WASHINGTON, Jan 16: The Bush administration added five more Muslim countries to the Immigration and Naturalisation System (INS) registration list, as part of major effort to keep track of foreign visitors considered a security risk.

Officials at the Department of Justice said male citizens from Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Bangladesh and Indonesia will have to register when they enter the United States and those already here must contact the INS by March 28. This brings to 25 the number of countries, mostly Muslim and many Middle Eastern, whose male citizens face special registration if they come to the US.

Others already listed, include Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates. Once registered, visitors from these countries will have to check out through special exit offices when they leave the country or face being barred from re-entering the US.

It is unclear how many people are affected by the latest order. The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that some 1.5 million of the 33 million foreign-born residents are “long-term visitors” who stay in the country with the intention to settle down. There are also an estimated eight million undocumented foreigners living in the country.

The target of these new rules are students, people with work visas and other visitors who will be in the US for extended periods but citizens and green card holders are exempted.

This is the third major registration call since last November, in a programme that has been widely criticized as racially motivated and “deeply flawed.”

A wide range of congressional, Muslim religious groups and others have criticized the registration scheme for racial profiling, and suggested that the US is trying to discourage Muslims and people from Middle Eastern countries from visiting.

Meanwhile, long-term visitors to the US from Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and Bangladesh would have from Feb 24 to March 28 to register at local Los Angeles INS offices.

In addition, the INS would also give long-term visitors from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria, who missed a Dec 16 deadline, another chance to register without penalty, officials said.