Tighter checks are leading to longer queues

[Shinobi]

Tighter checks are leading to longer queues

Last Updated: 2:38am BST 14/08/2007

The need for tighter checks on travel documents has led to the increasing sophistication of both passports and the machinery needed to read them.

Originally, passengers would wave a passport at the immigration officer, whose task it was to verify that the photograph was of the person entering the country. The newest generation of biometric passports is embedded with data, designed to make it harder to forge the document.

These passports are verified by being put through a scanner. Older passports are examined but data is tapped into a computer as a further check.
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While the difference in the time taken between the two procedures is little more than a few seconds, the difference can be crucial in a crowded arrivals hall. The greatest difficulties arise when several flights arrive at the same time.

The Immigration Service Union has called on the Government to provide enough staff to handle the new demands.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml.../13/nair213.xml