Visa requirements for Lithuanian citizens are administrative entry restrictions imposed on citizens of Lithuania by the authorities of other states. As of 2025 Lithuanian citizens have visa-free or visa on arrival access to 182 countries and territories, ranking the Lithuanian passport 10th, tied with Iceland passport in terms of travel freedom according to the Henley Passport Index. [1]
Many countries began relaxing visa restrictions since Lithuanian independence in 1990 including Denmark (1 September 1992), [2] [3] Hungary (September 1992), [4] Czechoslovakia (October 1992), [5] Norway (March 1993), [4] Poland (May 1993), [6] Cyprus (July 1995), [7] Malta (October 1995), [8] Slovenia (May 1996), [9] Bulgaria (December 1996) [10] Iceland (April 1997), [11] Finland (2 November 1997), [12] [13] Switzerland (January 1998), [14] Austria (February 1999), [15] Germany (March 1999), [16] Greece (March 1999), [17] France (March 1999) [18] Chile (May 1999) [19] Portugal (August 1999) [20] Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherlands (November 1999) [21] Spain (April 2000), [22] Uruguay (May 2000), [23] Japan (May 2000) [24] and Israel (June 2000). [25] Following countries have restored visa for Lithuanian citizens: Kazakhstan (22 October 1993, [26] was resumed in 2017), Moldova (1 November 1993, [27] was resumed in 2006), Russia (19 April 1994) [28] Since Lithuanian 2004 accession to the European Union (EU), visa restrictions for Lithuanian citizens were relaxed. Following the accession to the European Union in 2004 and the Schengen Area in 2008, visa requirements were lifted by many countries including Macau (February 2002), [29] Hong Kong (February 2002), [30] Slovakia (March 2002), [31] South Korea (April 2002), [32] Albania (May 2003), Serbia and Montenegro (May 2003), [33] Argentina (December 2003) [34] Panama (February 2004) [35] Ukraine (July 2004), [36] Costa Rica (November 2004), [37] Mauritius (November 2004), [38] New Zealand (April 2005), [39] Paraguay (April 2005), [40] Georgia (June 2005), [41] Moldova (7 July 2005), [42] North Macedonia (July 2005), [43] Bosnia and Herzegovina (July 2005), [44] Brunei (1 October 2006), [45] Canada (March 2008), [46] Antigua and Barbuda (2008), [47] Taiwan (November 2008), [48] United States (November 2008), [49] Brazil (January 2009) [50] and Turkey (November 2009). [51]
Recently visa requirements for Lithuanian citizens were also lifted by Kyrgyzstan (July 2012), [52] Armenia (January 2013), [53] the United Arab Emirates, Timor-Leste, Samoa (May 2015), [54] [55] [56] [57] São Tomé and Príncipe (August 2015), [58] Indonesia (October 2015), [59] Tonga (November 2015), [60] Palau (December 2015), [61] Marshall Islands (June 2016), [62] Tuvalu (July 2016), [63] Solomon Islands (October 2016), [64] Kazakhstan (January 2017), [65] Belarus (February 2017), [66] Qatar (August 2017), [67] Cape Verde (1 January 2019), [68] Uzbekistan (February 2019), [69] Thailand (April 2019), [70] Tajikistan (January 2022), [71] Zambia (November 2022), [72] Mongolia (January 2023), [73] Angola (September 2023) [74] [75] and Kenya (January 2024). [76]
Lithuanian citizens were made eligible for eVisas recently by Russia (August 2023), South Africa and Cameroon (May 2023), Guinea and Malawi (October 2019), Saudi Arabia (September 2019), Suriname and Pakistan (April 2019), Vietnam (February 2019), [77] Tanzania and Papua New Guinea (November 2018), [78] Uzbekistan (1 July 2018), Ethiopia (1 June 2018),[ citation needed ] Djibouti (February 2018), [79] Egypt (December 2017), [80] Azerbaijan (January 2017), [81] India (May 2015) [82] and Myanmar (October 2014). [83]
In 2023, Lithuania ranked 9th on the list of countries based on the visa requirements for their citizens. This means that Lithuanians can travel to 182 countries and territories visa-free or can obtain visa on arrival. [84] In 2009 Lithuanian citizens could travel to 125 countries without a visa, [85] to 140 in 2010, [86] and 149 in 2012. [87]
Country | Visa requirement | Allowed stay | Notes (excluding departure fees) |
---|---|---|---|
![]() | Visa required [88] | ||
![]() | Visa not required [89] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa required [90] | ||
![]() | Visa not required [91] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [92] | 30 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [93] | 6 months | |
![]() | Visa not required [94] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [95] | 180 days | |
![]() | eVisitor [96] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [97] |
| |
![]() | eVisa [98] | 30 days [99] | |
![]() | Visa not required [100] | 3 months | |
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [101] | 14 days |
|
![]() | Visa on arrival [103] | 30 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [104] | 3 months | |
![]() | Visa not required [105] | 30 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [106] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [107] | ||
![]() | eVisa [108] [109] | 30 days / 90 days |
|
![]() | eVisa [110] | ||
![]() | Visa not required [111] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [112] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [113] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [114] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [115] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [116] |
| |
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [117] | 30 days | |
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [118] | 30 days | |
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [119] | 30 days |
|
![]() | eVisa [121] | 12 months |
|
![]() | Visa not required [122] | 6 months | |
![]() | Visa not required [68] | 30 days |
|
![]() | Visa required [126] | ||
![]() | Visa required [127] | ||
![]() | Visa not required [128] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa required [129] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [132] | 180 days |
|
