by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 8:45 AM ET, Wed November 5, 2025
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued new guidance to U.S. Customs and Border Protection that will allow CBP to require the collection of biometrics for non-U.S. travelers entering and exiting the country, a move that follows the European Union’s recent adoption of its biometric Entry/Exit System.
The United States has delayed introducing a biometric exit system, but according to the new guidance, which becomes effective on December 26, the new system will be implemented within three to five years.
The news was announced by the U.S. Travel Association; an attempt was made to find the original news announced by DHS and CBP, but it could not be found on either website.
The U.S. Travel Association is celebrating the new initiative towards biometric entry/exit, due to its effectiveness at verifying identities, its faster processing time and the potential for increasing the number of visa-free partner countries by changing the metric for Visa Waiver Program eligibility.
The Visa Waiver Program allows travelers from a country to visit the United States without a traveler visa; according to the data, arrival rates increased 18 percent relative to overall visitation just six months after a country was added to the program. After three years of addition, arrivals from a newly added country increased 24 percent.
South Korea was one of these countries, added to the VWP in 2008. Three years after being added, South Korean visitation to the United States increased by nearly 50 percent.
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