27 countries in visa-waiver program

Congress has stipulated that visitors to the United States must have biometric identifiers in travel documents issued after Oct. 26, 2004.

That will force U.S. embassies and consulates overseas to issue biometric visas, and prompt changes in the passports of the countries whose citizens don't need visas to visit America. Here is a list of those 27 countries, according to the State Department:

Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.