Visa Waiver
AH&LA supports efforts like the Visa Waiver Program that facilitate entry into the U.S. for visitors from low-risk countries while allowing the federal government to focus on higher risk entrants.
The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) was created in 1986 to permit visitors from low-risk countries to visit the United States visa-free for up to 90 days. The VWP facilitates easier entrance for low-risk visitors to enter the U.S., thus making a visit to the U.S. more attractive while allowing the U.S. Department of State to shift resources to screening higher risk visitors. The program was created originally as a pilot program with periodic renewals in order to track the program’s success or failure.
Eight countries were originally enrolled in VWP. However, due to the program's success this number has been expanded. As of 2008, the 27 countries currently enrolled in the VWP are: Andorra, Australia, Austria, 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. Seven new countries were added in November 2008 to the program: Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, and the Republic of Korea (South Korea).
Before a renewal period of the VWP expired on April 30, 2000, AH&LA strongly urged Congress to permanently extend this program to ensure continued friendly tourist traffic. In response, the House passed H.R. 3767, sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), on April 11, 2001 granting a permanent extension. The Senate companion bill (S. 2367) was sponsored by then-Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-MI). The Senate passed its visa waiver legislation on October 3, 2000. President Bill Clinton signed this legislation into law (PL 107-396) on October 30, 2000.
On May 14, 2002, President Bush signed The Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act (H.R. 3525) into law. One concern AH&LA and other groups in the “Americans for Better Borders” coalition raised about the bill was partially addressed before final passage. The version of the bill that originally passed the House mandated that countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) begin issuing machine-readable passports (MRPs) by October 1, 2003.
While AH&LA supported the move to machine readability--the inclusion of data on the holder which makes passports more difficult to forge or alter--the association was concerned that this unrealistic deadline would be unnecessarily disruptive and could have severely impacted international travel to the United States. Following extensive lobbying by AH&LA and others, the final version of the bill included a provision giving the U.S. Secretary of State the authority to extend the deadline for MRPs until October 26, 2004, for certain VWP countries such as England, Japan, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, and France. At the urging of AH&LA and others, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recognized that some may have difficulty with meeting that deadline and issued a one-time waiver of this requirement that lasted until June 26, 2005. Today, all VWP entrants must now posses a machine-readable passport.
In addition to passports being machine-readable, VWP countries are now required to include a biometric identifier in their passports in order to continue their participation in the Visa Waiver Program. Since this requirement became law in 2002 the federal government has insisted that fingerprints be the personal identifier. Because of this, most VWP countries have experienced extreme difficulty with this requirement but have incorporated digital photographs into their passports.
After discussions regarding the biometric identifier requirement of passports with AH&LA and others, DHS determined that digital photographs, rather than digital fingerscans alone, would satisfy the biometric requirement until October of 2006. This determination makes most VWPs compliant until that time and avoids the severe negative impact on the program that would have resulted if every visitor from those countries were required to obtain a visa prior to visiting the U.S.
As of 2008, depending on when VWP travelers' passports were issued, different passport requirements now apply during this transition period. The U.S. Department of State has issued instructions on the different VWP machine-readable passport requirements which can be found on this Webpage.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has also provided travelers with a Webpage describing the VWP program and whom is eligible to use it.
Starting November 18, 2008, travelers from seven new countries--the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, and the Republic of Korea (South Korea)--can travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program without first obtaining a tourist visa.
For more information, contact AH&LA Vice President of Political Affairs Lisa Costello at (202) 289-3124, lcostello@ahla.com.
(Updated November 2008)