ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDEDNT re VISA WAIVER SCHEME

[Rob Ford]

I do hope the journalist here has his knickers in a twist. He is saying that the US Congress are saying that UK citizens will need a Visa after 26 October 2005

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=625542

I have checked on the FCO and DHA sites and these state that you are OK with your machine readable passport provided you have this issued before the above date.

Can anyone throw any further light on this. I cannot believe it can be true.

 

[pauldents]

Maybe our government should reciprocate the crazy demands of the US government.

This is getting beyond a joke now.

Thanks for the link.

 

[Frances999]

Maybe our government should reciprocate the crazy demands of the US goverment.

This is getting beyond a joke now.

Thanks for the link.

I totally agree.

 

[kristieuk]

I'm not 100% certain of the true position, but I think it was originally 26 October 2004 that was the cut off date, and passports issued in the UK after this date would have to meet the new US criteria - but the Passport Service said they would not be in a position to comply by that time. Machine readable passports issued before Oct 2004 would be acceptable, it was only new passports.

Since the Passport Service said it would be a couple of years before they could offer passports with the new technology, the date was extended to 2005. Again, the same situation applies - it is only passports issued after this date that have to have the new technology, otherwise a Visa needs to be obtained.

I'm not sure if this date will be extended again, but I'm sure the Embassy won't want to deal with thousands of Visa applications from UK citizens who would normally travel under the Visa Waiver scheme.

I think the answer at the moment is to get a new passport now if your passport expires within a few months of October 2005 - you can carry over an additional 9 months of unexpired time on a current passport.

 

[SEVANS2208]

Bit concerned about the possible extension to August 2006. We'll be travelling to the US on 12th August 2006 and we have machine readable passports which were renewed last year. Does this mean we'll then have to get another new passport or will we have to get a visa, or will we be ok without either?

I'm very confused!

 

[carolfoy]

You should be ok on your existing passports, the legislation is for passports that will need to be renewed after the october cut off date then they will have to be biometric or you will need a visa. If your current passport is machine readable it should be ok on the waiver prog UNTIL you renew

 

[SEVANS2208]

What a relief - thanks for your help.

 

[kristieuk]

As I understand it, it's only passports issued after (insert date! - currently October 2005) that have to be the new biometric ones. Most other UK passports (including yours if it was new last year) will be machine readable, and this is all that is required. It's only newly issued ones that have to include all the additional stuff. Yours should be fine until it expires, and then, hopefully, all newly issued passports will meet the necessary requirements.

You only need to get a Visa if you a) don't have a machine readable passport or b) have a new issued passport issued after (currently Oct 2005) which doesn't have the necessary biometric information.

In short, you will be fine.

 

[magicmouse2]

Maybe our government should reciprocate the crazy demands of the US government.

They are making it almost as tough to vacation to the USA as it is to emigrate there!!!! - which seems impossible !!!

 

[wicket2005]

Reading the linked article it doesn't sound like anyone will be able to travel without a visa unless you have a biometric passport after August 2006. The article may be misleading if you can indeed still travel with a machine readable passport if issued before October 2005 but it doesn't read like that. I think it would be worth people concerned to try and see if they can find an answer from an official source to be on the safe side.

To me in sounds like you need a biometric passport to travel visa free but can still travel with a machine readable one if you have a visa. Very confusing.

 

[kristieuk]

I still don't know the true answer this question - there certainly seem to be a number of differing views on what will be situation come October 2005.

The following is link from the US Embassy website
http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_web/aug2005.htm

which to me indicates the position is that technically the country needs to be capable of producing biometric passports to belong to the Visa Waiver Scheme, and that already valid passports only need to be machine readable - ie only new passports issued after Oct 2005 need to be biometric, as long as the country is capable of producing them at that time, which from the information I can find should be the case for the UK.

I may be reading this all wrong - but wouldn't it be an impossibilty for every single passport holder in the UK to have their passports replaced by October. That's probably 20 - 30 million passports - a physical impossibility. I am sure that point would have been made before now by the government or passport service, or travel agents taking bookings for the US?

Maybe that is just wishful thinking??? We travel on 5th Nov, so I'm going to find out all the information I can!

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

They are making it almost as tough to vacation to the USA as it is to emigrate there!!!! - which seems impossible !!!

No, They are securing their borders, as we should have been doing. As our borders are easy to get through, it then only takes a flight to the uSA with a false passport for a terrorist to get round the restrictions on non visa waiver countries entrace to the USA.
The Visa waiver scheme has only been around some 15 years, before that you had to get a visa.
Better tighter border controls than another 9-11.
Your passport is OK until it needs to be renewed, then you will be issued with a biometric passport. Journalsists always get their facts wrong, and its not only the USA who are insisting on these types of passports.
Its not imnpossible to emigrate there, as the countless numbers of Brits working and living over there testify to the fact. They are just more choosy than our "Come in and have a free house.health care/money" country.

 

[magicmouse2]

Come in and have a free house.health care/money" country

Wouldnt be talking about the UK would you

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Wouldnt be talking about the UK would you

Just a little bit

 

[pauldents]

No, They are securing their borders, as we should have been doing. As our borders are easy to get through, it then only takes a flight to the uSA with a false passport for a terrorist to get round the restrictions on non visa waiver countries entrace to the USA.
The Visa waiver scheme has only been around some 15 years, before that you had to get a visa.
Better tighter border controls than another 9-11.

All the terrorists on 9/11 were on internal flights. They were already in the US, so all the scaremongering in the world would not have stopped it.

What the US government needs to do is give us a clear definition of who is eligible for the VWP and who is not. At the moment, different organisations within the US government contradict each other. i.e. some say anyone who has been arrested (probably a third of the country!) needs a visa and others say anyone who has been arrested for a crime involving moral turpitude. Then there is the hipocrasy aspect of it all. i.e. Just because someone is famous, why does that give them automatic entry to the US?

BTW I have never been arrested and visited the US a total of 12 times. I just feel sorry for genuine holidaymakers being treated like potential terrorists.

 

[Shropshire Saint]

The terrorists responsible for 9/11 were also in the US legally.

 

[angel659]

I am getting so confused now. I need to get my twin boys passports this month as we are travelling to florida in October. What will this mean for me? Do I need to apply for visas for them or for the whole family, which we already have passports or do I just get there passports and they will be able to travel? Oh I am so confused and our TA doesnt even seem to know.

 

[carolfoy]

Angel 659 - get your kids their own passports and you do NOT need visas until they renew and then only if biometric ones are not in place

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

BTW I have never been arrested and visited the US a total of 12 times. I just feel sorry for genuine holidaymakers being treated like potential terrorists.

I do not see anyone forcing them to holiday in the USA.

 

[alisonbestford]

I do not see anyone forcing them to holiday in the USA.

Unless you count by one of your children who's seen all the TV ads! - they can be pretty forceful