Visa Waiver Program

The Visa Waiver Program

NOTE:  BEGINNING JANUARY 2009, THE ESTA PROGRAM BECOMES MANDATORY FOR ALL VWP TRAVELERS.  SEE OUR WEB PAGE ON THIS SUBJECT BY CLICKING HERE.

The VWP (Visa Waiver Program) enables nationals from designated countries to apply for admission to the United States for 90 days or less as non-immigrant visitors for business or pleasure without first obtaining a nonimmigrant visa. The following countries are currently in the program:

Andorra*, Austria, Australia, 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, the United Kingdom**, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovak Republic and South Korea (Malta has recently been added too).

*After May 15, 2003, citizens of Belgium, Andorra, Brunei, Liechtenstein and Slovenia must present a machine-readable passport in order to be granted admission under the VWP.

** United Kingdom Passports: Only United Kingdom passports notated with “British Citizens” and/or “with unrestricted right of abode in the United Kingdom” are eligible for VWP admission. Holders of passports indicating that the bearer is a British Subject, British Dependent Territories Citizen, British Overseas Citizen or British National (Overseas) do not qualify for VWP travel.

To qualify for the VWP, you must:

  • Be a national of the VWP country that issued your passport;
  • Have a passport lawfully issued to you by a VWP country that is valid for six months beyond your intended visit;
  • Intend to enter the United States for 90 days or less for temporary business or pleasure;
  • Have received approval for travel under the VWP via the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA)* prior to your travel to the United States;
  • Be a national of the VWP country that issued your passport;
  • Have been checked using an automated electronic database containing information about inadmissible aliens to the United States;
  • Have a return trip ticket to any foreign destination other than a territory bordering on the United States or an adjacent island unless:
    • You are a resident of an adjacent island,
    • This requirement is waived by the Attorney General under regulations, or
    • You are a visitor for business who arrives aboard a private aircraft that maintains a valid agreement guaranteeing to transport you out of the United States, if you are found to be inadmissible or deportable;
  • Present to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officer a completed and signed Form I-94W, Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver Arrival/Departure Form. [available at the airport upon arrival or by the airline]
  • Not pose a safety threat to the United States;
  • Not have failed to comply with the conditions of any previous admission under the Visa Waiver Program; [meaning, you cannot have overstayed a visa in the past]
  • If arriving by air or sea, you must arrive aboard a carrier that signed an agreement, “signatory carrier”, guaranteeing to transport you out of the United States if you are found to be inadmissible or deportable;
  • Convince the examining CBP Officer that you are clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to be admitted and that you are not inadmissible under section 212 of the Act. For reasons that would make you inadmissible, please see the Immigration and Nationality Act at INA § 212 (a);
  • Waive any right to review or appeal a CBP Officer’s decision as to your admissibility, other than on the basis of an application for asylum or an application for withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; and
  • Waive any right to challenge your removal, other than on the basis of an application for asylum or an application for withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.