U.K. fingerprinting foreign arrivals

LONDON, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- British authorities have begun a pilot project at London's Gatwick airport to use fingerprints to check the identity of some foreigners arriving in the country.

During the trial, which will run until April 2008, the fingerprints of arrivals holding visas issued by the British embassy in Freetown, Sierra Leone, will be taken and compared to the prints that were taken from the visa applicant during the issuance process, to confirm the person holding the visa is the same one who applied for it.

The pilot is part of a complete overhaul of Britain’s border-security systems, which has already begun to collect fingerprints from visa applicants across the world and aims by 2011 to be checking the fingerprints of all non-Europeans not holding visas who arrive in the country.

British Immigration Minister Liam Byrne visited the pilot project Tuesday.

"New fingerprint visas are fast becoming our first line of defense against illegal immigration,” he said in a statement released by the government information service. “By establishing people's identities beyond any doubt before they enter the U.K. we can stamp out multiple applications and identity fraud -- ensuring entry only to those who are welcome.”

Compulsory fingerprinting is now part of the British visa application process in more than 100 countries. Fingerprints are checked against government databases -- a process that has already resulted in more than 8,000 “individuals of concern” being identified, according to the statement.