Friends wife recently submitted her application for a tourist visa in Bangkok and says she was finger printed, is it a normal part of of the process ?

assuming this is uk embassy, then biometrics are part of the application including finger prints

It's not fingerprinting, it's part of the electronic biometric capture process, they also scan the iris.

It's to ensure, if needed, that the visa applicant and the traveller are one and the same.

It's compulsory for a number of countries, and many countries also take an electronic finger scan at their border.

It's not fingerprinting, it's part of the electronic biometric capture process, they also scan the iris.

It's to ensure, if needed, that the visa applicant and the traveller are one and the same.

It's compulsory for a number of countries, and many countries also take an electronic finger scan at their border.

Nothing to hide....nothing to worry about!

I don't care WHAT they do in this regard if it is going to lessen the chance of me being blown out of the sky.

If it's to one of the Schengen countries (FR, GER, NL, ....) then they also tale biometrics. I suppose most western countries do for people from non western countries (any non electronic visas)?

Luckily they only take fingerprints, no iris scans or DNA samples or such...They then enter the data in VIS (Visa Information System), the Schengen countries and UK have access to this system. VIS is a Silly name, it means "FIsh" in Dutch so hearing "We need your fingerprints for fish" does sound a bit strange, but hey ...)

According to the EU: "The system can perform biometric matching, primarily of fingerprints, for identification and verification purposes.". I believe it can match two different passport photo's too, but not sure about that.

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/borders-and-visas/visa-information-system/index_en.htm

And, the U.S. Embassy's www site says: "Fingerprints will be collected during the interview process. The 10 fingerprints are done using an inkless, electronic process. This requirement will not significantly increase the length of your interview."

Mac