New passport system for U.S. planned

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is expediting a new passport system requiring the purchase of a $200 million machine to be able to conform to a new law in the U.S. asking travellers to obtain documents containing biometric identification.

According to a well-placed source, the Department is completing the master plan on the machine readable passport/visa scheme (MRPV) in view of the new U.S. law.

The MRPV has been delayed several times because the project's lead proponent, BCA International, has refused to have its name stipulated in the contract. But the project has reportedly been given the go ahead signal for implementation, pending proper documentation.

"Supposing we get the certificate of acceptance on June 30, the MRPV will be rolling in nine months at the latest. Rest assured our passports will be ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) compliant. We have enough time," a source said.

The Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in the wake of the September 11 attacks, requires all foreign visitors to carry travel documents containing biometric identification, that is, fingerprints or facial recognition that will enable customs and immigration officials to weed out frauds and undesirable aliens.

This means that starting October 26, 2003, any alien applying for a U.S. visa will have to present a passport imprinted with biometric identification, unless the passport was issued prior to that date.

Enactment of the law will mean tighter security at all U.S. entry points. This includes deployment of 400 additional inspectors, investigators and other staff on the Immigration and Naturali-sation Service over the next five years, according to DFA officials.

The U.S. embassy in Manila recently noted the increasing number of visa fraud cases.

According to Stuart Patt, head of the embassy's non-immigrant visa section, people from the provinces have fallen prey to fake visa scams.Sources from the DFA revealed that the going rate for a fake U.S. visa is a minimum of $6,000.