News
Biometric passports to have minimal impact
06 October 2006
British travellers have been assured that the introduction of new biometric passports will have only a minimal impact in terms of application time.
The Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) has said people will hardly notice a difference as the new passports become the norm.
The price of a biometric passport has increased from £55 to £66 in order to pay for the extra technology needed to make it.
Over one million of the new documents, which contain a chip that has a person's date and place of birth and a digitised photograph stored on it, have been issued already.
'Practically it shouldn't make an awful lot of difference at all to travellers,' Dee Byrne from Abta told BBC News 24.
'They will be able to apply for a passport in exactly the same way as before. The recommended amount of time is still about the same, four to six weeks, and all they will see at the end is a slightly new type of passport.'
Ms Byrne also moved to quash concerns that people with the old generation passports may have trouble entering the US without a visa.
She told the BBC, passengers 'shouldn't' be affected 'at the moment', but urged anyone travelling to the country to check before leaving.
© Adfero Ltd
The Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) has said people will hardly notice a difference as the new passports become the norm.
The price of a biometric passport has increased from £55 to £66 in order to pay for the extra technology needed to make it.
Over one million of the new documents, which contain a chip that has a person's date and place of birth and a digitised photograph stored on it, have been issued already.
'Practically it shouldn't make an awful lot of difference at all to travellers,' Dee Byrne from Abta told BBC News 24.
'They will be able to apply for a passport in exactly the same way as before. The recommended amount of time is still about the same, four to six weeks, and all they will see at the end is a slightly new type of passport.'
Ms Byrne also moved to quash concerns that people with the old generation passports may have trouble entering the US without a visa.
She told the BBC, passengers 'shouldn't' be affected 'at the moment', but urged anyone travelling to the country to check before leaving.
© Adfero Ltd
 |  |
Related stories
29 August 2008
- Sixty thousand on lookout for transatlantic flights >
20 August 2008
- Tourists 'can return to Florida Keys today' >
19 August 2008
- FOE pushes for green travel to top the agenda >
15 August 2008
- Medical cover 'most important' outside western Europe >
13 August 2008
- FCO urges Brits not to cut corners on insurance >
- Star Alliance launches document check system >
- Sixty thousand on lookout for transatlantic flights >
20 August 2008
- Tourists 'can return to Florida Keys today' >
19 August 2008
- FOE pushes for green travel to top the agenda >
15 August 2008
- Medical cover 'most important' outside western Europe >
13 August 2008
- FCO urges Brits not to cut corners on insurance >
- Star Alliance launches document check system >
