Individuals who have traveled recently to Iraq, Syria, Iran, or Sudan should anticipate having to disclose this information on the ESTA application and should be prepared for additional screenings, which could include an interview at a USA consulate overseas prior to traveling to the United States.
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About 20 million residents of foreign countries use the visa waiver program in question, which allows tourists from 38 countries, including the United Kingdom and France, to stay in the US for 90 days without a visa. If they don’t they would be kicked out of the visa waiver program. This new bill would authorize the Department of Homeland Security to terminate any country’s participation if it doesn’t communicate with the US. The legislation was supported by the White House.
The new plans have dismayed Brussels as it would make the travel of European Union citizens to the U.S. harder and it is likely that the EU may be forced to respond with similar curbs on Americans.
Others have said that the country can not shut its doors to travelers a large amount of money is from foreign travelers coming to the U.S.to visit, vacation or business travel that would become less if too many restrictions were put into place.
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said there are more than 5,000 people who have gone to Iraq or Syria in the past five years who could conceivably enter the United States right now without any extra security checks – and “those are gaps that we need to fix”. Today, the House has taken further action to address the threat of potential terrorists holding western passports by strengthening the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Lost and stolen passports must be reported to Interpol.
“Clearly we have a major weakness in our visa-waiver program”, explained Rep. Candice Miller (R-Michigan) in a video regarding the bill, which she sponsored.
This bill is critical to reforming a valuable program so we can better ensure the safety of the American people while still allowing the benefits the VWP affords its members.
House Speaker Paul Ryan praised the bipartisan bill.
To prevent falsification of passports, the House legislation would require all 38 countries to issue what it calls “e-passports”, containing biometric information.
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The US travel industry is watching the developments on Capital Hill closely. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, and committee Vice Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, have said the visa waivers pose greater security concerns than refugee resettlement programs, which Republicans in Congress have sought to curb.
