Chennai: Recording of fingerprints of all United States Visa applicants across the globe would be made mandatory from 2004, a senior US consulate official said on October 29.

"It is proposed to have fingerprints of all the US Visa applicants taken on the spot at all Visa processing offices of US from October 26, 2004," Michael Thomas, chief consul, Consulate General of USA, Chennai, said while addressing a meeting organised by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations.

Speaking on the latest US Visa regulations especially after September 11 2001, he said there was no change in regulations as such, adding that the only thing was that certain changes had been made in Visa issuing procedures in the interests of his country's national security.

He said under these procedural changes, Visa applicants needed to be more specific on the details to be furnished on the application form, especially with regard to the purpose of their visit, place of stay and financial support in US.

The US consulate in Chennai was presently processing at least 1,80,000 Visa applications a year and a major chunk was those of Indian IT professionals, students and parents visiting their children settled in US.

He said while the consulate was keen to encourage genuine travellers to US, it was also equally concerned about the security interests of the country.

PTI