Australian visitors to the United States will have to register their trip with the American government 72 hours before they leave, it will be announced tomorrow by US Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff and will take effect from January 2009. The registrations will be able to be made online.

The new regulations will apply to citizens of the 27 visa waiver programme countries which include Australia, Brunei, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore.

The latest in a series of measures designed to strengthen security  the new regulations will see all travellers from countries which do not currently require a visa forced to register online three days before flying.

The Daily Mail in the UK said that It is understood the registration system will require the same information provided on the 1-94 immigration form travellers must fill in before entering the US. But the data will be stored electronically with the new website accepting registrations from August.

A spokesman for Homeland Security told the Daily Mail that  the plan would help prevent terrorists entering the US. He said the government wanted to stop people like ‘shoe bomber’ Richard Reid, who tried to destroy an airliner with explosives hidden in his trainer, and Zacarias Moussaoui, the Frenchman who was convicted of involvement in the 9/11 attacks and entered the US without a visa.