An American policy that requires visa-free travellers to the US to carry a machine-readable passport will take effect towards the end of next month.
The requirement, laid down in the Immigration and Nationality Act of the US in October 2003, is to help deter fraud and ensure that travellers' identities can be confirmed quickly, said the US State Department.
The change, effective on June 26, will affect 23 of the 27 countries currently under the auspices of the US visa-waiver programme, including Singapore, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Britain, France and Germany. Travellers from these countries who do not hold a machine-readable passport will have to apply for a visa to visit the US.
Hong Kong and Chinese passport holders are not included in the visa-waiver programme.
Airlines and other carriers will be fined US$3,300 each time they bring in a visa-waiver traveller without a machine-readable passport.
In October the US Department of Homeland Security gave immigration inspectors at borders and ports of entry the authority to grant one-time entry at no charge for visa-free travellers who arrive without a machine-readable passport. The measure ends on June 26.