If you are visiting or travelling through the USA, you will need to be aware of the country's entry requirements for non-USA nationals.

Please select one of the links below:

• What is the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP)?
• What is the US-Visit Programme?
• What is a Machine Readable Passport (MRP)?
• How to obtain a Visa
• Flights involving stops en-route in the US

What is the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP)?

The VWP allows the citizens of certain countries to travel to the USA without having to obtain a visa prior to travel. The nationalities currently entitled to use the VWP are as follows:

Andorra	Australia	Austria	Belgium	Brunei
Denmark	Finland	France	Germany	Iceland
Ireland	Italy	Japan	Liechtenstein	Luxembourg
Monaco	Netherlands	New Zealand	Norway	Portugal
San Marino	Singapore	Slovenia	Spain	Sweden
Switzerland	UK

*Nationals of these countries must hold a Machine Readable Passport (MRP) in order to travel under the VWP. Holders of non-MRP passports must obtain a USA visa prior to travelling to the USA.

Other requirements if travelling on the VWP are: Travelling for business, pleasure or transit only, and Staying in the USA for less than 90 days, and Hold a confirmed return or onward ticket (or e-ticket receipt), and Present a completed I-94W form to the authorities on arrival in the USA. (These forms can be obtained at check-in or on board the aircraft.) Changes to the USA Visa Waiver Programme applicable from 26 October 2004 From 26 October 2004, ALL passengers intending to travel to the USA on the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) will be required to present a valid Machine Readable Passport (MRP). In addition, Children travelling on the VWP will no longer be eligible to travel to the USA on their parent's passports and will be required to hold their own valid Machine Readable Passport (MRP).

What is the US-Visit Programme?

All passengers travelling to the USA holding a Visa will be subject to the US-Visit Programme from 5 January 2004.

The United States Department of Homeland Security's enhanced border security programme, US-Visit, will initially operate at 115 airports and 11 seaports and will involve the biometric registration on arrival and departure of all passengers holding US visas. This means that on arrival in the US, inkless fingerprints and a digital photograph of the passenger will be taken and stored by the authorities, this will take place at the normal immigration desk as part of the entry process.

It is not expected that the arrival process will take any longer as a result of US-Visit.
It should be noted that registration is a requirement of entry for visa holders and any person refusing to be finger printed and photographed may be subject to refusal of entry to the USA and immediate return home.

Passengers will also be expected to register their departure from the US using self-service immigration machines, which will be rolled out throughout the USA during 2004. In the initial stages few airports will have the machines and where they operate, passengers will be issued with a card on arrival advising them to use a machine when they depart the US.

Please be aware that passengers travelling on the Visa Waiver Programme (green I-94's) will not be subject to registration under US-Visit. Registration applies only to passengers holding visas to enter or transit the United States. All data obtained from visitors is stored securely and is made available only to authorised officials and selected law enforcement agencies on a need to know basis in their efforts to protect the USA.

What is a Machine Readable Passport (MRP)?

A MRP has the holder's personal details, eg. name, date of birth, nationality and their passport number contained in two lines of text at the bottom of the photo page. This text may be read by machine.

These two lines of text indicate that the passport is machine readable:

Children
From 26 October 2004, new US legislation will require that each individual passenger presents their own valid machine readable passport. As children included in their parent's passports will not have their own document, a visa will have to be obtained for each child not holding their own valid passport.

How to obtain a Visa

Travellers requiring a USA visa are advised to contact the USA Embassy in their home country. If you are intending to travel to the USA and require a USA visa, you must make an interview appointment directly with the Embassy. Applying for a USA visa can be a lengthy process which can take several weeks.

Further information on the visa process can be obtained from the US Diplomatic Mission Website

Note: Visas cannot be obtained on a same day basis.

Flights involving stops en-route in the US

US Customs and Immigration regulations now require passengers to disembark at their first port of call in the US to clear customs and immigration. This means that if your flight stops off on the way to its final destination, you will be required to disembark at the first stop, and collect your baggage to be screened. You will not be required to clear customs again at the final destination, if it is within the US.

If a separate connection is involved (you change to another carrier or aircraft), you will not be required to clear customs and immigration again when you arrive at your final destination.

Travellers pre-cleared at one of Customs and Border Protection's foreign pre-clearance locations in Canada or the Caribbean are not required to clear customs and immigration again when they arrive in the US. Travellers arriving in the US in transit to a foreign location are required to clear customs and immigration and are subject to US regulations and laws.