US assures most Europeans will not need to apply for visitor visas

The United States Embassy in London issued a press release on April 7 reassuring British citizens that most would not need visitor visas, as had been widely reported in the press this week.

The Embassy said in its press release that British passports issued before October 26, 2005 – as long as they are machine-readable – would continue to allow the bearer to travel visa free to the United States. Passports issued on or after October 26, 2005, must contain biometric identifiers in order to qualify the bearer for visa-free travel.

In order to improve U.S. border security for the benefit of both the American public and foreign visitors, the U.S. Congress ordered improved passport standards as part of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002. In response to the widespread concern in Britain and elsewhere that the October 26, 2004 deadline in the Act would be very difficult to meet, the Administration successfully lobbied Congress to extend the deadline by one year. Currently, it appears that some VWP nations will begin issuing passports with biometric identifiers by that new deadline, while others will not be able to meet it. The Administration is discussing the current state of VWP nations' biometric programs with the U.S. Congress and we have made clear our concern about the current deadline.