permanent residents

The Department of Homeland Security has released a final rule to start as of January 18, 2009, trying to enforce that legal permanent residents meet US-VISIT program biometric requirements when travelling. Currently, the US-VISIT verifies the identities and travel documents of visitors who provide fingerscans, photographs, or other biometric identifiers upon arrival at, or departure from, the United States. Currently, people entering the United States pursuant to a nonimmigrant visa, or those traveling without a visa as part of the Visa Waiver Program, are subject to US-VISIT requirements, with certain limited exceptions. The new rule, which goes into effect on January 18, 2009, will subject legal permanent residents (LPRs or green card holders) to the fingerprinting and digital photos procedure which is currently applied to other non-immigrants entering the U.S.