The UK Passport Service already has the technology to produce passports with photographs that are digitally printed onto the page, rather than glued or laminated, but the agencies of Italy, Austria and France are not ready to produce the new style of passport.

The new regulations apply only to passports issued after October 26 2005 from the 27 countries that participate in the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) (which includes most of Europe, plus Australia, Singapore, Japan and Brunei), allowing their residents to travel in the US without a visa for up to 90 days.

While today's new rules should not affect Britons applying for a passport, there are a series of changes to passport and US entry requirements of which travellers must be aware:

October 26 2004

As of last year all visitors from VWP participating countries visiting the US must hold a machine-readable passport. All British passports issued in the UK since 1991 have been machine-readable, i.e. they have two lines of black characters printed at the bottom of the photo page that can be scanned like a bar code. Only British passports issued overseas may not be machine-readable.

September 12 2005

One of the most troublesome new rules has been the introduction on September 12 of photo requirements. Times Online’s own travel editor, Steve Keenan, fell foul of the new regulations when four Passport Office officials failed to agree on the validity of his photograph.

The regulations have been particularly taxing for people applying for passports for children and toddlers, who have been required to hold their own machine-readable passport since June 26 2005 in order to visit the US. Times Online has heard from many readers whose applications have been turned down after their child’s photograph was deemed ‘too shiny’, showing too much teeth, or in one case, the child’s head was tilted five degrees off straight. Read their stories online

October 4 2005

Updated APIS (Advanced Passenger Information System) requirements means passengers travelling to the US must provide their airline or tour operators with the exact details of their address for the first night of their stay. Passengers who haven’t provided this information as of October 4 have been denied entry.

October 26 2006

Attempts by US authorities to introduce the requirement for visitors from VWP participating countries to hold biometric, or e-passports have been postponed, and will only be required of passports issued after October 26 2006. Biometric passports, which contain data from a facial scan, will be introduced by the UK Passport Service in early 2006, and applicants will require a face-to-face interview and could have to pay up to £58, instead of the current £42 charge.