Senator Mark Kirk (R–IL) and Congressman Mike Quigley (R–IL) returned from a four-day trip to Poland this week. The bipartisan pair made the journey to discuss an important topic in U.S.–Polish relations: admitting Poland into the Visa Waiver Program. Under the Visa Waiver Program, visitors from friendly member nations are able to travel to the U.S. for up to 90 days without first obtaining a visa. To ensure that dangerous individuals do not enter the United States through the program, a visitor must first submit information through the program’s online …
President Obama’s trip to Poland last week offered a glimmer of hope regarding Poland’s potential membership in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). The President not only endorsed the idea in conversations with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski but then sent a letter to Congress the same day lending his support for the Secure Travel and Counterterrorism Partnership Program Act of 2011, a bill sponsored by Senator Mark Kirk (R–IL) and Representative Mike Quigley (D–IL). The bill would make key changes in the program and likely help Poland and other aspiring countries …
It’s official: There are now 100 countries that offer Taiwanese citizens visa-free travel. Malaysia has the honor of hitting the century mark—following closely behind Australia and Montenegro, which announced their decisions last week. An EU visa waiver for Taiwan went into effect this past January. The U.S. has still not made it across the finish line. The Obama Administration is lumbering behind, weighted down by bureaucracy, a sclerotic and out-of-date Taiwan policy, and inattention. Taiwan is now under the 3 percent visa refusal rate—an ill-conceived requirement to begin with, but …
Last week Greece was admitted as the 36th member nation of the Visa Waiver Program, (VWP). While this is certainly a welcome move for a program that hasn’t added a new member since 2008, it also highlights a real lack of willpower and effort by the White House to keep adding new member countries. In fact, DHS can barely add any new members right now because of the biometric exit mandate Congress linked to its waiver authority. The biometric mandate—which hasn’t gotten much of anywhere is a real stumbling block …
The Senate will soon vote on the Travel Promotion Act of 2009. The Act would create a government-run public relations campaign funded by a tax on international visitors. It is being touted as a way to increase travel to the United States. But the economic downturn has not just hit the United States—worldwide pocket books are feeling the crunch. Adding more money to the price tag of travel to the U.S. will likely just encourage international travelers to take a staycation, or spend their money on a trip to another …
Today is the first day of implementation for the Department of Homeland Security’s Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) program. ESTA allows travelers visiting the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) to enter the U.S. without a visa and stay for up to 90 days. VWP countries include most of Western Europe, New Zealand, Japan and Australia. This summer, Heritage analyst Jena McNeill wrote on ETSA: Pre-screening for security risks improves authorities’ ability to prevent high-security risk individuals from entering the U.S. Rather than risking a bureaucratic snafu …
