The United States Department of State is responsible for overseeing the Visa program of people visiting the U.S. Even if citizens of other countries possess a valid and current passport, they are still required to apply for a visa if they will enter the U.S. This is a common requirement of all nations to ensure that their visitors meet their country’s standards.
There are visa waiver countries though that exist because visitors on these countries are not required anymore to apply for visa. The Visa Waiver Program VWP, which is created initially in 1986, lists 35 countries which qualify for visa waiver.
The main objective of this program is to remove the barriers set on tourists who are from countries that are deemed to be friendly to the U.S. as well as to encourage business travelers.
It is under the U.S. government’s discretion whether to qualify a certain country to be part of the program after a country meets all the security requirements provided. On the other hand, the immigration officials at port entries make the final decision whether or not to allow a person to enter the country even if he has a valid passport or meets the VWP requirements.
You can visit the web page created by the United States Department of State if you are wondering what countries are included in the list of the program. The Department of State has a lot of responsibilities but you can click on the “Visa” link found on the right section of the website to see the complete list. When you are directed to the Visa link, you will see the recent updates on the top portion.
There are 8 additional countries added to the list of the program’s qualified countries. Included in these additional countries are Czech Republic, Hungary, and the Republic of Korea. The website lists all the qualified countries already so to save the people’s time in searching if their country is part of the program or not.
There are other tourists who have disqualification issues hence, those countries that are qualified in the program can still restrict selected tourists. Tourists with contagious disease or criminal records are example of disqualifications. To ensure that the citizens of U.S. are free of any danger and to safeguard the public health, these restrictions were agreed upon.
Read all the other information in the web page of the United States Department of State under the visa section. It surely is of great help if you have a lot more questions on visa waivers to visit United States Department of State website.