Belgium to make fingerprint compulsory for U.S. visa applicants

Belgium is to make fingerprint compulsory for visa applicants from the United States, local media reported on Thursday.

A trial project is being staged at the Belgian embassy in Washington and two African nations -- Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali. Eventually, a fingerprint might become compulsory for all non-EU nationals.

Foreigners who want to travel to Belgium from Washington, Kinshasa and Lubumbashi (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Bamako (Mali) will need to give their fingerprints to embassies and consulates.

The same measure will apply for all Belgians who wish to travel to the U.S., newspaper "De Morgen" reported on Thursday.

However, according to Belgian Foreign Ministry, the requirement will only apply to U.S. nationals who need a visa to enter Belgium and who apply for that visa in Washington.

"A visa is only compulsory for Americans who wish to settle in Belgium for a longer period of time and that is less than 1 percent of the Americans who travel to Belgium," Foreign Ministry spokesman Rudy Huygelen was quoted as saying.

"The fingerprint is thus not compulsory for all American tourists," he added.

Belgium will expand the experiment to 20 nations at the end of this year. Eight EU nations will then be involved in the project.

Source: Xinhua