View Full Version : Visa Waiver Scheme Update
As you are all probably aware, as of October 2003, the US were to bring in a new policy regarding the Visa Waiver scheme, and machine readable passports etc.
I have just read today in a Heathrow Employees newspaper that the plan has now been put on hold for a further 12 months.
This is due to out of the 27 countries who participate in the waiver scheme, only a handful of them issue machine readable passports.
I haven't seen any updates on this news anywhere else (usually the Virgin Atlantic website is good on these things), so don't know the full story.
Matt
do you know if that also affecs children on adult passports ???, if it does it saves us
having to get the kids their own passports
Another question!!! does this mean that my son (who has been arrested in the past)will not have to apply for a visa?
Sharon, the requirement to get a visa if anyone has a conviction (not just been arrested) in the past hasn't changed at all.
There's no concrete news about the machine readable passports (and therefore the children travelling must have their own passport issue) according to the Office of Travel and Tourism http://www.tinet.ita.doc.gov/tinews/archive/20030911b.html
Thanks blott. My son hasnt got a conviction but was just arrested we are travelling next may and I need to find out more information about exactly what he has to do
Sharon, I see from here http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3532&SearchTerms=conviction that your son was fined. This implies that he wasn't just arrested but convicted of something?
If you read the link above, you'll find the links provided to the relevant US websites with the info on them of what your son needs to do?
The visa rules about convictions haven't changed, just the possibility that the machine readable passport rules may change their implementation date (which may affect children travelling on their parents passports).
steph_goodrum
22-09-2003, 15:24
I'm sure the Vias regulation states that you must apply for a Visa if you have ever been arrested, regardless as to whether that led to a conviction or even charges being brought against you.
quote:Originally posted by blott
Sharon, I see from here http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3532&SearchTerms=conviction that your son was fined. This implies that he wasn't just arrested but convicted of something?
If you read the link above, you'll find the links provided to the relevant US websites with the info on them of what your son needs to do?
The visa rules about convictions haven't changed, just the possibility that the machine readable passport rules may change their implementation date (which may affect children travelling on their parents passports).
Blott
Do you have any idea about the childrens bit, we are going next
july but they are both on my wifes passport. So if we dont have
to get them their own passport it will save a bit of cash
Chrisj, if you keep an eye out on this link http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/?ti_cart_cookie=20030922.115602.14416 you'll hopefully get the latest news. Until something's announced, I think we'll have to assume that it's going ahead as planned although you've got plenty of time to get the passports if necessary.
Blott
Thanks, will keep checking the link
phil moloney
25-09-2003, 01:10
Its always advisable to have children on seperate passports anyway. In cases where due to an accident you are stuck if the children are on one persons passport and you can't all travel home together.
thats something I hadnt thought of actually and a very good one,
Chris
Our kids have seperate passports and we want to encourage them to be independant and enjoy travelling, so our eldest daughter loves handing over her own passport, etc, when we are travelling. Just means being quite sharp eyed to make sure she looks after it, amazingly we have had no problems as she takes her responsibilty very seriously:).
i think ours would lose theirs, but our ones run out in 2 years, so they will have to
have their own then.
zolasfoot
25-09-2003, 22:34
From The US embassy Web site http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_web/visa/niv/mrp.htm
The requirement that visa free travelers under the Visa Waiver Program be in possession of individual machine readable passports has been postponed until October 26, 2004 for citizens of the United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Citizens of anyone of these 21 countries traveling on valid national or EU passports may continue to travel visa free under the Visa Waiver Program, provided they are otherwise qualified, even if they do not have machine readable or individual passports
So I take it we can leave our kids on my wifes passport next year then ???
zolasfoot
26-09-2003, 19:39
Yes. But I would still check with your Airline.
I will be checking but theres no need until after xmas
Machine Readable Passports
The requirement that visa free travelers under the Visa Waiver Program be in possession of individual machine readable passports has been postponed until October 26, 2004 for citizens of the United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Citizens of anyone of these 21 countries traveling on valid national or EU passports may continue to travel visa free under the Visa Waiver Program, provided they are otherwise qualified, even if they do not have machine readable or individual passports.
Note: The date by which travelers under the Visa Waiver Program be in possession of individual machine readable passports has merely been postponed and will come into effect on October 26, 2004.
