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DHS warns on passport upgrades

WASHINGTON, May 13 (UPI) -- The Department of Homeland Security has reminded visitors they have less than six weeks to get machine-readable passports to enter the United States.

The DHS has reminded travelers from 27 Visa Waiver Program countries that from June 26, 2005, they must have a machine-readable passport to enter the United States without a visa.

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Machine-readable passports have a sequence of lines that can be swiped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers to confirm the passport holder's identity quickly and to obtain other information about the holder typically found on a passport's inside cover.

For a limited period, the DHS has been authorizing a one-time waiver for entry into the country for VWP travelers without a machine-readable passport, at no charge to the traveler. But this limited period will end on June 26, 2005, the DHS said.

Beginning June 26, 2005, transportation carriers will be fined $3,300 per violation, for transporting any VWP traveler to the United States without a machine-readable passport.

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