The US Embassy in London has released a statement regarding the introduction of machine readable and biometric passports.

Following new security rules imposed by US Congress, all visitors to America with passports issued after 26 October 2004 must carry the new biometric identifier on their passports while children will be barred from travelling on their parents’ documents and need their own passport.

As British officials are currently predicting that the UK won’t be able to produce biometric passports until, at the earliest, the middle of 2005, all new passports until this date will need a visa from the US embassy in London.

But those holding existing passports with machine-readable barcodes will not need visas for US holidays until they have to be renewed.

The British government is currently lobbying Washington to try and extend the October deadline, arguing that the US passport control doesn’t expect to produce biometric passports until mid-2005 either. Details: www.usembassy.org.uk