Thousands of Britons traveling to the United States for short visits will soon need a visa under new security measures imposed by the US authorities, local media reported Thursday.

Currently, Britons can enter America for up to three months without a visa under the "visa waiver program".

But the rules will be tightened from Oct. 26, this year, by which citizens of all the 27 visa waiver countries must have new "biometric" passports, which contain digital photographs or fingerprints.

However, British authorities have said they will not be available until mid-2005, according to a BBC report.

That means thousands of Britons have to buy a visa from the US embassy for their American trips.

British officials are reported to be lobbying Washington hard to extend the deadline or make alternative arrangements.

More than 4 million Britons a year travel to the United States, and hundreds of thousands of them would be affected by the arrangements as they currently stand, the BBC report said.

It is believed that most other visa waiver countries, which are mainly in western Europe but also including Japan and Australia, will also be unable to issue "biometric" passports before the US deadline.

(Xinhua News Agency January 9, 2004)