passport

[bednobs]

hi after seeing hundreds of posts about visas and usa, i have a travelling question of my own. i know i could probably search myself but i wondered if anyone knew the answer to this. Someone else has booked my ticket to the USA for september. i do not have a biometric passport, it is around 5 years old. Do i need a biometric one to go to usa?

[Buenchico]

Your passport is valid. For confirmation, see here:
http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/niv/ mrp_bio.html

Chris

[dzug]

Not if your passport is 5 years old - the requirement for a biometric chip is only for passports ISSUED after a certain date - from memory October 2006.

[kempie]

It has always been a happy coincidence (not!) that each of the most recently updated requirements for entry into the US by a UK full passport holder only becomes fully active upon the expiry of the last issue of the outdated previous type of passport.

This result of US/UK negotiation means that all unexpired full UK passports have (so far) always met type requirements for entry into the US.