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Deadlines and Timing for US-VISIT

The law required that an automated entry and exit program be implemented at airports and seaports by December 31, 2003; the 50 busiest land ports of entry (POEs) by December 31, 2004; and all POEs by December 31, 2005.

On 9 August 2004, President Bush signed HR 4417, extending by one year (until October 26, 2005) the deadline set in the Enhanced Border Security Act of 2002 for countries in the Visa Waiver Program. This deadline required VWP countries to certify that they had programs in place to issue their citizens machine-readable passports, which incorporate biometric identifiers and comply with standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The US-VISIT enrollment process is fast and easy for visitors and works as an added layer of security. Since deploying US-VISIT entry capabilities at 115 airports and 14 seaports on 5 January 2004, US-VISIT has processed millions of people and prevented hundreds of persons with prior or suspected criminal or immigration violations from entering the country, all while not adversely impacting wait times for legitimate visitors at airports and seaports.

US-VISIT has a biographic system in place to know when a visa holder has exited the country. It compares information from airlines' manifests. Also, US-VISIT began a pilot test of a biometric exit process on January 5, 2004 at Baltimore-Washington International Airport and Miami International Cruise Line Terminal, and with expansion of pilot testing to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in August 2004 and the following airports in September 2004: Atlanta, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Ft. Lauderdale, Newark, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, San Juan, and Seattle. The exit pilot expanded to Los Angeles (Long Beach and San Pedro) seaports in September, 2004. The exit procedures being piloted require foreign visitors to check out at an exit station or with a US VISIT exit attendant at the departure gate at the port. Foreign visitors will go though one of the following processes, depending on location.

• Under one alternative, visitors departing the United States would check out of the country at exit stations located within the airport or seaport terminal. As with the process the visitors encounter upon entry at airports or seaports, their travel documents are read, their two index fingers will be scanned at the exit station, their digital picture will be taken, and they will receive a printed receipt that verifies that they have checked out. An exit attendant will be available to assist with visitors' check out.
• The second alternative still uses the exit station but includes an additional step - verifying - at the departure gate. Visitors will be required to present the receipt at their departure gate to confirm that they checked out at the exit station. The exit attendant will scan the receipt and then ask the visitor to place an index finger on the scanning device. Once the person's identity is matched to the receipt, the exit attendant will hand the visitor their receipt back and the visitor will board.
• Another alternative under the pilot program is a biometric check-out process with a US VISIT exit attendant at visitors' departure gates.

By the end of 2004, US-VISIT piloted other alternatives for exit, and after an evaluation, selected the most effective process to implement system-wide. The test is designed to find the optimum means to capture biometrics on exit. If their port of departure has exit procedures in place, visitors traveling with a visa will be required to confirm their departure prior to leaving the United States.

As of 30 September 2004, US-VISIT entry and exit procedures expanded to include visitors traveling to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) arriving at airports and seaports.

As of March 2005, US VISIT procedures are in place at almost all of the 211 visa-issuing posts but does not apply to foreign visitors seeking entry at land border ports of entry. The initial phase of US-VISIT was successful, including complete interoperability of databases between U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers and Department of State consular affairs staff.

In May 2007, DHS announced that it intended to integrate biometric exit procedures into the existing international visitor departure process. The change would make the process of departing the United States more convenient and accessible for international visitors. DHS would take a number of steps in 2007 toward full implementation of biometric exit procedures at airports. The first step would be the completion of the three-year pilot program that required international visitors to biometrically check out at select airports and seaports. Effective 6 May 2007, international visitors would no longer be required to use the US-VISIT exit kiosks when they leave the United States. International visitors who received a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Form I-94, Arrival-Departure Record, upon arrival must still return the form to an airline or ship representative when departing the United States.