Passport application

[tekaweni]

Excuse my ignorance, but does anyone know which countries are likely to require an e-passport for entry in the near future? (apart from USA which we all know about). As far as I know this seems to be the only user benefit of havng one.

Im not concerned about the ID card, the Big Brother thing, or even the cost of the passport - but I'm in a position to apply in a couple of weeks and am trying to establish what benefits there would be in waiting for 'e'.

Any thoughts welcomed.
Kim

[mhunjn]

The US wants either an e-ppt or a the digital machine readable one which is already being issued.

[JAJ]

The US wants either an e-ppt or a the digital machine readable one which is already being issued.

Passports issued on or after 26 October 2006 will need to be an e-ppt to use the visa waiver scheme.

[ppron747]

AFAIK, no other countries have yet said that a biometric passport is essential - or is going to be... Presumably, now that the US has started the ball rolling, others will join in, as time goes on.
But assuming they do it in the same way as the US - saying that passports issued after a certain date need to be biometric in order to be acceptable - there's no need to hold out for a biometric passport now. Of course, some country may in the future just say "we're only accepting biometric passports from XX date." But I'd hope that if they tried this, other countries would talk them out of it!!

[tekaweni]

Thanks, thats cleared it up nicely for me. I had confused 'digital' with 'biometric'. I wont delay my application then.

Cheers
Kim

[TintinHerge]

Bit confused with all this epassport , digital and biometric version and all.

This is my impression - Correct me if I am wrong :

All passports issued from now on are machine-readable and will confirm to the US visa waiver programme. Apart from this , 1 in 10 of all passports will be Biometric and contain additional information. The Biometric passport is also called epassport.

[ppron747]

All UK passports issued for the last several years are machine-readable, and will continue to be acceptable for the US VWP for the foreseeable future. The only "problem" UK passports are the small percentage of passports issued by British Consulates overseas until around 2002 (?I think) which were issued using adapted typewriters, and therefore have no machine-readable zone). People holding these will either need to upgrade to MRP or get a US visa.

Passports issued on or after 26 October 2006 will need to be biometric (AKA e-passport) to qualify for the US VWP. At the moment, as you say, about 10% of UK-issued passports are biometric, and it is pretty much luck of the draw which type of passport you get. But it should be 100% before the bar drops on 25 October.

If you want to guarantee you get an e-passport (although it's not necessary), fly to the USA and apply to the British Embassy in Washington, where they've been 100% for several weeks.

[confused1]

You can fly to USA if you're rich enough... but they are also issuing epassport in Netherland aswell... It's cheaper to fly to Amsterdam fom Uk.. it costs only £79 if you fly with KLM to Amsterdam Where as it'll cost you over £250 to fly to USA

All UK passports issued for the last several years are machine-readable, and will continue to be acceptable for the US VWP for the foreseeable future. The only "problem" UK passports are the small percentage of passports issued by British Consulates overseas until around 2002 (?I think) which were issued using adapted typewriters, and therefore have no machine-readable zone). People holding these will either need to upgrade to MRP or get a US visa.

Passports issued on or after 26 October 2006 will need to be biometric (AKA e-passport) to qualify for the US VWP. At the moment, as you say, about 10% of UK-issued passports are biometric, and it is pretty much luck of the draw which type of passport you get. But it should be 100% before the bar drops on 25 October.

If you want to guarantee you get an e-passport (although it's not necessary), fly to the USA and apply to the British Embassy in Washington, where they've been 100% for several weeks.

[ppron747]

You can fly to USA if you're rich enough... but they are also issuing epassport in Netherland aswell... It's cheaper to fly to Amsterdam fom Uk.. it costs only £79 if you fly with KLM to Amsterdam Where as it'll cost you over £250 to fly to USA

Amsterdam are scheduled to start on 22nd April, according their website....

[confused1]

I've recently been to Europe using my new UK e-passport.. and what I've seen is they don't swip your passport .. they just holds your passport page with the chip closer to a reader and it reads all the informations... pretty impressive... and the immigration officials just looks at your photo... and let's you off...