in 15 to 20 seconds will now be available in more US airports.

The Immigration and Naturalisation Service is expanding its automated immigration inspection system -- called the INS Passenger Accelerated Service System or INSPASS.

The system is currently available at Kennedy Airport in New York, Newark Airport in New Jersey, Miami Airport and Los Angeles Airport as well as at INS pre-clearance sites at Pearson International Airport in Toronto and Vancouver International Airport in British Columbia.

It will be offered at San Francisco Airport by early October, and at Seattle-Tacoma Airport, Washington Dulles Airport and Honolulu Airport by early next year.

To use INSPASS, travellers proceed to a special kiosk upon arrival at the airport and insert their enrolment card. They then place their hands in a device which reads the geometry on top of the hand.

Once their identity is validated, the kiosk prints an inspection receipt and travellers may go on their way. The INS estimates the process takes 15 to 20 seconds.

Citizens of the US, Canada and Bermuda can participate in INSPASS, as can people who travel to the US three or more times a year and are citizens of the 26 countries that take part in the INS Visa Waiver Pilot Programme.

To enrol, travellers must fill out an INS Form I-823 which can be obtained from the agency or downloaded from its World Wide Web site at www.usdoj.gov/ins/forms.

The form and supporting documents must be returned in person to an airport with a special kiosk; an INS inspector will then interview the applicant and obtain a photograph, fingerprints and hand geometry biometric image -- a digital picture of the top of the hand.