Visa Express

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The Visa Express program was a U.S. State Department program that allowed residents of Saudi Arabia to enter the U.S. without proving their identities. It became controversial when some of the 9/11 hijackers used this program to gain entry into the country, and the program was eventually shut down.

In the Spring and Summer of 2001, the terror level in the U.S. was reportedly "off the charts". The U.S. had recently concluded that Saudi Arabia was one of four top nationalities of al-Qaeda members.[1][2][3]

Despite all this, the U.S. introduced the Visa Express program in May of 2001. This program allowed Saudi Arabian residents, including non-citizens, to get valid visas through a travel agency using a much less restrictive standard than would have otherwise been required. They did not have to submit a proof of identity, but only had to provide a photograph and fill out a short form. A senior State Department official described the program as "an open-door policy for terrorists." No other country had this system to facilitate easy entry into the country.[4]

[edit] September 11 hijackers and resultant cancellation

Five of the 9/11 hijackers used this method to gain entry in the U.S., including Khalid al-Mihdhar, Abdulaziz al-Omari, Salem al-Hazmi, Saeed al-Ghamdi, and Fayez Banihammad. It is unclear whether these people would have been able to gain entry without this program. After considerable controversy, the State Department cancelled the program on July 19, 2002, and the head of the Visa Express program was forced to retire.[5] However this same department head, as well as the other authors of the program, were all given $15,000 "outstanding performance" awards afterwards, and the reporter who wrote most of the stories critical of the Visa Express program was detained and pressured by the State Department.[6]