I take the above to mean our kids can stay on my wifes passport, Anyone else agree ???
Chris
it reads that way but spend the £19 and get piece of mind;)
Oh it gets worse
Got my flight confirmation today, one bit of paper says the kids need their own passport, another
bit says they are ok as our passports were issued before 1998.
Our passport office said they need their own, the US office said they could still travel on my wifes
thank god we have 10 months til we go, at least this should be sorted out within a month or so and then
we can either spend the money or put it off until we have to
You have to laugh :D:D
SPEND THE MONEY - do you really need to take the risk of being turned back for the sake of £38 that you'll have to spend in another year anyway.
There's only one opinion that counts - the one held by the shaved baboon on the desk at immigration :D
steph_goodrum
01-10-2003, 01:17
Would have been cheaper last week, Chris, its going up to £42 for 10 year passport and £25 for childrens from 2nd Oct. 2003
I don't think your wife has to pay for hers if it still has validity and she's taking the children off hers but I'm not 100% on that.
No hers will be changed for free, and as my mate chris7 has said SPEND THE MONEY, the
only problem is we are going away in 3 weeks, so we couldnt have sent our passports off,
we are also going away at Christmas, so the only time we could send them away would be
January anyway.
But thanks for your advice, and Chris7 your funny:)
steph_goodrum
01-10-2003, 12:33
Chrisj When you send them off , if you go into a main Post Office and pay £4 (each) they have a service where they will check the forms through for you and send them off in a special bag, if you haven't received your passport back in 10 working days they refund the money. Ours came back in 6 using this system.
Steph
Thanks, think we will use that service, it sounds good
Chrisj
We used the post office and it's worth the extra (which includes the special delivery postage) to get it fast-tracked and "pre-checked"
We will now use that, but as the kids wont need their own until next July, if the new rule
still applies, we will do this after xmas
hehehe the saga continues. Just got this off the uk passport office
ENTRY TO THE USA: NEW REQUIREMENTS FROM 26 OCTOBER 2004
ENTRY TO THE USA: NEW REQUIREMENTS FROM 26 OCTOBER 2004 FROM 26 OCTOBER 2004 ALL CHILDREN WILL NEED THEIR OWN PASSPORTS TO ENTER THE USA.The US has granted an extension of its Visa Waiver Programme to holders of non-machine-readable British passports travelling to the United States.This means that all British passport holders, including children, travelling to the USA under the Visa Waiver Programme will need their own machine-readable passport with effect from 26 October 2004, rather than from the original date of 1 October 2003.From 26 October 2004 anyone without a machine-readable passport, including children who are currently on a parent’s passport will need a visa to travel to the USA. Airlines will not allow children without their own passports or a US visa for them in an adult’s passport to board flights to the USA. So if you are planning a visit to Walt Disney World, or anywhere else in the USA, we would advise you to apply in good time for passports for all children who will be travelling, or to contact the US Embassy about obtaining visas.
:)
Lesley S
01-10-2003, 14:10
At least I don't need to get one know before our next visit. Saving me money, for at least 10 months, and yes I know the price has gone up......
Thats the same as us, our passports run out in 2005, so we can wait until after our trip
next July then sort out new passports
It goes up to £25 tomorrow !
Details of all passport price increases can be found here :
http://www.ukpa.gov.uk/news/news.asp?intElement=614
Just got thjs mail from the UK Passport Office. Hope this clears it up for others
as well
Thank you for your enquiry.
From 26th October 2004, All children will require a passport of their own to
enter the USA, a child will be refused entry to the US if they are included on
an adult passport and do not have a passport in their own right.
If you are planning to travel to the US with your child/ren after this date you
will need to apply for a new passport for your child/ren.
If you are still unsure, you can contact the American Embassy on:0207 4999 000
Thank you.
Sorry to sounds a little thick but could someone please confirm the defination of a "Machine Readable Passport"
Cheers
A machine readable passport has <<xxx>> lines like this under your photo
quote:Originally posted by hyte1
Sorry to sounds a little thick but could someone please confirm the defination of a "Machine Readable Passport"
Cheers
If you have a red passport issued in the UK, then it is machine readable. The older black ones are not. They run the edge of your passport, with the code line, through a machine, like a barcode reader, and it shows Immigration all of the details on your passport. You will then find that they may or may not ask you a few questions, just to confirm that you give them back the same info as they are viewing.
