Bermudians are exempt from the US Homeland Security's ‘US-Visit' programme which requires foreigners to be fingerprinted and photographed when they enter that country, the US Consulate confirmed yesterday.

Last week the programme was expanded to include 27 Visa-waiver countries, including Britain, following an extension of a deadline for those countries to have biometric passports.

Yesterday US Consul Jill Esposito cautioned that Bermudians travelling on non-Bermudian passports should carry evidence that they do in fact have Bermuda status.

“I would just say that Bermudians be aware of the fact that not all immigration inspectors the world over are fully aware of what a Bermudian status stamp in a non-Bermudian passport means,” she said. “So if they are travelling on a passport of a different nationality they should get an information sheet which explains the law by which Bermuda status holders are entitled to visa exemption, put in their passport, which we provide here at the consulate.”

She said she was not aware of any moves to include Bermuda in the new rules, but it could easily happen.

“Look at how these things are going - the world is changing rapidly. That doesn't mean I have any knowledge of any changes.”

Also unaffected by the rule changes are Mexico and Canada.

The additional security measures were implemented in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

According to a press statement from the US Consulate, some 200 persons have been intercepted at America's borders since the measures came into effect in January. They included convicted rapists, drug traffickers and immigration violators. About 2.5 million visitors have been processed.