A record number of fingerprints - over 100,000 a month - are now being collected from foreign nationals overseas applying to come the UK, the Government announced Friday.
The UK started to collect fingerprints from visa applicants last September.
The program currently covers 100 countries but is being expanded to 135 by next April, when it will cover three-quarters of the world's population.
Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said the process was part of biometric checks, which also includes a digital photograph, that were "essential to protect our borders."