Chipless travellers to US will need visa
From July 1 the United States will accept provisional Swiss passports without data chips but only with a visa.
Switzerland is one of 35 countries whose citizens at present are not required to obtain visas for entry to the US, which is visited by an estimated 270,000 Swiss every year.
The US embassy said on Thursday the new ruling applied to travellers with provisional passes from every country that, like Switzerland, was participating in the US’s visa waiver programme.
For visa-free travel in the US, American authorities accept only the Pass 06 – which has a data chip and is part of an ongoing pilot project – and the Pass 03, which was issued before October 26, 2006.
On May 17 the Swiss go to the polls to vote on whether to introduce biometric passports, including a central fingerprint database.
The government and the two main centre-right parties argue the new passports facilitate travelling, while the centre-left and rightwing groups raise objections about data security.
Under an agreement with Europe’s single border Schengen Area, Switzerland is to introduce e-passports by March 2010.
Washington has made biometric passports a precondition for visa-free entry into the US.
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