and businesses in the US who would dearly miss Euro tourists. Visas would also endanger necessary business trips that have to be done on short notice. The US didn't introduce the Visa Waiver Program because it made Europeans happy, but because it benefitted from the program. Last minute flights to the US would suffer dearly, too. No more spontaneous shopping trips to NY when it takes weeks and a 100 dollar fee to get there. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2005-04-01 6:53:32 PM |
| #9 Geeze Louise. We and the EU should be working together to set up and implement agreed-upon standards for biometric passports. Of course that would leave the Paks out in the cold. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2005-04-01 6:52:46 PM |
| #8 Desert Blondie, the new biometric passports are said to cost the bearer 130 Euro (190 US$), so expect people to rush in order to get the old ones (26 Euros) before the deadline expires. I'm damn sure that as soon as EU biometric passports are introduced, the US will make them mandatory in order to avoid a visa. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2005-04-01 6:48:22 PM |
| #7 One more reason not to visit Europe. Except for Disney World who else misses euroweenie tourists? |
| Posted by: Formerly Dan 2005-04-01 6:41:16 PM |
| #6 TGA, I know what our embassies are like. The little princelings there don't want to do a damn thing for Americans, so I can bet that foreigners aren't treated any differently. I hated every single damn time I had to deal with them. Heaven forbid they do something other than going to a party..... It would make the immigration paperwork nightmare even worse if we did all of a sudden "invalidate" passports without the biometric chip. US passport holders are scattered all over the globe. We can't order them all to come in to the nearest embassy and pick up a new one, or track them down in heaven-knows-where. There are just certain limits as to what we can do. Letting those passport holders (ones without biometric info) get their updated ones when their old ones expire is a risk, but what solution do you have? It sounds like we would only require the visas for newer foreign passport holders, from what I've heard. If you have a current passport that was issued, say, in 2000, it's not fair to expect you to have technology that wasn't even introduced yet. And it doesn't look like it would be expected. See the second to last paragraph. |
| Posted by: Desert Blondie 2005-04-01 6:34:11 PM |
| #5 Taking photos and fingerprints takes a few seconds. Ask your own US embassies whether they like to issue 13 million visas to Europeans. A visa regulation would be absurd. Would it apply to everyone suddenly or only to those who got a new passport after the deadline without biometric features. The guy with a passport of 2005 doesn't need a visa, the guy with the passport of 2006 does? Makes a lot of sense. The EU has decided on introducing biometric passports, but harmonising 25 member states does take its time and you want to make sure to iron out technical flaws first. And technology evolves fast in that field. Privacy rights have to be considered as well. From what I know, Germany will actually meet the deadline. Japan instead will not. Japan! Btw the 9/11 terrorists did have valid U.S. visas. I only hope that every person crossing the "heavily guarded" border between Mexico and the U.S. does hold a biometric passport. Last thing: Yes, all new U.S. passports issued by the end of 2005 "are expected" to have a chip containing the holders' name, birth date and issuing office, as well as a a photo of the holders' face. Obviously you didn't meet your first deadline either and "are expected" doesn't sound that final to me. Of course the EU will not demand visas from US visitors. We didn't ask for them when the Visa Waiver Program wasn't introduced yet. European embassies have better things to do than issuing visas to US citizens. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2005-04-01 6:03:30 PM |
| #4 TGA, we are requiring biometric information for immigration purposes stateside. My husband had to do his in January for his permanent residency paperwork. And the new passports we are issuing do have that technology in them, if I'm correct. We're not requiring anything more than what we require here. Besides, they've had an additional year to comply with this. It's not like we just sprang it on them last week. How many more extensions is Europe going to require? I don't know how you take it, but over here it just seems like more Euro hissy fit stuff, and that's worn pretty thin. |
| Posted by: Desert Blondie 2005-04-01 4:46:47 PM |
| #3 US companies and universities have also complained about tighter US border policies, with visitors sometimes facing lengthy waits even to obtain a visa interview. Tough. I don't see the logic in compromising the security of others just because some companies and schools are being inconvenienced. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-04-01 4:36:43 PM |
| #2 I had to have three visa's when I went to Europe in '87. So what, make US Citizens get the visas. If it's too much of a pain your own tourism will go down. It's not as if Europe wasn't the main host to the Sept 11 vermin. Demanding Visa's from every country on the planet should have been instituted on Sept 12, along with a freeze on anyone from the middle east until we figued out how/what/why and the expulsion of anyone inside the US who got in illegally or overstayed their visa. This is not rocketscience, this is war. |
| Posted by: RJ Schwarz 2005-04-01 4:02:46 PM |
| #1 An estimated 13 million visitors travelling under the Visa Waiver Programme enter the U.S. each year. Trust me, the deadline will be extended. I can't see US embassies being blocked by visa requests that, given the current procedures, take much longer than 20 years ago, when you could pick up your passport in a day. A US visa costs US100 btw. I can see how this would worry the US tourism sector. And lengthy visa procedure would hurt transatlantic business badly. Since you are photographing and fingerprinting, the biometric passports need not be rushed in. You, btw, haven't got them either as far as I know. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2005-04-01 3:16:51 PM |