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U.S. To Implement New Procedures And Requirements For Citizens Of Countries Eligible To Participate In The Visa Waiver Program

24 September 2004

NEW DELHI -- The U.S. Embassy announced today that the U.S. government will shortly implement new procedures and requirements for citizens of countries eligible to participate in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) for visits to the U.S. of 90 days or less.

The countries eligible for the VWP are Andorra, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom (for citizens with the unrestricted right of permanent abode in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man). Citizens of India are not affected by these changes in any way.

By September 30, US-VISIT procedures will be expanded to include visitors traveling to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program arriving at airports and seaports of entry. Most significantly this will include the collection of a photo and two fingerprint impressions during immigration processing at the port of entry.

Data collected from arriving passengers will be carefully protected from unauthorized access and will only be used for clearly specified security and law enforcement purposes. Travelers are also reminded that exit control procedures must be followed when departing the U.S. if the airport of departure has the exit control kiosks installed and operating-please inquire at the check-in counter to see if exit procedures are in place.

More importantly, beginning Tuesday, October 26, 2004, all VWP visitors must present a machine-readable passport in order to enter the U.S. without a visa. VWP visitors who do not have a machine-readable passport must obtain a visa prior to arriving in the U.S.

Further, families seeking to enter the US under the VWP will need to obtain an individual passport for each traveler, including infants. Machine-readable passports typically have bio-data for only one traveler. Based on this, families may be denied visa-free entry into the U.S. if the bio-data for only one traveler is machine-readable.