U.S. Keeps The Pressure On For E-Passports

摘要

The U.S. government lit a fire under its mayor trading part-ners-and opened up a big new opportunity for the smart card industry-when it enacted a law in 2002 effectively mandating issuance of passports containing contactless smart card chips. Any nation that did not comply would find that its citizens no longer could enter the United States with just a passport under the Visa Waiver program. The original deadline for the 27 Visa Waiver countries to start issuing chip-based passports containing a digital photo and personal data was Oct. 26, 2004. However, senior Bush administration officials earlier this year asked Congress for a two-year extension, noting that several major allies would not be ready by this fall.