18 August 2004

Machine-readable Passport or U.S. Visa Required Beginning Oct. 26

Travelers from visa waiver countries to enroll in US-VISIT as of Sept. 30

Beginning on October 26, 2004, all travelers from the 27 countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) must present either a machine-readable passport or a valid U.S. visa upon entry to the United States. All VWP travelers will also be required beginning September 30, 2004, to enroll in US-VISIT, a program involving a digital photograph and fingerscans.

Following is the State Department release on the new requirements and a list of the participating VWP countries:

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U.S. Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Washington, DC

August 17, 2004

Effective October 26, 2004, Travelers from Visa Waiver Program countries must present either a machine-readable passport or a valid U.S. visa.

Visa waiver travelers from all 27 Visa Waiver Program countries must present either a machine-readable passport or a valid U.S. visa. This new requirement comes into effect on October 26, 2004. Travelers with a valid U.S. visa will not be required to have machine-readable passports.

In addition, as of September 30, 2004, all VWP travelers arriving at a U.S. port of entry will be required to enroll in US-VISIT, a program involving a digital photograph and fingerscans. In a related item, President Bush signed into law a one-year extension for the date countries are required to produce biometric passports in order to remain eligible for the Visa Waiver Program, delaying the requirement until October 2005.

Visa Waiver Countries:

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.)

--Further information on the visa waiver program is available at http://travel.state.gov/visa/tempvisitors_novisa_waiver.html

--To visit the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs homepage, visit http://travel.state.gov

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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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