This is a Press Release put out by the
VISIT USA ASSOCIATION UNITED KINGDOM
who are responsible for encouraging UK Travellers to vist the United States. We believe this is the clearest, most accurate statement made on this issue.


MAJORITY OF BRITISH TRAVELERS CAN CONTINUE TO
TRAVEL TO THE US WITHOUT A VISA

The past few days have seen an enormous amount of coverage in the UK media of the changes in USA entry and security regulations - some accurate, some inaccurate and, regrettably, some misleading.

Most importantly, no UK traveller to the USA will be affected by any changes in the requirement for biometric data in passports - provided that they hold a machine - readable passport that was issued in the UK before October 25th 2004 and is valid at the time of travel.

UK travellers whose passports are due to expire during and following the Oct 26th changeover date, can avoid any potential problems relating to the inclusion of biometric data in UK passports by renewing their passport at any time ahead of the planned Oct 26th date.

The very large majority of UK passengers to the USA remain unaffected by these changes: -

Visas
The US Visa Waiver programme remains in force and thus ensures that most UK travellers do not require a visa to enter the USA. US visas are still only required by those UK travellers who have, historically, always needed them such as press, business investors, inter-company transfers, students etc. With the exception of those requiring visas, all participating in the Visa Waiver programme will not need to be fingerprinted nor have their photo taken at the port of entry.

Machine-readable Passports
These have been issued to UK citizens for more than 10 years and there are only 2 minor exceptions where a new machine-readable passport will be required and where existing passports should be renewed at any time - well ahead of the Oct 26 changeover date: -

• Passports, without machine readable capability, that were issued outside the UK
• Children still included on their parents' passport (which in practice, was ceased by the UK Passport Office a number of years ago)

1. Visa Passengers
Some entry regulation changes are little more than an enforcement of existing requirements - whilst others are new. However most UK visitors enter the USA under the Visa Waiver Program where procedures are, for the most part, unchanged, and all such visitors will be largely unaffected by these changes - but those travellers who do require a visa will be affected . Eg. Press, business investors, inter-company transfers, students etc.

Under the US-VISIT security program, effective today, 5th January 2004, travellers to the USA who hold visas will be required to provide fingerprint and facial biometric data upon arrival at US Immigration. The collection process for this data is remarkably simple and will only add seconds to the visitor's overall processing time.

2. Machine Readable Passports
The requirement for the mandatory introduction of machine-readable passports for UK travellers has been delayed until 26 October 2004. As has already been advised, the very large majority of UK travellers already have machine-readable passports that comply with this requirement. However there are two important sub-groups who do not and corrective action should be taken now to ensure that such passengers do hold machine-readable passports - well ahead of the 26 Oct introduction date.

• Travellers, whose passports were issued outside the UK. eg. At overseas Embassies & Consulates where the capability to issue machine-readable passports was not available.
• Children, travelling on the same passport as either of their parents, will now require their own individual, machine-readable passport.

3. Biometric Data
Discussion concerning the need and form of biometric identifiers for inclusion in UK passports is still ongoing and will be advised once clearly established. The timeframe for implementation is October 26th 2004. In the meantime travellers who do require US visas should be advised that the fingerprint and facial biometric data, as detailed in 2 above, will also be collected and incorporated into their US visa at time of issuance, at either the American Embassy in London or Consulate in Belfast. Any passenger whose passport will expire around the above implementation date (26 October 2004) should ensure that it is renewed well ahead of that date.

Any further updates to the above will posted here as and when information becomes available. If you are in any doubt as to whether you or any person travelling with you requires a visa to travel to the US - you should contact the American Embassy - www.usembassy.org.uk