NEW DELHI: The U.S. has rejected India’s request to exempt ministers and lawmakers on a personal visit to that country from biometric registration that requires them to be fingerprinted and digitally photographed.

Confirming that the U.S. had turned down India’s request, a senior official of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament, said on Aug. 9 that the lawmakers had been informed about the decision through a bulletin.

“The U.S. Embassy has clearly stated that it is not possible for them to make any exceptions for any category of persons other than those already made,” he said, quoting from a communiqué circulated by the Ministry of External Affairs.

At present, only children under the age of 14 and adults above 79, as well as people visiting the U.S. for official purposes on official and diplomatic passports are exempt from the new visa regulations.

Though ministers and lawmakers would be exempt from being fingerprinted or photographed for visas during official visits to the U.S., they would be required to follow the procedure on a personal visit. Ministers and lawmakers were earlier exempted from personal interview or visit to the U.S. Embassy.

The government’s request followed pressure from ministers and lawmakers to have them granted exemption from personal appearance for the registration, an official said.

“The U.S. Embassy has advised us that the entire process may not take more than 30 seconds and that they were taking steps to ensure that there was no hardship and delays,” Rajya Sabha Secretary General Yogendra Narain said in a bulletin circulated to lawmakers.

Introduced in India on July 26, the biometric registration procedure applies to residents of all countries.

Even Indians holding ‘E’ (traders and investors), ‘H’ (professionals), ‘I’ (journalists), ‘L’ (corporate workers), ‘O’ (people with particular skills) and ‘P’ (entertainers, artists, athletes) categories of visas in the U.S. have to be fingerprinted before their visas are renewed.