It’s today been leaked that millions of Britons could be forced into buying new passports if they still want to be able to travel to America.
The proposed new security measures from both the White House and Congress have been suggested in the wake of the Paris terror attacks last month.
The White House spoke out about the move to say that US Congress were securing “new authority to require visa waiver travellers to use passports with embedded security chips.”
Those with passports that don’t have the new chips would be refused entry to the US.
There are currently an estimated five million British citizens who have the older type passport which doesn’t have the chip.
The reason for the switch in policy is said to allow US authorities to better determine which foreign travellers have previously visited “countries constituting a terrorist safe haven.”
The US government have also unveiled a preclearance programme for frequent flyers to America. This would mean that passengers travelling there should be able to avoid long immigration queues as officials would be able to screen them before they even boarded their flight to the States.
What do you think of the news? Should the UK adopt a similar policy?
Let us know in the comments below.
