But it shouldn’t be a problem in Palm Beach County.
Authorities at international airports throughout the nation are now scanning fingerprints and taking photos of most foreigners arriving in this country. Residents of 27 countries ﾖ mostly European nations — are exempt from this extra level of scrutiny.
The only non-domestic flights arriving at Palm Beach International Airport are from Canada and the Bahamas, said Lisa De La Rionda, spokeswoman for PBIA.
And those passengers are processed separate from those arriving from other parts of the United States.
Passengers coming into PBIA on chartered or private flights also remain out of the domestic arrival line.
The fingerprint and photo program – called US-VISIT ﾖ went into effect Monday at 115 airports and 14 seaports around the country.
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said the process adds only 15 seconds to travel time and is very private.
De La Rionda agreed, saying the extra measure of security “shouldn’t add to delays.
Coincidentally, neither Canada nor the Bahamas is on the exemption list.
She said the Border Department and Customs Service has installed the equipment at PBIA needed to do the photography and fingerprinting.
The same type of scrutinizing apparatus will be used to check out passengers at the Port of Palm Beach, she said.
Citizens from 27 countries can travel to the United States without a visa and are exempt from being fingerprinted and photographed at U.S. airports and seaports under the new anti-terrorism program.
They can enter the United States with passports for business or pleasure for up to 90 days.
To travel for other purposes or to stay longer, they must have a visa and would be subject to the checks for other arriving foreigners under the new US-VISIT program.
By October, visitors from the exempt countries must have a machine-readable
passport to enter the United States. If not, they will be required to have a
visa and will be subject to US-VISIT checks.
The exempt countries are: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, United Kingdom, Portugal and Singapore.
By Dale M. King, The Boca-Raton News
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
