EU to Implement Biometric Visas

June 14, 2007: The EU has approved a new biometric visa system that will see details such as fingerprints and photos of 70 million EU visa holders store in a massive database.

According to an agreement reached on Tuesday by the EU justice and interior ministers, the database will be accessible by the 15 EU member states who are part of the Schengen borderless travel area and should, according to German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, stop people from “visa shopping” among EU nations.

The database will be the only one of its kind in the world, and aside from biometric data and photographs will include the name, address, and occupation of the visa holder, plus other data relevant to a visa application, issue, rejection or extension.

The system is intended to increase border security and reduce instances of identity fraud and the forging of EU visas.

Franco Frattini, the EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner, says the system will be up and running by 2009.

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