![]() | Visa on arrival [133] | ||
![]() | Visa required [134] | ||
![]() | eVisa [135] | 7 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [136] | 90 days | |
![]() | eVisa [137] | 30 days [138] | |
![]() | Visa not required [139] |
| |
![]() | Tourist Card required [140] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [141] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [142] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [143] |
| |
![]() | eVisa [144] | 31 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [145] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [146] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [147] | 90 days | |
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [148] [149] | 30 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [150] | 6 months | |
![]() | eVisa [151] | ||
![]() | Visa required [152] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [153] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [154] | 30 days | |
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [155] | 3 months |
|
![]() | Visa not required [156] | 4 months | |
![]() | Visa not required [157] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [158] |
| |
![]() | eVisa [159] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [161] [162] | 28 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [163] | 1 year |
|
![]() | Visa not required [164] |
| |
![]() | Visa required [165] | ||
![]() | Visa not required [166] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [167] | 3 months | |
![]() | Visa not required [168] | 90 days | |
![]() | eVisa [169] | 90 days | |
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [170] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa required [171] | ||
![]() | Visa not required [172] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [173] | 3 months | |
![]() | Visa not required [174] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [175] |
| |
![]() | e-Visa [176] | 60 days |
|
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [179] | 30 days |
|
![]() | eVisa [180] | 30 days [181] | |
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [182] [183] | 60 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [184] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [185] | 3 months | |
![]() | Visa not required [186] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [187] | 30 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [188] | 90 days |
|
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [189] | 30 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [191] | 30 days | |
![]() | Electronic Travel Authorization [192] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [193] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa required [194] | ||
![]() | Visa not required [195] | 90 days | |
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [196] | 3 months | |
![]() | Visa not required [197] | 60 days | |
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [198] [199] | 30 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [203] |
| |
![]() | Visa on arrival [204] | 1 month |
|
![]() | eVisa [205] [206] | ||
![]() | Visa required [207] | ||
![]() | eVisa [208] | ||
![]() | Visa not required [209] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [210] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [211] | 90 days |
|
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [212] | 90 days | |
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [213] | 30 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [214] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa on arrival [215] | 30 days | |
![]() | Visa required [216] | ||
![]() | Visa not required [217] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [218] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa on arrival [219] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [220] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [221] | 180 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [222] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [223] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [224] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [225] | 30 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [226] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [227] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa on arrival [228] | 30 days | |
![]() | eVisa [229] | 28 days |
|
![]() | Visa on arrival [230] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa required [231] | ||
![]() | Visa on arrival [232] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [233] |
| |
![]() | Electronic Travel Authority [234] | 3 months |
|
![]() | Visa not required [239] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa required [240] | ||
![]() | eVisa [241] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [242] |
| |
![]() | visa not required [243] | 14 days |
|
![]() | eVisa [245] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [246] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [247] | 180 days | |
![]() | eVisa [248] | 60 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [249] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [250] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [252] | 30 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [253] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [254] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [255] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [256] |
| |
![]() | eVisa [257] [258] | 16 days | |
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [259] | 30 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [260] | 3 months | |
![]() | Visa not required [261] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [262] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [263] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [264] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [265] | 15 days | |
