U.S. deploys more biometric scanners to more consulates around world

We wrote two days ago about the growing wave of forged documents submitted to U.S. consulates in India by Indians eager to receive a U.S. entry visa. This is the case in many other countries, and the Department of State is doing something about it as part of a more general effort to tighten control of U.S. borders. Palm Beach Gardens, Florida-based Cross Match Technologies, a provider of biometric systems and technologies, has received an order from the department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) for 675 L SCAN Guardian livescan fingerprint scanner units and related software. Cross Match previously has already delivered to CA 650 Guardian units and related software. The units have been deployed to consulates in El Salvador, England, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere. The additional 675 Guardian units and software purchased by CA will be deployed to other international locations by the end of 2007. These deployments are part of the Department of State’s Biometric Visa Program, a program designed to increase security in the visa issuance process by capturing ten fingerprints from applicants seeking visas to enter the United States and checking the fingerprints against government databases.

James Ziglar, president and CEO of Cross Match, noted that “we designed the Guardian and its related software to meet the government’s need for smaller, lighter technology that can auto-capture, segment, quality score and format ten fingerprints in less than fifteen seconds. We are very pleased to receive this follow-on order from Consular Affairs and grateful for the opportunity to contribute to enhancing and protecting our national security.”