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US tourists face fingerprinting, facial scans starting today (www.newsweek.com)
submitted 7 months ago by to c/world@lemmy.world
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[–] 29 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (4 children)

I had a student visa for the UK back in 2018. I had to go to st.louis (3 hr drive) and get both my palms/fingers and my face scanned.

When I arrived in the UK, the university also scanned my palms/fingers to make sure they matched. I can't recall if my face was scanned again. I thought it was overkill but they said that they had a problem with people coming in with student visas and never attending university.

I found this unlikely because to get my visa I had to not only prove I had enough finances for the tuition but living expenses amounting to around 30,000 USD. For the year I would be there. (I was getting fasfa loan money and they accepted this).

I also paid nearly $800 USD for the visa and healthcare that was required.

Oh and the classrooms had scanners on them and I had to scan my ID for every attendance. To prove I was attending classes.

And I was doing a research program so after 6 months I wasn't attending classes, just doing research. So not scanning my ID anywhere. And I got a notice I would be deported in 30 days if I wasn't attending. I had to call them up and explain the situation. And then I just started scanning my ID on random doors every day. Just to be sure I didn't get flagged again.

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  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    I have a hard time believing some university would spend money on regular badge readers on classroom doors, even more on setup and maintenance of passport scanners. Which university was it? What kind of id were UK citizens using?

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  • [–] 7 points 7 months ago* (1 child)

    Swansea university in Swansea Wales.

    Yep. Every classroom door had them.

    https://hwb.swansea.ac.uk/hwb/student-id-card/

    All Swansea University students are issued with a Student ID card, sometimes also called a library card.

    Your Student ID card allows you to: swipe in to record your attendance at lectures

    borrow items from the library

    use the library printing, copying and scanning services

    access certain study rooms and labs

    identify yourself at University exams

    obtain sports and student society memberships

    Also I don't think these are too expensive. I've worked at a lot of places that had security badge swipes at the doors.

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  • [–] 6 points 7 months ago

    Thanks for the update. Wow, I'm impressed. For some reason I thought those were passport scanners or something. Still, digitally registering attendance feels quite fancy compared to my experience in more run down universities (not in the UK).

    Anyhow, it's a bit of a shame that you had to pretend attending lectures for immigration purposes when you were already studying as a researcher

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