Information on any children travelling with you, if included on your passport, is not shown in the bar-code line, but is shown on a page in your passport. That's why they want children to have their own passport, so that they have details of them entering and leaving the country. This will also help put an end to a lot of the child smuggling that goes on.
What sort of questions can they ask? Your name and DOB?? I dont remember my address being on the passport?
I must sound thick as hell eh!! Shows you Ive never been to florida before... Not yet anyway!
They might use your name, just to see your reaction!! If it isn't your name (stolen passport) then you are not likely to react in quite the same way!! If you have kids with you they may ask the child to say his/her name. One asked my daughter "who are you little miss?" This was when she was about 8 years old. It's all designed to check that everything is correct and above board, that's all.
They always ask me why I am coming to America. Where I will be staying. How long I am there for. When I last arrived and the date I last left, but that's because I go over quite frequently.
You will probably find that you don't get asked much at all since it is your first time and you have no history of entering and leaving America.
When you get to immigration, just be pleasant, answer the questions (if you get asked any) but there is no need to volunteer any more information than they ask for. Thoroughly check your Visa Waiver forms BEFORE you get to the Immigration official, to make sure that everything has been filled in, dated and signed, in the correct places. If you are unsure, then get it checked by a member of the cabin crew before you leave the plane. They always bring these forms around and give you plenty of time to fill them in before landing.
Don't worry about it. You'll be fine. :D:D:D
Have a great time. :D:D
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
15-10-2003, 17:32
They can ask you absolutely anything. They do it in such a way that it sounds like an innocent chat e.g. "I bet you are glad to be away from work for a vacation" - to see if you really do have a day job to go back to in the UK. They have even been known to ask the children questions which seem to be to test if what us parents are saying is the truth.
Tell the truth and you will be ok :). It's really not as bad as it sounds and they are almost always very pleasant.
They asked Sam a question and he being his fathers son said
'My dad said I musnt talk to strangers'
They guy laughed and let us through
Just be yourself and you will be ok
Chris
melfrank
03-11-2003, 21:57
We have always found the immigration people very serious and scary.
My son is always wanting put stupid answers to the questions re bombs and spies etc. But so far we have been able to stop him.
That's good!!! They take a very, very dim view of anyone joking about these things!!!
:D:D
I have someone asking if they will be ok travelling at Easter next year with existing passports - children on parents - which expire in 2006. They travelled to USA earlier this year without any problem.
I know the Embassy info says all ok, but I thought I read about one of the airlines insisting on this? Anyone know?
BA now seem to have it in their own rules that everyone, children included, are required to have their own passports. Apparently this October they refused to allow a child to travel, as the child was on the parent's passport.
It's worth checking out, but there may also have been more to this case, as well.
Aren't the airlines liable for the cost of the return journey if someone gets refused entry at customs/immigration if their paperwork is incorrect and they shouldn't have been allowed to travel?
Just something I seem to remember from somewhere, but I think that is why they are so careful about shecking things at check-in (ie they are not really fussed about you getting into the country, but they sure don't want you costing the airline company!!).
Yes the airline are responsible and get hefty fines for every refused person.
Seems funny our own passport office say its ok to still have children on your passport
Lesley S
04-11-2003, 13:18
The American embassey have said it is alright until October 2004. I gave them a ring to make sure as we are going sometime at the beginning of the year (hopefully)/
I think the problem is that the new rule got put back, Our passport office, the American embassy are aware, but our travel companies dont seem to have been told yet.
Makes it fun :(:( getting different stories
If I was Ronnie Biggs and filled in a Visa Waiver form stating that I had NO criminal convictions, How would the US Immigration know that I was a criminal and refuse me entry ?
(please do not answer that they had seen me rob the train in the film Buster)
I would assume they have some form of checking your details out before you land ??. I would
have thought that once the plane has taken off that details of all passangers are faxed ahead
of you. Or does this sound silly
Paulm, the INS check your passport and name with their computer system on arrival (whether you've got a visa or are on a visa waiver or not) and I doubt that you'd even get past the Immigration desk if you happened to be Ronnie Biggs (isn't he dead?) or had a criminal conviction! We have no way of knowing exactly what info the INS has on its computer system but they do check every single passport and name!