USCIS to introduce biometric customer identity verification for field offices

Starting next month, the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) will introduce biometric customer identity verification in its field offices.

Under the new system, people will be required to submit fingerprints and photographs when appearing at USCIS offices for interviews or to receive evidence of an immigration benefit.

As it stands, the USCIS requires applicants and petitioner requesting immigration or naturalization benefits to submit biometrics. According to the USCIS, this data help to determine eligibility for requested benefits. Those coming to USCIS for other purposes, such as an Infopass appointment or as the guest of an applicant or petitioner, will not submit biometrics.

Under the new system, two fingerprints and a photograph will be taken, and this information will be fed into the US-VISIT Secondary Inspections Tool.

Reported previously, the USCIS recently awarded a contract to the U.S. Investigations Services to provide biometric capture services in support of applications for a variety of immigration benefits and U.S. citizenship.

Biometrics have been a hot topic of discussion in the United States as of late, as noted previously in BIometricUpdate.com, American senators John McCain and Chuck Schumer have said their framework for immigration reform could require biometric information to check employment status.

Rawlson King, in a recent op-ed, suggests the U.S. should adopt biometric IDs for Social Security, and says it’s conceivable that the Obama Administration is on-side.  

 

Article Topics

fingerprint  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  government  |  verification