Millions of visitors from some of the United States' closest allies soon will have to be fingerprinted and photographed before entering the country, U.S. officials said yesterday.

Officials said the requirements of the U.S. VISIT program will be expanded this fall to cover about 13 million travelers each year from 27 countries, including Australia, Britain and Japan, whose citizens are allowed to travel within the United States for as many as 90 days without a visa. The program -- an effort to track down criminals, suspected terrorists and travelers who overstay visas -- began Jan. 5 and now applies mainly to about 19 million visitors each year from Central and South America, Africa and Asia...

...The new requirements, which will add about 15 seconds to a journey, will also apply to the 50 busiest border crossings by Dec. 30...

David O'Connor, who represents foreign airlines serving the United States, said he, too, is anxious about how travelers will react to being fingerprinted. In some places, such as Brazil, some people thought the fingerprinting treated visitors as though they are criminals...

...a plasticated flexible card the size of a credit card bearing a photograph, thumb print, full name and parents' names, national status (Brazilian national or alien resident) and a serial number.

"The test will be, what is the public reaction?" said O'Connor, U.S. director of the International Air Transport Association, which represents 120 airlines serving the United States. "It may be fairly negative, especially in some countries such as France."