Green Motion car rental is taking the precaution of advising all of its customers travelling to the United States who are renting cars from its Miami location in Florida and its new San Diego Airport location in California that in order to qualify and clear US Immigration, UK citizens must hold the new style biometric e-passport unless they have a visa already granted.

This legislation came into effect as of the 1st of April 2016 and has been issued by the Department of Homeland Security. While many of Green Motion's car rental customers already hold the new style passport which has been issued since Spring 2006, there are still many that are at potential risk of being refused entry or the right of travel to the United States.

Green Motion is urging all customers to check their passports well before their intended date of travel to the United States to ensure that their UK passport held is in fact the latest biometric version (e-passport).

For those customers that discover that their passport is in fact ineligible, they are advising that they should quickly make an appointment with their local UK passport office noting that the passport offices are located in London, Liverpool, Belfast, Durham, Glasgow, New Port and Peterborough where they will be able to obtain a quick replacement however these are quite costly, starting from £128 GBP.

There is also restrictions for individuals who have travelled to Iraq, Libya, Iran, Syria or Sudan prior to entering into the USA who have not obtained a visa from the Department of Homeland Security.

It is also understood that the Department of Homeland Security has also requested that citizens from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania may be required to have a visa before entering the United States. This is a matter that the European Parliament and Commission are currently reviewing.

Green Motion first started its car rental operations in the United States in 2013 with the launch of its first franchise within Florida servicing Miami International Airport. More recently, the company has announced the sale of its master state franchise for California with its first location opening within the car rental centre at San Diego Airport.

For further information on US immigration and UK passport requirements, please visit US Homeland Security and the UK Gov.uk website. For further information on hiring a car in the United States at either San Diego International Airport or Miami International Airport, please visit greenmotion.com or call +44 (0) 2071864000.