Press Releases

Notice to all Visa Waiver Program (VWP) Travelers to the U.S

October 12,  2004

The following 27 countries are in the Visa Waiver Program:

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.) 

As from September 30, 2004, all Visa Waiver Program travelers arriving at air and sea ports of entry in the United States are to be enrolled in the US-VISIT.  The US-VISIT program went live on January 5, 2004 in all 115 US commercial international airports and in 14 major seaports served by cruise liners.  Travelers will have an electronic scan taken of right and left index fingers and will be photographed by a digital camera at the immigration inspection station.

Another important date is October 26, 2004 which is the deadline for VWP travelers to enter the US visa-free without a machine-readable passport.  Each traveler must present a valid machine-readable passport or a U.S. visa for admission to the U.S.

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