What is a biometric passport? Do I need to get one before I go travelling?

A biometric passport is a combined paper and electronic identity document that uses biometrics to authenticate the citizenship of travellers. The passport can hold information for facial recognition, fingerprint recognition, and iris recognition on a tiny computer chip embedded in the passport. Countries are introducing these ePassports to enhance the security of passports and prevent passport fraud. These passports also meet the strict requirements of the US Visa Waiver Program which allows the 27 participating countries to enter the USA for holiday or business purposes for a period up to 90 days without a visa.

You don’t need to change your current passport for a biometric one until you reach the expiry date on your current passport. When you apply for a new passport, leave about 3 weeks for your passport application.

Most UK citizens will not need to change their current passport for a biometric passport to travel to the US. Your British passport is OK if the personal information page (containing your name, photo and date of birth) is on an inside page of your passport (and not on the inside back cover). If your passport was issued inside the UK, you are OK if your personal information page is on the inside back cover. If your passport was issued outside the UK, you need to check www.usembassy.org.uk to see it you are OK for travel to the US with your current passport.

Australian passports issued up to 23 October 2005 have a Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) and a digitised photo on the data page, both of which meet the current US requirements.

An existing New Zealand passport should be accepted for entry to the USA as long is it is a machine readable passport.