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- All travellers entering the United States via the VWP -
will require INDIVIDUAL machine readable passports (Adults & Children)
- October 2006
- Passports issued on or after October 2006 must have a biometric identifier
in order to travel on the Visa Waiver Program
- Machine readable passports issued before October 2006 will continue to
be able to use them to travel to the U.S. on the VWP.
- If you do not have a biometric passport after October 2006 -
A nonimmigrant visa for U.S. travel will have to be obtained.
Further to concerns expressed by the Travel Business Roundtable (TBR) -- a strategic partner to the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) - and other industry organisations, TBR is pleased that the Department of State and Department of Homeland Security have delayed a December 31, 2005 deadline for the first proposed phase of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), which would have required travelers to and from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Central and South America to present passports or other accepted secure documents at U.S. ports of entry. WHTI will require passports or other accepted documents for all air, sea and land travel to and from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Central and South America, Canada and Mexico by January 1, 2008. Currently, travelers need only a birth certificate and/or valid driver`s license to travel between the U.S. and these locations. Bush Administration officials to express their concerns that the deadline would have adverse effects on travel to and from these popular destinations for Americans, who made up 53 percent of the region`s 22 million visitors last year, excluding cruise ship passengers, as well as for international travelers. According to a recent survey conducted by the World Travel and Tourism Council, approximately $2.5 billion in revenue from Americans who travel to the Caribbean without passports was at stake. Fewer than 23 percent of Americans currently hold valid U.S. passports. Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, develop and implement a plan to require U.S. Citizens and foreign nationals to present a passport or other secure document when entering the U.S. the Department of State. It would require travelers by air and sea to have passports for travel to and from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Central and South America by December 31, 2005 and by December 31 , 2006 to Mexico and Canada. Passports to and from all air, sea and land borders would be required by December 31, 2007.
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