News & Publications

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Garvey Schubert Barer Legal Update, September 26, 2003.

Citizens of 27 countries* can travel to the U.S. without a visa and stay for up to 90 days because of the Visa Waiver Program. If you are a citizen of one of those countries, and if your background does not require use of a visa for entry, you should read about some changes to the "Visa Waiver Program."

Machine-Readable Passports

Travelers from the 27 countries in the Visa Waiver Program who enter the United States must have a machine-readable passport to use the Visa Waiver Program.  A traveler from one of those countries who does not have a machine-readable passport may not enter the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program and must obtain a visa before applying for entry to the United States. This applies to adults and children and for all categories of passports: regular, official or diplomatic.

Each Visa Waiver Program applicant must present an individual machine-readable passport. This is a change for family members who have applied for admission under one passport in the past. Families must have individual machine-readable passports for everyone, including children.

Most countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program already issue machine-readable passports, but some do not. The 27 countries currently in the Visa Waiver Program are: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The list of participating countries changes with some regularity. We advise you to check with your government's passport issuing office to determine whether your passport is machine-readable.

For an informal determination as to whether your passport is machine-readable, look at the page that contains biographical information about you. This page is toward the front of your passport and usually includes your picture and date of birth. If you see two lines of type, much like the bar codes on consumer products including some alphabetical characters, your passport is probably machine-readable. Those lines allow an immigration officer's computer to electronically gather some of the information contained on the upper part of the biographical page. An example of a machine-readable passport can be viewed at www.travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html#4.

Special rules for passports issued October 26, 2005 through October 25, 2006

Machine-readable passports issued October 26, 2005 through October 25, 2006 must also have a digital photograph printed on the data page or an integrated chip with information from the data page to allow for admission without a visa. Twenty-six of the 27 Visa Waiver Program countries have achieved full compliance with these requirements. Most of the Visa Waiver Program countries have done so by producing passports with digital photos integrated into the data page of the passport.

Austria is considered to be in compliance with this requirement, but only by means of a special procedure. It will issue passports to self-identified travelers to the U.S. with a visa "foil" integrated in a visa page of the passport. This visa foil alternative is an acceptable alternative means of compliance with the digital photograph requirement.

France came into compliance with this requirement in May 2006. People with machine-readable passports issued before October 26, 2005 or with e-passports may use the Visa Waiver Program.

The Department of Homeland Security has determined that, as of May 1, 2006, German temporary/emergency passports will no longer be valid for Visa Waiver Program travel. Therefore, German temporary or emergency passports holders must get a regular German passport for Visa Waiver Program travel or apply for a visa.

Italy and France are the two countries that are not in full compliance with the digital photograph or integrated chip requirement for passports issued on or after October 26, 2005. They have limited digital photo production capabilities in operation. Travelers from these countries are urged to contact their local passport issuance offices to obtain information on whether a digital passport can be issued. If not, travelers are urged to apply for an actual visa before travel to the U.S. Entry with a passport issued on or after October 26, 2005 that does not comply with this requirement must be by presentation of an actual visa.

More requirements for passports issued on or after October 26, 2006

Machine-readable passports issued on or after October 26, 2006 must have an integrated chip with information from the data page to allow for admission without a visa. These are called e-Passports.  You can identify an e-Passport by its special symbol on the front cover. If you were issued a passport on or after October 26, 2006 and it is not an e-Passport, you cannot use the Visa Waiver Program and must apply for a visa to seek admission to the U.S. An example of an e-Passport can be viewed at www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/vwp_travelerguide.pdf.

US-VISIT Registration

The U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program began on January 5, 2004 at many U.S. airports and seaports. Since that date, people entering the U.S. by use of a visa must be fingerprinted and photographed under the US-VISIT program. All Visa Waiver visitors traveling through U.S. ports of entry that have US-VISIT capabilities must comply with its requirements. US-VISIT is in place at 116 airports, 15 seaports, and 154 land ports of entry.  A list of ports at which US-VISIT technology has been implemented can be found at www.dhs.gov/xtrvlsec/programs/editorial_0685.shtm.

Anyone who was required to comply with US-VISIT at the time of entry must also register their departure from the U.S., but only if they do so from a location that requires US-VISIT exit registration. (Mandatory "departure confirmation" is required at more and more ports all the time. Travelers who have been registered with US-VISIT upon entry should always check to see if departure confirmation is required at the air, sea or land port as they leave the U.S.  Departure confirmation at land ports is not expected to be required for quite some time.) If departure confirmation is required at port of departure, the person who was registered in the US-VISIT program at the time of entry must also locate and use the US-VISIT departure confirmation facility before leaving the U.S. This is done by following the exit registration requirements which, in most cases, involves "swiping" the passport data page through the scanning slot and providing fingerprints of both index fingers electronically. Some locations require additional photographs taken at the airport, and others may issue paper receipts. Failure to confirm departure at a port with such capabilities subjects the individual to possible inadmissibility in the future.

For more information about US-VISIT, go to the official government website at www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/content_multi_image/content_multi_image_0006.xml.

Other Important Information

Some people cannot seek entry to the U.S. without first obtaining a visa, even if they are citizens of a country participating in the Visa Waiver Program. Anyone who has overstayed a previous admission to the U.S. may not be eligible to enter the U.S. without a visa. People who have been refused a U.S. visa or who have criminal records may not be eligible to enter the U.S. unless they first obtain a visa.  Because there may be no way to determine ineligibility except by seeking entry without a visa, and because of the cost (in terms of time and money) that result from denied entry, we suggest that application for a visa may be advisable for those who believe they may be ineligible for visa waiver entry, even though they may have a machine-readable passport. Port officers have limited discretion to allow one-time admissions for a person who has previously violated an aspect of the Visa Waiver Program.

For more information about the Visa Waiver Program requirements, go to the Department of State's Visa Services web site, at http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html.

This article is current and up-to-date as of November 2, 2006.

*This article does not apply to Canadian citizens. Canada is not a participant in the Visa Waiver Program.