Change
in U.S. law affects Austrians, French, and Italians who wish to visit the
U.S. on the Visa Waiver Program
Through the so-called
"Visa Waiver Program", most European citizens have the benefit of being able
to travel to the U.S. without obtaining a visa, if they are only coming for
business or tourist purposes and their stay is not longer than 3 months.
This is about to change
for some Austrians, Frenchmen, and Italians.
The Austrian, the French,
and the Italian government are the only three European visa waiver countries
which did not implement the required changes to keep their citizens eligible
for the visa waiver program, if their citizens apply for a passport after
October 26, 2005.
This does not affect
citizens of these countries who currently hold a machine-readable passport.
Hence passports issued before October 26, 2005 will most likely enable their
holders to come to the U.S. on the Visa Waiver Program. Only persons who
need to get their passport renewed soon are potentially concerned.
Until this is changed,
citizens of the above mentioned countries should therefore try to apply for
a new passport or a revalidation of their current one if it is due to expire
soon BEFORE October 26, 2005, when the new law comes into effect.
The affected citizens
should try to avoid obtaining a passport after October 26, 2005 and before
their government changes the requirements for their passports to comply with
the U.S. requirements.
Austria is likely to
enact such legislation in summer of 2006. Italy and France are currently in
the process of changing their laws, which will possibly be effective at the
beginning of 2006.
Persons who are not
eligible for the visa waiver program have to apply with the U.S. Consulate
in their country for a business or tourist visitor visa, which costs $100
(currently: 85 Euros), requires many documents and is time intensive.
If
you have any questions concerning this notice, please contact an Immigration
Attorney.
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