The US senate has approved a one-year extension to the requirement for British travellers to hold biometric passports when visiting America.

The extension decision alleviates the pressure on the UK Passport Service (UKPS) to provide all Britons with passports that include biometric data – such as fingerprints – and means that Britons with the regular machine-readable passports will be able to travel to the US visa-free until 26 October 2005.

The Foreign Office said: “We lobbied to have this deadline extended and will continue to work to ensure that any new measures are introduced with a minimum of disruption.”

Machine-readable passport have been issued in Britain since 1991.

After 26 October 2005, all Britons wishing to travel to the US must have a biometric passport. If not, they will have to apply for a visa and have their fingerprints taken upon arrival to the US. Details: www.usembassy.org.uk