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [266] [267] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [268] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [269] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [270] | 3 months | |
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [271] | 3 months / 30 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [272] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [273] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [274] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [275] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa on arrival [276] |
| |
![]() | eVisa [277] | 90 days | |
![]() | Electronic Visa [278] | ||
![]() | Visa not required [280] |
| |
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [281] | 30 days | |
![]() | Visa required [282] | ||
![]() | E-tourist card [283] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [285] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [286] |
| |
![]() | Visa required [287] | ||
![]() | Visa not required [288] | 30 days | |
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [289] [290] | 3 months | |
![]() | Visa not required [70] | 60 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [291] | 90 days |
|
![]() | eVisa [292] | 15 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [60] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [293] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [294] | 3 months | |
![]() | Visa not required [296] | 3 months | |
![]() | Visa required [297] | ||
![]() | Visa not required [298] | 90 days |
|
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [299] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [301] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [302] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [303] | 6 months | |
![]() | Visa Waiver Program [304] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [306] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [307] | 30 days | |
![]() | Visa not required [308] | 90 days |
|
![]() | Visa not required [309] |
| |
![]() | Visa not required [310] | 90 days | |
![]() | eVisa [311] | 90 days | |
![]() | Visa required [313] | ||
![]() | Visa not required [314] | 90 days | |
![]() | eVisa / Visa on arrival [315] | 3 months |
Visa requirements for Lithuanian citizens for visits to various territories, disputed areas and restricted zones:
Holders of various categories of official Lithuanian passports have additional visa-free access to the following countries – Azerbaijan(diplomatic passports), China(diplomatic or service passports), Kazakhstan(diplomatic passports) and Russia(diplomatic passports). Holders of diplomatic or service passports of any country have visa-free access to Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Mali and Zimbabwe.
Many countries require a minimum number of blank pages to be available in the passport being presented, typically one or two pages. [397] Endorsement pages, which often appear after the visa pages, are not counted as being valid or available.
Many African countries, including Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo, South Sudan, Uganda, and Zambia, require all incoming passengers older than nine months to one year [398] to have a current International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis, as does the South American territory of French Guiana. [399]
Some other countries require vaccination only if the passenger is coming from an infected area or has visited one recently or has transited for 12 hours in those countries: Algeria, Botswana, Cabo Verde, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Lesotho, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. [400] [401]
Very few countries, such as Paraguay, just require a valid passport on arrival.
However many countries and groupings now require only an identity card – especially from their neighbours. Other countries may have special bilateral arrangements that depart from the generality of their passport validity length policies to shorten the period of passport validity required for each other's citizens [402] [403] or even accept passports that have already expired (but not been cancelled). [404]
Some countries, such as Japan, [405] Ireland and the United Kingdom, [406] require a passport valid throughout the period of the intended stay.
In the absence of specific bilateral agreements, countries requiring passports to be valid for at least 6 more months on arrival include Afghanistan, Algeria, Anguilla, Bahrain, [407] Bhutan, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Curaçao, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, [408] Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Laos, Madagascar, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Peru, [409] Philippines, [410] Qatar, Rwanda, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Turkey, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Venezuela, and Vietnam. [411]
Countries requiring passports valid for at least 4 months on arrival include Micronesia and Zambia.
Countries requiring passports with a validity of at least 3 months beyond the date of intended departure include Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Honduras, Montenegro, Nauru, Moldova and New Zealand. Similarly, the EEA countries of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, all European Union countries (except Ireland) together with Switzerland also require 3 months validity beyond the date of the bearer's intended departure unless the bearer is an EEA or Swiss national.
Countries requiring passports valid for at least 3 months on arrival include Albania, North Macedonia, Panama, and Senegal.
Bermuda requires passports to be valid for at least 45 days upon entry.
Countries that require a passport validity of at least one month beyond the date of intended departure include Eritrea, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Macau, the Maldives [412] and South Africa.
