Biometric UK

From the BBC:

"Britons with 'wrong passport' stopped from travelling to US"

Britons travelling to the United States have been warned to check they have an e-passport, or risk being turned away. Vic Ryan, from Lincoln, said his family holiday to Florida had been "totally ruined" after he was turned away at airport check-in because he had an old style passport. New rules requiring US visitors to have passports with a biometric trip came into force on 1 April. Tour operators have urged customers to check their passports. Biometric passports are identifiable on British passports by the camera logo at the bottom of the front cover, and have an embedded electronic chip holding the carrier's facial details, in a bid to combat fraud and forgery. It is understood that British passports affected are those issued between April and October 2006 - before the introduction of the biometric passport. Simon Calder, travel editor at the Independent newspaper, estimates about 1.3 million British passports are currently valid but not biometric.  In a Facebook post that was shared more than 60,000 times, Mr Ryan said he was prevented from boarding his flight on 1 May, despite having a passport valid for six months, because it was not biometric. "I have now spent best part of three hours on the phone being passed from pillar to post," he said. "And had to fork out over £500 to try and get to the US on Wednesday to meet up with a very distraught family to try and rescue a totally ruined holiday." Despite booking through travel agent Thomson, and filling in advanced passenger information and Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (Esta), the issue was never flagged, he said. Thomson said it was "sorry to hear that a small number of customers had been unclear on the passport and visa guidelines" for entry to the US.  "We also advise customers it's their responsibility to check the passport, visa and health requirements for their holiday destination," the company said, adding that it was also reviewing how it could better highlight the issue to customers. The new rules, which were decided in as part of an anti-terrorism strategy in December 2015, say that only people with a biometric passport will be allowed entry to the United States from 1 April 2016.

US Homeland Security states:

• The passport must have a machine-readable zone on the biographic page
• The passport must be an electronic passport with a digital chip containing biometric information about the passport owner

UK passports which are biometric feature a small gold symbol at the bottom of the front cover.Any Briton travelling to the US for tourism or business for 90 days or less also needs fill in a form to obtain a valid Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (Esta). This is not a visa, but is part of a system to increase security for travellers entering the US from the 38 countries signed up to the Visa Waiver Programme - including the UK. Babies, and those passing through America in transit, also need an Esta.

^ While we are meant to feel sad and picture a family separated by force because of the new biometric law that has been in force for a month now the truth is no one forced the "separated" family members to go on the trip without the other person. They should  have also bought trip insurance and then wouldn't have lost their money. The main point that people are forgetting when hearing about these "sob" stories is that it is no one else's fault except for the individual traveler. Ignorance of a law is not an excuse - especially when you can spend a few minutes and easily find what is needed to travel to the United States on the US Embassy website. I have looked at numerous US Embassy websites for different countries and they are very good at keeping things updated. When I travel to another country I first check that country's website (if  there  is  one) for visa and travel information and then check the US Embassy website for the country I am going to visit to see if there are any warnings, etc. These are not hard things to easily check. There was ample time for the Brits to know about the new regulations and to prepare for them. Travelling - especially outside your own country - isn't a guaranteed right as many people have come to expect over recent years. It is up to a country to decide what it will and will not accept as travel documents (passports, visas, electronic permission, etc.) and to let the public know. It is then the public's responsibility to meet those requirements. Even then the Immigration officer in any country can refuse you entry. I feel sorry for the people that know and follow all the rules, laws and regulations and still get rejected, but not for those that don't. People need to start taking responsibility for their own mistakes  - even costly ones dealing with international travel. ^

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-36228034