Anyone Booked For The Usa Read Below

[CrapAtCryptics]

Have you got the right type of passport

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/new-us-passport-rule-could-put-a-stop-to-your-073703875.html

[toalisi]

You can check if you have a biometric passport as there is a
rectangular marker at the bottom of the cover on your passport

[Buenchico]

Full information here:
https://uk.usembassy.gov/esta/

[jno]

I have a biometric passport with a chip, and an Esta. A week before I was due to go to LA, I got an email from the Esta people saying they'd decided my passport wasn't biometric so they'd cancelled my Esta. I spent the next day frantically trying to find someone who could tell me what on earth was going on (and point out that I'd already been to the USA using that passport and Esta and had no trouble). The consulate said it was nothing to do with them and I'd have to see the security authority; but they weren't reachable.

However, two days later I got another email saying Sorry, we've changed our minds, your Esta is valid again.

Plain stupidity on their part, I guess, but a very nasty moment when your flight and accommodation are already booked and paid for.

[mikey4444]

jno.... a troubling experience I'm sure. I hear that kind of story all the time about the American authorities.

I have been to the States many times over the 40 + years, but I am not sure if I want to go again. The last time I was there, for a wedding in 2008, I had to wait ages at immigration in Boston Airport. I was interrogated about the reason for my visit, but as I was able to produce the wedding invitation, they eventually let me in.

The whole experience was humiliating and entirely unnecessary. ......thank goodness I wasn't a Muslim !

[Old_Geezer]

I gave up on visiting there again some while ago when I was informed that they wanted fingerprints. If I'm to be treated as a criminal rather than a welcomed guest then they'd ceased to be suitable hosts.

[mikey4444]

Og...I have driven coast-to-coast twice in my lifetime, and always enjoyed the experience. The scenery is wonderful, especially out West ( everyone should see the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, etc before they die ! )

The people I met, especially off the tourist trail were always very pleasant, and welcoming.

But I'm glad I did it then and not now. After 9/11 it was never the same somehow.

[Islay]

How do you know if you have a biometric passport?

[Prudie]

It has that funny icon that looks a bit like a camera on the front cover under the coat of arms etc

[rockyracoon]

It has this symbol on it. Front cover if memory serves me correctly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biometric_passport

[Islay]

Thank you just checked and we have them.

[Samuraisan]

It's not only the U.S. that fingerprint you Old Geezer. In South Korea they have fingerprinted you upon entry for years and also take a photo of your eye. It's never bothered me, it doesn't make me feel unwelcome.

[237SJ]

I'm in the US at the moment. They are introducing self service immigration machines where you scan your own passport, fingerprint yourself and the machines adjust themself to your height and take a photo. This was all done manually before but now, there is nobody actually looking at your face to make sure it matches that in your passport. Maybe that is why passports must have the chip. I have used these maches before when they were being tested but now they appear to have gone 'live'. Kuwait are taking security to a whole new level soon when they will start taking DNA samples from visitors.