Not that I think I won't get into the country, but this is likely going to delay my actually getting out of the airport, and to be honest, if I'd known of this before I booked my tickets (Virgin's website doesn't have any info on this) I don't know that I would've gone. (Yeah, call me paranoid, but dude, I'm from a country with mandatory ID cards, and yet I can't help feel weird about this.)
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Looks like I'm not going to be meeting the in-laws, then, unless they come here.
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Still, though, I'm not going to be tagged like that. I won't get a biometric ID card or passport, and I'm not going to give a foreign government something I don't trust my own one with.
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Yes, but no one in the world has biometric passports, apart from the US.
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No idea what they want to store on the chips in future though ...
actually I have no idea what's on them now, apart from probably her address
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I've heard a lot of (valid) complaints about this from the privacy angle, but as far as I know, it hasn't been a hassle in terms of the time it takes. So worry only about the US government having your data, and not about getting out of the airport.
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Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to stop him from claiming 51% majority as a "mandate". *grumbles something about monkeys, maths, and pies*
Good to know about the lines, and while I'm a wee bit apprehensive about the whole thing, it's too late to back out now, and as long as it's just a photo and fingerprints, the cynical part of me points out that that's nothing they couldn't get without my knowledge, anyway.
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I went with mine and entered the country in SFO and the US Visit system was there (I saw it and saw it being used) but I didn't have to go through it because I was part of the visa-waived travelers-- did that change already?
One other thing, though: the system went really fast and didn't hold up *any one*. Seriously. The pace for the entrance queuing was the same as it's ever been.
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Anyway, I'm not too bothered, but it was a bit of a shock cause no one'd told me.
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On the one hand, I suppose the fact that they take fingerprints shouldn't be too bad. After all, it's not like you, or I should I ever go there, are up to anything. And it would certainly help tracking down criminals. Yet the sheer thought of having my fingerprints taken makes me become queasy. It means that from now on, they can check whether you've been anywhere, if they really want to. I wonder if this'll create a trend of people wearing gloves everywhere. :p
It just seems like such a… suspicious thing to do. It's like