ISLAMABAD, May 20: The United States has announced that it would enforce machine-readable passport requirements upon all travellers from visa waiver programme countries from June 26, 2005. The requirements regarding machine-readable passports are not intended to discourage visa waiver programme nationals from travelling to the United States, according to a press release of the US embassy.

The rule was enforced in October 2004 but to facilitate travellers, the Department’s Customs and Border Protection Bureau had given officials at ports of entry the discretionary authority to grant one-time exemptions on a case-by-case basis to visa waiver programme travellers without a visa or a machine-readable passport.