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Jim Henderson wrote:
> Ah, I see - I hadn't heard of that before, at least not in this context.
> Is this what's called the "Visa waiver program"?
No. The original thing was "Special Registration":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Registration
The fingerprinting, picture taking, etc in the airports that you
alluded to in the other post began as part of that program. Every male
of a certain age range from those countries had to undergo that process
- although the officers were free to require anyone from other countries
to undergo it as well - as they saw fit. The announcement at the time
was that eventually they'd require it of all incoming non-permanent
residents - with a few exceptions (some or all EU countries, etc).
The domestic special registration ended a mere year later. They kept
the one at the ports. I don't know if they achieved the "goal" of
requiring it of all countries (with the exception of the few).
So it's during the very same fingerprinting session that they've often
asked for credit card info. Why miss out on an opportunity to monitor folks?
(Just bothered to read the Wikipedia entry. The current program is at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Visitor_and_Immigrant_Status_Indicator_Technology
Page claims it is now required of almost all countries (Canada being the
only exception?))
--
If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.
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>>>>>>mue### [at] nawaz org<<<<<<
anl
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