Britain, America's key ally in the war on terror, is pressing Washington to delay new visa rules aimed at tightening security that could deter Britons from visiting the United States.
Under the new US visa laws, all passports of visitors issued after an October 26 deadline must carry biometric features such as digital photographs or fingerprints in order for the carrier to enter the US without a visa. But biometric passports will not be available in Britain until mid-2005, the government said on Thursday.
That leaves a more than half-year gap, during which Britons needing a new passport will not be eligible for the US "visa waiver" scheme, subjecting them to a lengthy visa application process and potentially sending holidaymakers elsewhere.
"We are working closely with the US to minimise the effect on British travellers," Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman told reporters on Thursday.
"The US accepts and recognises that without careful handling these new arrangements could have an adverse effect on visitor numbers," he added.
But London sought to downplay the impact of the new regulations, saying they will affect only a small percentage of the population.
All Britons with a machine-readable passport issued before October 26 will still be eligible for a visa waiver. About 99 percent of all UK passports in circulation are machine-readable, the government said.
The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), which is involved in the talks with Washington, said it would be a "sensible move" for the US to drop the requirement for biometric passports until Britain is able to issue them. "We're hopeful they'll delay it (the deadline)," ABTA spokesman Sean Tipton told Reuters.
Some four million Britons visit the United States annually.
The prospect of Britons queuing for US visas could provide ammunition to Blair's enemies who criticise him for his staunch support of Washington over the war on terror and the conflict with Iraq, saying Britain got little in return.
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