DHS Announces New Rule on
Machine-Readable Passports for
Visa Waiver Countries

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on May 12, 2005 that travelers from 27 Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries must have machine-readable passports to enter the United States without a visa as of June 26. The passports, mandated by Congress, have a sequence of lines that can be swiped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers to quickly confirm the holder’s identity.

The requirement for machine-readable passports was to have taken effect on Oct. 1, 2003, but U.S. officials delayed implementation until Oct. 26, 2004, at the request of 23 of the 27 VWP countries. Since that time, DHS has been granting one-time entry waivers for VWP travelers without machine-readable passports, at no charge. Those waivers will end next month. Beginning June 26, transportation carriers will be fined $3,300 per violation for transporting any VWP traveler to the United States without a machine-readable passport. VWP travelers arriving in the United States on that date without a machine-readable passport should not anticipate being granted one-time entry into the country. Rather, they must apply for either a B-1 or B-2 visa at a U.S. Consulate abroad.

The 27 VWP countries are: Andorra; Australia; Austria; Belgium; Brunei; Denmark; Finland; France; Germany; Iceland; Ireland; Italy; Japan; Liechtenstein; Luxembourg; Monaco; the Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Portugal; San Marino; Singapore; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In 2004, about 15 million people from these countries visited the United States.

An example of a machine-readable passport is available on the State Department's website.

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