The State Department's Diversity Visa Lottery program selects approximately 50,000 individuals to be considered for a permanent U.S. visa from millions of applications submitted each year. Each application includes a facial image. The facial recognition system will compare the image of every applicant against the rest of the database to reduce the potential of the same face obtaining multiple entries in the lottery program. Once enrolled in the system, images can also be used during the Diversity Visa application process to help identify known individuals who pose specific security threats to the nation.
The State Department awarded Viisage with a $125,000 contract to use their FaceEXPLORER technology after a year of extensive testing. According to Bernard Bailey, Viisage President and CEO, "Since August of 2001, Viisage has been working closely with the U.S. Department of State to adapt our FaceEXPLORER technology specifically to the Bureau of Consular Affairs' mission." - Emily Montandon, staff writer
