TLDR:
Facial recognition is replacing manual passport checks at U.S. airports, land borders, and seaports, both on entry and exit. A DHS rule effective late 2025 expanded CBP’s authority to collect facial biometrics from non-citizens, removing prior age exemptions and pilot-program limits. U.S. citizens can still opt out and request manual processing; non-citizens generally cannot. Travelers with any unresolved immigration or legal history should carry supporting documentation, since discrepancies caught at the border (even during departure) can trigger secondary inspection or affect future admissibility.
Transcript:
If you’ve traveled internationally recently or you’re planning to in the near future, you may notice that getting into and even leaving the United States is looking different than it did just a few years ago. days of long document checks and routine conversations with a CBP officer are slowly changing. Today, technology is playing a much bigger role in how the government verifies identities, tracks entries and exits, and processes travelers.
I’m Gabriella Agostinelli with Berardi Immigration Law. Before we dive in, if you enjoy practical immigration updates like this one, please take a second to like this video and subscribe to our YouTube channel. We post regular updates to help you stay informed about changes that could affect your travel or immigration status. Now, let’s start with how we got here.
Believe it or not, Congress actually required the government to develop an entry/exit tracking system back in 1996, and after the September 11th attacks and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, that requirement expanded to include biometric information, meaning physical characteristics that can be used to verify identity, such as fingerprints and facial images. For more than 20 years, CBP has collected biometrics from most foreign nationals entering the US.
Now, what has changed recently is that the government is now rapidly expanding biometric verification when people leave the country as well. So what does that actually look like? At many international airports and increasingly at land borders and seaports, travelers simply walk up to a camera. That camera captures a live photograph of their face and compares it against images the government already has on file, such as passport photographs visa photographs, or prior immigration records.
If everything matches, the identity is confirmed in just a few seconds, often without any physical contact. CBP refers to much of its arrival process as simplified arrival. Instead of an officer manually comparing your face to your passport, facial comparison technology performs that verification almost instantly, allowing officers to focus more attention on travelers who require additional screening. And according to CBP, the facial comparison technology helps identify imposters, combat document fraud, and improve the accuracy of entry and exit records, while also speeding up processing for legitimate travelers.
You’ve probably also noticed that many global entry kiosks look different than they used to. Previously, members often had to scan a passport, provide fingerprints, and answer several questions at a kiosk. Today, many airports have moved to touchless facial recognition technology. In many cases, travelers simply walk up, look at a camera, have their identity verified, and continue on to baggage claim or the exit.
Now, that doesn’t mean CBP officers have disappeared. If the system identifies a discrepancy, if additional questions arise, or if customs declarations need to be reviewed, an officer can still conduct an inspection or secondary inspection. But for many low-risk travelers, technology is reducing the amount of routine interaction that used to occur.
The biggest change, however, may actually be happening when people leave the US. For years, many travelers assumed that departure was essentially an immigration-free event. You boarded your flight, and that was the end of it. But CBP’s expanding biometric exit program now verifies many departing international travelers by matching a live facial image with existing government records before boarding. Once the identity is confirmed, DHS updates its records to reflect that the individual has departed the US.
A final DHS rule that became effective in late 2025 also expanded the government’s authority in this area. DHS now has regulatory authority to require facial photographs from non-citizens entering or departing the United States as part of its biometric entry/exit program. And previous age-based exemptions have largely been removed. The agency also expanded the regulation, so biometric collection is no longer limited to pilot programs or certain airports.
It can now occur at airports, land ports, seaports, or other authorized departure locations. That facial scan before departure is part of CBP’s identity verification and departure record process and may lead to additional inspection or questioning if issues are identified. If the system identifies an outstanding warrant, unresolved immigration issue, removal order, visa concern, or another enforcement matter, CBP can stop the boarding process while they investigate further.
In some situations, officers could even determine that a visa should be canceled or make findings that affect future admissibility. For that reason, anyone who knows they have a complicated immigration history or prior legal history should travel with documentation showing how those matters are resolved. It is much easier to answer questions immediately than to try to reconstruct records later.
One final note about privacy. According to DHS, biometric images are used for identity verification and security purposes, and the agency maintains that the information is managed under its published privacy policies and system of records notices. U.S. citizens generally have the ability to opt out of facial comparison and request manual processing, while non-U.S. citizens may be required to participate under the expanded regulations.
Guys, the bottom line is this: border inspections are becoming increasingly automated. Whether you’re entering or leaving the United States, facial recognition and biometric verification are becoming a routine part of international travel. So for most travelers, that means a faster and more streamlined experience.
If you found this update helpful, don’t forget to like this video, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and let us know in the comments whether you’ve already experienced one of those biometric entry or exit systems during your travels. I’d love to hear what your experience was.
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