| Israelis fingerprinted us visa { November 26 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/365059.htmlhttp://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/365059.html
Wed., November 26, 2003 Kislev 1, 5764 Israelis to undergo fingerprint testing to receive U.S. visa By Aluf Benn Every Israeli between 14 and 79 years old will from the start of December be forced to undergo fingerprint testing as part of his or her application for a visa to the United States, the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv announced yesterday.
The new requirement will be implemented in every country whose citizens need a visa to gain entry to the U.S. and will involve running the fingerprints of both hands through an electronic ink-free scanner during an applicant's standard interview for a visa.
Diplomats working in the U.S., staff at Israel's embassies, delegates to United Nations conferences at the UN building in New York and those in need of emergency medical treatment in the U.S. will not have to undergo the checks.
The toughening of visa requirements was prompted by the September 11 terrorist attacks. According to the new regulations, which came into effect this January, all Israelis between the ages of 16 and 60 are required to be interviewed before getting a visa stamp on their passports. The interview requirement has created huge delays in processing visas requests.
There are only 27 countries, almost all of them European, whose citizens are allowed to enter the U.S. without a visa. For a country to join this list, no more than 3 percent of visa applications from that country can be rejected every year. Israel has not yet met that criterion, although it was close before the intifada began.
According to U.S. Ambassador Dan Kurtzer, about 94 percent of Israeli visa applications are accepted.
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