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LOS ANGELES (eTurboNews) – Visitors entering the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) must have machine-readable passports beginning today, or the traveler must apply for a visa to enter the country, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.

Immigration officers will offer non-compliant travelers from 22 VWP countries a one-time exemption from the requirement and admit them to the United States, DHS added.

Border officers will make note of the exemption on the passport and inform the travelers of their need for the updated passport or a visa. On subsequent visits, if travelers do not have a machine-readable passport or a visa, they could be refused entry, according to DHS.

"These interim procedures will allow U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers to effectively enforce the law and exercise discretion when appropriate," said DHS Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security Asa Hutchinson, announcing the exemption. "These are prudent steps to ease travelers into these new documentation requirements. The United States is a welcoming nation and we do not want to turn people away because they do not possess the newly required passport or a valid non-immigrant visa."

Jim Forster, British Airways’ government and industry affairs manager, told PA News: “We hope that as the UK has been issuing machine readable passports for the past 10 years that most of our UK-based customers will be okay.

“However we believe that many families may fall foul of the new rules as the children have traditionally been placed on their parents’ passports rather than having their own. There may also be problems with some UK passports which have been issued at overseas embassies.

“We also have concerns about some European countries which have not been issuing machine readable passports for very long and the impact it may have on those customers who fly to America from mainland Europe via London.

“We are strongly recommending that all of our customers check their passports if they are flying to the US and make sure they either get the appropriate visa or a machine readable passport to make their journey as stress free as possible.”

US Customs and Border Protection has announced it will not impose fines on transportation carriers for transporting VWP travelers from 22 countries to the US without a machine-readable passport through April 25, 2005. The 22 countries are: Austria, Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

 

 

 

 

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