United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology

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US-VISIT (United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology) is a program of the Department of Homeland Security of the United States of America aiming to protect the country from terrorist attacks by tightening the border security and recording the entry and exit of non-U.S. citizens to and from the United States.

The program is mandated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service Data Management Improvement Act (DMIA) of 2000.

According to the US-VISIT policy, certain non-U.S. citizens who wish to enter the United States have their two index fingers digitally scanned and a digital photograph taken at the U.S. port of entry. Immigration officials have the ability to instantly check the criminal background using ADIS of the person seeking entry.

US VISIT

There is also a pilot program in effect at certain airports and seaports where visitors who used US-VISIT on entry will have to perform a similar procedure upon exiting the United States. Passengers will check out of the country at exit kiosks located within the terminal. Similar to the process the visitors encountered on entry, their travel documents are read, their two index fingers will be digitally scanned at the exit kiosk, a digital picture will be taken and they will receive a printed receipt that verifies that they have checked out. An exit workstation attendant will be available to assist with visitors' check out. Visitors also may be required to present the receipt at their departure gate to confirm that they checked out at the exit kiosk. An alternative under the pilot exit program is a biometric check-out process with a US-VISIT exit attendant stationed at visitors' departure gates.

Initially, only visitors who required a visa inserted in their passport were included in the US-VISIT program. However, since September 30, 2004 visitors who are eligible for the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) have also been required to use the US-VISIT program. For a list of countries participating in the VWP program see: Visa Waiver Program.

The United States and Canada have special agreements for visa-free travel, and currently most Canadians are not subject to US-VISIT.

U.S. citizens are not required to be digitally fingerscanned or photographed when they enter United States territory. The Department of State will begin issuing biometric passports to its citizens in 2006.

Brazil has requested to be exempted from this measure, and failing this, has implemented a similar program of fingerprinting and photographing American citizens entering Brazil. The Brazilian program has commenced in Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo in January 2004.

The consulting company Accenture is the lead contractor for US-VISIT. The selection of Accenture in 2004 was controversial due to the location of the company's headquarters. In 2000, Accenture was created and incorporated in Bermuda, as a separation of global business consulting services from the financial consulting services of Andersen Consulting. Because Accenture was created in 2000, and because Andersen was not previously incorporated, Accenture was never previously considered to be incorporated in the United States.