Majority of Visa waiver program countries meet electronic passport deadline
The October 26, 2006 deadline for the requirement of issuance of electronic passports (e-Passports) was met by 24 of the 27 (then) Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries. The 3 countries that have not yet compiled are Andorra, Brunei and Liechtenstein. Travelers to the U.S. from these 3 countries with passports issued on or after October 26, 2006 will need to obtain a visa to enter the U.S. until e-passports are available.
The current 37 VWP countries are: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovakia, South Korea Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.
VWP travelers who have valid machine-readable passports with a digital photo that were issued before October 26, 2006 do not need an e-Passport until their current valid passport expires. To check if your passport meets the VWP requirements, check http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html.
Citizens of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Republic of Korea, and the Slovak Republic must have a machine readable passport with an integrated chip containing information from the passport data page = e-Passport. Citizens of Taiwan must have a machine readable passport with an integrated chip from the passport data page = e-Passport as well as a national identity number.
The e-Passports may be identified by the international e-Passport symbol on the cover. They are equipped with an electronic chip that stores the bearer’s biographic information and digital photo. The U.S. started issuance of e-Passports in 2006.
Dorothy S.
Chair Citizenship Committee
February 2007 (Updated 7 January 2014, Judy Furukawa, Citizenship Committee Chair)
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