(December 2005)

Fact Sheet: Visa Waiver Program

The Visa Waiver Program, or VWP, continues to function fully with twenty-seven participating countries.  There have been recent developments and new security requirements related to the program, and they are described below.

Background:  Created by Congress in 1986 and operational since 1988, the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) promotes and facilitates overseas travel to the United States by allowing international travelers to visit the U.S. for up to 90 days without the expense and wait of obtaining a nonimmigrant visitor visa. There are currently 27 countries in the program (see bottom of this page). Travel from these countries accounts for approximately two-thirds of all overseas visitors annually. In 2004, nearly 14 million travelers visited the U.S. from VWP countries.

After receiving a number of temporary extensions, this former "pilot" program was made permanent in 2000 as a result of vigorous lobbying by TIA and other travel organizations. New security features were added to the program, such as requiring international visitors from Visa Waiver Program countries to use machine-readable passports. Another addition was biennial reviews of the countries to determine a country's fitness to remain in the program.

Machine-Readable Passports (MRP):  Starting on June 26, 2005 the U.S. government began enforcing a requirement that all Visa Waiver Program travelers entering the U.S. possess a machine-readable (scannable) passport, or MRP.  This requirement was originally scheduled to begin in October 2003, but as a result of lobbying by TIA and other travel organizations, it was extended by one year, and then extended further until mid-2005.  The use of a machine-readable field on the passport helps to facilitate the inspection of arriving international travelers since the officer can simply swipe the passport and have the full biographical information appear on the computer screen. 

Biometric Passports (e-Passports):  Another requirement which the travel industry supports, but has posed some challenges due to deadline constraints, is the new rule mandating that the VWP countries begin producing and distributing new passports that contain a biometric identifier (in addition to being machine-readable).  The original deadline of October 26, 2004 was extended once by Congress as a result of travel industry lobbying and support from the Bush Administration to extend since very few of the 27 VWP countries were prepared to issue e-passports at that point in time.  The deadline for biometric passports has been extended once again until October 26, 2006, and as an interim step the federal government has required that all the VWP countries certify they are issuing passports with digital photos printed on the data page.  TIA does not anticipate any significant disruption in VWP travel to the U.S. as a result of this interim security requirement, and remains optimistic that all 27 VWP countries will be able to meet the October 26, 2006 e-passport requirement deadline.

The following 27 countries participate in the VWP: 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 United Kingdom.

For more information, contact Rick Webster – Vice President, Public Affairs at (202) 408-8422.