April 2, 2004 - The Department of Homeland Security today announced that it will begin processing visitors traveling under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) in its US-VISIT registration program beginning by September 30, 2004, at air and sea ports of entry. Travelers from Visa Waiver Countries are allowed to enter the U.S. for up to 90 days for business or pleasure using only a passport. Currently, US-VISIT requires that most foreign visitors traveling to the U.S. on a visa and arriving at an air or sea port have their two index fingers scanned and a digital photograph taken to verify their identity at the port of entry. By September 30, 2004, this process will also apply to visitors traveling under the VWP at all air and seaports of entry. According to a companion fact sheet issued by DHS, US-VISIT entry procedures are currently in place at 115 airports and 14 seaports; by December 31, 2004, US-VISIT will be expanded to the 50 busiest land ports of entry and to all 165 land ports entry by December 31, 2005.

The announcement was made in conjunction with an announcement that the Administration has asked Congress to pass legislation that would extend for two years, the October 26, 2004 deadline for Visa Waiver Program countries to have machine readable passports which include biometric identifiers, and also for DHS to have readers for these biometric passports at all ports of entry.

[NOTE: The following 27 countries are currently in the VWP: 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.]

Click here to view the announcement; click here to view the fact sheet.