UK to fingerprint all visitors requiring visa

London, Jan 14 (UNI) All visitors to the UK requiring a visa will have to get their fingerprints taken in a bid to control illegal immigration in the country, the Home Office said today.

''We now check everybody's fingerprint wherever they apply for a visa around the world.'' immigration minister Liam Byrne said.

Fingerprints are taken digitally and checked against a UK database which keeps a check on illegal immigrants, the Daily Mail reported today.

The programme for installing biometric visa controls has been completed three months ahead of schedule, the Daily Mail reported today.

''We have already found about 500 cases of people who have chosen not to give us their identity correctly and we have checked them against databases that we hold in the UK and found out that they have been lying to us,'' Mr Byrne said.

He also added that the new system - the first of 10 key changes to the UK's border controls to be implemented during this year - is already having an effect.

''Obviously, that has allowed us to stop them coming anywhere near Britain, '' he said.

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