Countries of the Schengen area require non-EU passports to be less than 10 years old upon entry. [413] A number of holders of British passports, which until September 2018 could be issued with a validity period of up to 10 years and nine months if the previous passport was not expired, were unable to travel to the EU subsequent to Brexit due to this restriction. [414]
Some countries, including Australia, Canada, Fiji, New Zealand and the United States, [415] routinely deny entry to non-citizens who have a criminal record, while others impose restrictions depending on the type of conviction and the length of the sentence.
The government of a country can declare a diplomat persona non grata , banning them from entering the country or expelling them if they have already entered. In non-diplomatic use, the authorities of a country may also declare a foreigner persona non grata permanently or temporarily, usually because of unlawful activity. [416]
Kuwait, [417] Lebanon, [418] Libya, [419] and Yemen [420] do not allow entry to people with passport stamps from Israel or whose passports have either a used or an unused Israeli visa, or where there is evidence of previous travel to Israel such as entry or exit stamps from neighbouring border posts in transit countries such as Jordan and Egypt.
To circumvent this Arab League boycott of Israel, the Israeli immigration services have now mostly ceased to stamp foreign nationals' passports on either entry to or exit from Israel (unless the entry is for some work-related purposes). Since 15 January 2013, Israel no longer stamps foreign passports at Ben Gurion Airport. Passports are still (as of 22 June 2017 [update] ) stamped at Erez when passing into and out of Gaza.[ citation needed ]
Iran refuses admission to holders of passports containing an Israeli visa or stamp that is less than 12 months old.
Several countries mandate that all travellers, or all foreign travellers, be fingerprinted on arrival and will refuse admission to or even arrest travellers who refuse to comply. In some countries, such as the United States, this may apply even to transit passengers who merely wish to change planes rather than go landside. [421]
Fingerprinting countries/regions include Afghanistan, [422] [423] Argentina, [424] Brunei, Cambodia, [425] China, [426] Ethiopia, [427] Ghana, Guinea, [428] India, Japan, [429] [430] Kenya (both fingerprints and a photo are taken), [431] Malaysia upon entry and departure, [432] Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, [433] Singapore, South Korea, [434] Taiwan, Thailand, [435] Uganda, [436] the United Arab Emirates and the United States.
Many countries also require a photo be taken of people entering the country. The United States, which does not fully implement exit control formalities at its land frontiers (although long mandated by its own legislation), [437] [438] [439] intends to implement facial recognition for passengers departing from international airports to identify people who overstay their visa. [440]
Together with fingerprint and face recognition, iris scanning is one of three biometric identification technologies internationally standardised since 2006 by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for use in e-passports [441] and the United Arab Emirates conducts iris scanning on visitors who need to apply for a visa. [442] [443] The United States Department of Homeland Security has announced plans to greatly increase the biometric data it collects at US borders. [444] In 2018, Singapore began trials of iris scanning at three land and maritime immigration checkpoints. [445] [446]
When in a non-EU country where there is no Lithuanian embassy, Lithuanian citizens as EU citizens have the right to get consular protection from the embassy of any other EU country present in that country.
See also List of diplomatic missions of Lithuania.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Many tourists, people on working holidays, and some students and workers coming to New Zealand must pay an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) of NZD $35.
Australian citizens and permanent residents can visit, work and live in New Zealand. You do not need a visa before you travel to New Zealand.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)The number of remaining blank pages a passport should have is also an issue. Some travellers have reported arriving with one or less than one full page left and waiting for hours at immigration, until an official reluctantly grants them entry. The FCO lists no hard and fast rules because, in many cases, there aren't any.
African countries that requires (sic) Yellow Fever vaccination certificate: Countries that require vaccination for all travellers older that 9 months or 1 year: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameron, Central African Republic, Congo, Côte d'lvoire, DRC, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Niger, Togo.
African countries that requires Yellow Fever vaccination certificate: Countries that requires (sic) vaccination for travellers from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission or transit for 12 hours in those countries: Algeria, Botswana, Cabo Verde, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Lesotho, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Passport valid for travel to the United States – Your passport must be valid for at least six months beyond your period of stay in the United States (unless exempt by country-specific agreements). Each individual who needs a visa must submit a separate application, including any family members listed in your passport.
