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U.S. to Waive Tourist Visa Requirements for 7 Countries

October 18th, 2008
by VJ News

President Bush announced a major expansion of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) today by extending it to the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and South Korea.

These countries will be admitted to the program, which allows citizens of participating countries to travel to the U.S. without a visa, in “about a month,” according to an announcement by President George Bush.

The seven newly admitted countries agreed to share passenger data and to use the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, an online pre-screening system, Bush said.

The countries added to the VWP allow U.S. citizens to visit visa-free, although the U.S. required visas of them. “These close friends of America told me that it was unfair that their people had to jump through bureaucratic hoops that other allies can walk around,” Bush said.

Earlier this year, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Hungary and the Czech Republic stirred transatlantic relations when they signed memoranda of understanding with the U.S. on joining the VWP. The European Union contended that visa policy should be negotiated between the U.S. and the EU and not bilaterally with individual member states.

The U.S. maintains that visa policy is to be negotiated on a bilateral basis between countries.

The announcement of new entrants to the VWP met with enthusiasm from the travel industry. The Travel Industry Association has long advocated for the VWP to be expanded, arguing that the U.S. is suffering a decline in overseas visitors due in part to the difficulty citizens of non-VWP member countries face in obtaining U.S. visas.

TIA estimates that the addition of seven new countries to the VWP could result in an additional 1 million visitors to the U.S. annually.

“Expansion of the Visa Waiver Program is a momentous leap forward for the American economy and proof that we can simultaneously strengthen America’s security and welcome additional visitors,” said Roger Dow, TIA president.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, October 18th, 2008 at 3:31 am and is filed under General Immigration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.