The US State Department will require all nations to provide extensive data to help it vet visa applicants and determine whether a traveller poses a terrorist threat, according to a cable obtained by Reuters. Countries that fail to comply with the new protocols or take steps to do so within 50 days could face travel sanctions. It also directs nations to provide “any other identity information” requested by Washington for US visa applicants, including biometric or biographic details. The cable sets out requirements for countries to provide data on individuals it knows or has grounds to believe are terrorists as well as criminal record information. The new requirements are the latest in a series of steps the Trump administration says it is taking to better protect the United States from terrorist attack.

Source: Dhaka Tribune July 13, 2017 20:26 UTC