LaserCard® Solutions in Border Management

To facilitate local trade and provide convenience for inhabitants of border communities, the U.S. Department of State issues a B1/B2 Visa to Mexican citizens who wish to cross frequently into the U.S.A. This visa is issued in card form and is known as the Border Crossing Card (BCC).

Following the 1997 introduction of the optical memory-based "green card" (the U.S. Permanent Resident Card) by the then U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the U.S. Department of State (DOS) selected the same optical card technology to enhance security on the U.S./Mexican border. So, in 1998, the optical memory-based BCC (or "Laser Visa") was introduced and mandated for all new BCC applications and as a replacement for old, counterfeit prone documents.

The application requirements include:

High counterfeit resistance
Instant and certain visual and automatic authentication
Sufficient memory capacity to securely store a high resolution
Colour facial image, WSQ fingerprint images, biometric fingerprint
Templates (for automatic ID verification) and demographic data
Rapid ID verification using fingerprint biometrics

The BCC includes many of the same security features introduced for the Permanent Resident Card, such as micro images in the optical memory and the Embedded Hologram.Since the BCC's introduction in 1998, there has been no instance of a working counterfeit - a testament to the very strong counterfeit resistance of optical memory technology.

In 2003, the US DHS purchased more than LaserCard Biometric Verification System (BVS) for deployment principally on the southwestern border, to automatically authenticate the BCC and verify the cardholder's identity by means of fingerprint biometrics. The system reads from the card the cardholder's ID data, color photograph, fingerprint and/or signature image, and displays them on the screen to support the human inspection process. The system can operate in a stand-alone or on-line mode, and can accommodate multiple biometrics if required.

By mid-2004, more than seven million BCC's have been issued (the cards are actually personalized by the Department of Homeland Security as a service to DOS). BCC holders are not required to register with the U.S. VISIT system, having already submitted a photograph and fingerprints and having been subjected to a background check. As of August, 2004, BCC holders are allowed to remain in the U.S. up to 30 days.