In the aftermath of the Paris and San Bernardino attacks, the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) was amended significantly on December 18, 2015, when the enactment of the 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 2029) was signed into law and included the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015. The VWP allows citizens of participating countries (currently 38 countries) who meet certain eligibility requirements to travel to the United States without obtaining a visa for stays of 90 days or less. Under the new law, participating countries are now subject to additional restrictions and risk revocation from the program for non-compliance. Additional country requirements include increased passport security requirements, screening protocols and more comprehensive information sharing. Some of these requirements are effective immediately, with others to be implemented in phases throughout the upcoming year.
Effective immediately, individuals who have been present in Iraq, Syria, Iran or Sudan at any time on or after March 1, 2011, are not allowed to participate in the VWP, with few exemptions for national security interests. These exemptions include certain individuals performing military service in the armed forces for a VWP country, or certain qualified individuals carrying out official duties from employment for a VWP country government. Further, any VWP individual participants who are nationals of Iraq, Syria, Iran or Sudan are excluded from participation even if they have never resided or even set foot in those countries.
These amendments were in response to increased scrutiny of the program following the violence and attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, and their full impact through actual implementation and new procedures is yet to be determined.
For general information on the Visa Waiver Program, please click here or here.
For the full text of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill of 2016, which includes the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015, please click here.