Countries whose citizens are allowed to enter Turkey with their expired passports: 1. Germany – Passports expired within the last year / ID's expired within the last year, 2. Belgium - Passports expired within the last 5 years, 3. France - Passports expired within the last 5 years, 4. Spain - Passports expired within the last 5 years, 5. Switzerland - Passports expired within the last 5 years, 6. Luxemburg - Passports expired within the last 5 years, 7. Portugal - Passports expired within the last 5 years, 8. Bulgaria – Valid ordinary passport
Q: Do I need at least 6 months passport validity in order to enter Japan? A: Japan does not have any regulations relating to passport validity, so long as your passport will be valid until after you leave Japan.
You're not from an EEA country: you must have a valid passport to enter the UK. It should be valid for the whole of your stay.
Travellers heading west from the UK to New Zealand may soon be able to avoid the onerous requirement to clear US border control during the refuelling stop at Los Angeles airport (LAX). Unlike almost every other country in the world, the US insists on a full immigration check even for passengers who simply intend to re-board their plane to continue onwards to a foreign destination. Air New Zealand, which flies daily from Heathrow via Los Angeles to Auckland, says there are currently "strict requirements for travellers" in transit at LAX. Through passengers to Auckland on flight NZ1 or Heathrow on NZ2 must apply in advance for an ESTA (online visa) even though they have no intention of staying in the US. They also have to undergo screening by the Transportation Security Administration.
Effective 27 April 2018, border control authorities at all of China's ports of entry, including its airports, will start collecting the fingerprints of all foreign visitors aged between 14 and 70. Diplomatic passport holders and beneficiaries of reciprocal agreements are exempted..
Will visitors still have their digital photo and fingerprints taken at the immigration desk on arrival? Yes, the need to have photos and fingerprints taken upon arrival is to authenticate that the person who applied for the Visa is the same person at the port of entry
While a requirement for a biometric entry-exit system has been in law for over a decade, it is not yet a reality. Many reasons for the long gestating development have been documented in BPC's 2014 report Entry-Exit System: Progress, Challenges, and Outlook, including the technological, operational, and cost challenges of creating exit systems and infrastructure where none exist today. However, many critics, especially in Congress, simply accused the Department of Homeland security of dragging its feet... the major operational, logistical, and technical challenge in implementing exit capability at our ports has been the land borders. Unlike airports and seaports, the land border environment is not physically controlled, there is no means to get advance information on who is arriving, and the sheer volume of travel—both vehicular and pedestrian—creates challenges in any system to not further exacerbate delays. While biometric exit for land vehicular traffic is still in the "what if" stage, CBP is moving ahead and piloting systems and technology to use with the large population of pedestrian crossers at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Long demanded by lawmakers in Congress, it is considered a critical step to developing a coherent program to curb illegal immigration, as historically about 30 percent to 40 percent of illegal immigrants in the United States arrived on tourist visas or other legal means and then never left, according to estimates by Homeland Security officials.
Efforts to determine whether visitors actually leave have faltered. Departure monitoring would help officials hunt for foreigners who have not left, if necessary. Domestic security officials say, however, it would be too expensive to conduct fingerprint or facial recognition scans for land departures.
The breach of privacy is probably the biggest threat to the biometric technique of iris recognition. Secondly, a device error can false reject or false accept the identity which can also have some heinous consequences. Lastly, the method isn't the most cost-effective one. It is complex and therefore expensive. Furthermore, the maintenance of devices and data can also be relatively burdensome. However, thanks to the oil money and spending ability of Dubai, they are economically equipped to effectively embrace this system.
Unlike with documents, it's very hard for a traveler to present a forged copy of a fingerprint or iris. That's why the U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to vastly expand the amount of biometric data it collects at the borders. According to Passcode, a new program will ramp up a process to scan fingers and eyes in order to stop people entering and exiting the country on someone else's passport.
Singapore has started scanning travellers' eyes at some of its border checkpoints, its immigration authority said on Monday, in a trial of expensive technology that could one day replace fingerprint verification.
The iris technology could potentially scan irises covertly, as opposed to the scanning of thumbprints which necessitates active participation.