Visa Waiver Program
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) is a program of the United States of America which allows citizens of specific countries to travel to the US for tourism or business for up to 90 days without having to obtain a visa. All countries participating in program have high HDI and most are regarded as developed countries
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[edit] History
The visa waiver program was introduced in 1986 with the aim of facilitating tourism and short term business visits to the United States, and allowing the Department of State to focus consular resources on addressing higher risks to the U.S.
[edit] Eligible countries
To be eligible for a visa waiver under the VWP, the traveler seeking admission to the U.S. must be a citizen of a country that has been designated by the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of State, as a "program country". Permanent residents of designated countries do not qualify unless they hold a citizenship of another designated country. The criteria for designation as program countries are specified in Section 217 (c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (U.S.C. 1187) [1] [2]. The criteria stress passport security and a very low nonimmigrant visa refusal rate: not more than 3% as specified in Section 217 (c)(2)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as well as ongoing compliance with the immigration law of the United States.
As of 2006, 27 countries were designated as VWP participants:
- Europe (22)
Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
- Asia (3)
- Oceania (2)
Eligibility for the visa waiver scheme may be withdrawn at any time. Usually this may happen if the United States feels that citizens of a certain country are more likely to violate their VWP restrictions (such as working without a permit or overstaying their allowed period of stay in the U.S.). Accordingly, Argentina's participation in the VWP was terminated in 2002 in light of the financial crisis taking place in that country and its potential effect on unlawful immigration of its citizens to the U.S. by way of the VWP. Uruguay's participation in the program was revoked in 2003 for similar reasons.
Greece is the only country of the original 15 nations European Union prior to the May 1, 2004 enlargement whose citizens require a visa to enter the United States. Slovenia is the only nation of the ten newly admitted nations that is already a member of the VWP.
After the expansion of the European Union in 2004, both the newly admitted countries and EU agencies began intensive lobbying efforts to include those new countries in the VWP. The U.S. government initially responded to those efforts by developing bilateral strategies with 13 candidate countries known as the Visa Waiver Roadmap process [3] [4], which also included South Korea, but it was clear that the VWP candidates would not be able to meet the designation criteria for many years to come. The U.S. government began to accept the possibility of departing from the original country designation criteria - which had been contained within immigration law per se - and to expand them by adding political criteria, with the latter being able to override the former. This development began first with Bill S.2844 [5], which explicitly named Poland as the only country to be added to the VWP, and continued as an amendment to the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 (S.2611), whose Sec. 413, Visa Waiver Program Expansion [6], defined broader criteria that would apply to any EU country that provided "material support" to the multinational forces in Iraq and Afganistan. However, the definition of that "material support" would be met again only by Poland, a fact that was not favorably received by the other EU candidate countries.
During his visit to Estonia in November 2006, President Bush announced his intention "to work with our Congress and our international partners to modify our visa waiver program" [7]. In Congress, the related bills S.342 [8] and H.R.561 [9] propose to expand the VWP on a probationary basis with a pilot program of no more than 5 countries that will agree to extensive "information sharing measures".
South Korea's chances are further being scrutinized due to a thriving and very sizable sex-trade industry in that nation. With no controls or laws to regulate human trafficking and prostitution, the country will have to strengthen its position on this moral issue before it can be granted membership in the program. [10]
While all participating nations must provide reciprocal visa-free travel for U.S. citizens (usually ninety days for tourism or business purposes), Australia is the only nation that requires U.S. citizens (and other VWP nations) to apply for an Electronic Travel Authority (or ETA for short), which in fact is a visa that is stored electronically in a computer system operated by the Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (or DIMA for short). A passport holder must apply for and purchase an ETA through an authorized travel agency, airline, or via the official DIMA website before departing for Australia. However, as the ETA process is relatively free of formality, the United States recognises it as the equivalent of visa free travel.
The only European microstate that is not a member of the program is the Vatican City. Its candidacy in the program is still a mystery, with no knowledge whether it will or will not seek membership in the program.
- ↑ British passport holders
Only British Citizens are eligible for the program. British National (Overseas) and other British passport holders (except most persons from Bermuda) need a visa to visit the United States.
British National (Overseas) passport are eligible for Guam Visa Waiver Program to visit Guam [11]. See British Nationality Law for details regarding various kinds of United Kingdom passports.
[edit] Requirements for the visa waiver program
The requirements for the visa waiver program are as follows:
[edit] Machine readable and biometric passports
All travellers must have individual passports. It is not acceptable (for the visa waiver scheme) for children to be included on a parent's passport.
Passport requirements depend on the date the passport was issued or renewed:
- Passports issued or renewed before 26 October 2005 must be machine readable.
- Passports issued or renewed after 26 October 2005 must be machine readable and contain a digitized photograph, or must be biometric passports.
- Passports issued or renewed after 26 October 2006 must be biometric.
[edit] Passport validity
The standard requirement for passport validity is 6 months beyond the expected date of departure from the U.S., however some country-specific arrangements are different. [12]
[edit] Return or onward ticket
If entering the U.S. by air or sea, additional requirements apply. The traveller must:
- Be travelling on a participating commercial carrier and;
- Be holding a valid return or onward ticket. Where the ticket terminates in Canada, Mexico, Bermuda or an island in the Caribbean, the traveller must be a legal resident of that country or territory.
[edit] Other eligibility requirements
Applicants for admission under the visa waiver program:
- Must have complied with the conditions of all previous admissions to the U.S.;
- Must never have been arrested or convicted for any offence or crime no matter how long ago. The rehabilitation of offenders act does not apply.
- Must not be ineligible for a visa;
- Must not have been previously denied entry to the U.S. or been denied a US visa;
- Must not be intending to visit the U.S. for a purpose other than tourism or a short term business visit. In particular, journalists cannot use the visa waiver scheme to operate in the U.S. and must instead apply for an I visa.
- If entering over the land frontier, must pay a fee of $6. For those arriving by air or sea, the cost of the visa waiver is included in the airline ticket.
Those who do not meet the requirements for the visa-waiver scheme must obtain a U.S. tourist visa from an American Embassy or Consulate.
[edit] Visa waiver program restrictions
A person entering the United States under the VWP cannot request an extension of the original allowed period of stay in the U.S. (this practice is allowed to those holding regular visas). Additionally, a person who entered the U.S. under the VWP may not request a change of immigration status while in the U.S. (e.g. one is unable to change status from say a tourist to a student). Moreover, if one seeks to enter the U.S and is denied at a port of entry, no path of appealing the denial of entry is allowed.
Travellers can leave to Mexico and other countries, but will not be granted another 90 days after reentry in the US [13].
[edit] Canadians and Bermudians
Canadian citizens and British Overseas Territories citizens from Bermuda are also admitted to the United States without requiring tourist visas, but under different legislation to the Visa Waiver program [14].
Prior to 17 March 2003, Canadian permanent residents who were citizens of Commonwealth countries or Ireland could be admitted to the U.S. on the same basis as Canadian citizens. This concession has been withdrawn.
Before 23 January 2007, citizens of Canada and Bermuda were able to enter the United States with only a birth certificate as proof of citizenship and were not required to show a passport. However, since 23 January 2007, they are now required to have passports when entering the US by air only (US citizens also require passports to reenter the US by air). Citizens of Canada will still be able for some time to use their birth certificates when travelling to the US by land or sea.
[edit] See also
- US-VISIT
- Visa Waiver Permanent Program Act
- List of countries by Human Development Index
- List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita
- Developed country
- United States visas
- European Union visa lists
