Supposedly new US visa requirements

From British Airways' July newsletter:-
http://www.britishairways.com/offerjul03/visa_info.shtml

BA warns over new US Visa requirements

Families travelling to the US in the autumn could find themselves stranded at the airport if they haven’t followed new US passport rules, British Airways has warned.

The airline wants to raise awareness of the new legislation – which calls for all children, including babies – to have their own passports.

In addition, citizens of 27 mostly western European countries who normally don’t need a visa to travel to the United States will now need to have updated ‘machine readable’ passports.

These feature two lines of coded data at the bottom of the photo page that can be swiped.

If they don’t, travellers must go through the increasingly time consuming visa application process.

Tighter rules

The new rules have come about as the result of tighter passport and security controls in the US following the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks.

While most affected countries have introduced the so–called ‘high–tech’ passports, it is not clear how many are in circulation.

BA is trying to establish how many people in the UK could be caught out by the deadline – and therefore stranded – by having the old passports.

Jim Forster, Government and Industry Affairs Manager, said: "We’ve established that about 200,000 British citizens living in the UK and abroad don’t have machine readable passports, but of course it could be much more than that when you take into account the children travelling on their parent’s passports."

"On top of that there could be hundreds of thousands travelling with the ‘wrong’ passports from other EU states and countries like Japan."

Disappointment

He added: "What we don’t want to see is families trying to fly out to, say, Florida for the autumn half–term break and not being able to go.

If passengers and their children want to visit the United States after October 1, we strongly recommend that they each obtain a machine readable passport, if they have not already done so."

Another measure coming into effect soon will require most people applying for visas to be personally interviewed by US consular officials overseas.

The moves are causing concern among some business leaders and trade bodies in the US who say that delays in processing documents could deter legitimate travellers from going there, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile many affected travel industries support the change, but say that more time is needed before it is implemented.

The airline industry, for instance, wants more time to notify travellers and travel agencies of the changes.

**elle says:  I always thought it was a requirement for children to have passports anyway.  Guess that goes to show what I know.

Elle, I think kids have had to have their own passports since we've had our own children - but my mother still has an old passport of her own with BOTH me and my brother listed on it!  We didn't need our own until we were about 9 (me) and 5 (him) because we were going to be traveling with my father without my mother along.

We have a friend who thought he could just add his new son onto his passport himself!  Got a dose of reality when they tried to take a holiday to Germany.  Little tyke had to get his own passport right away - as well as our friend having to get his renewed since he'd "defaced" his own!!  

I have to admit that when I saw this on their website I was kind of scratchin' my head.  I've never known children to NOT have to have their own passport.  When we moved to Berlin back in 1993 my, at the time, only daughter had to have a passport of her own.  When we went back to the US with daughter no. 1 and new daughter no. 2 in tow, new daughter's no. 2 had to have her own passport as well.  So I was miffed when I saw this but then thought, maybe it's a British thang.  You know, perhaps the way they did their passports was different.  (shrug)

Hi all,  I read this post last week and told myself to look into it further for my wedding needs.

Machine-readable passports - Starting October 1, 2003, each Visa Waiver Program traveler must present a machine-readable passport (MRP) at the U.S. port of entry to enter the U.S. without a visa, otherwise a nonimmigrant visa is required. This change includes all categories of passports-- regular, diplomatic, and official, when the traveler is seeking to enter the U.S. for B-1/B-2 purposes. To learn more, see below.

Here are the sites I found on this...  and I am fine with this...except now I have to make sure Tom gets something done like NOW!, to be ready in time for us to get married.
I love my man...but as with most men...  they are not the quickest to take care of details in a proper time...errrr!

ok...  these two sites tell more

http://travel.state.gov/vwp.html

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/ukpa9jul03.html

hope this helps some to make their future travel plans easier.

Shel

Hope they pass the information

I went to atlanta last year with Nigel and his mum, and I was in a wheelchair..very little in the way of checks went on.. they let all 3 of us go threw US side immigration..mind you Nigel and his mum are british..

made me feel extra safe..NOT !

Also, for those of us that have passports from before April 2002.  Please see this link for update on them.

http://www.us-embassy.ch/Consular/updates/NewPaspReg.html

Effective April 8, 2002, American citizens residing or traveling abroad who require issuance of a U.S. passport will be issued the latest, state-of-the-art passport incorporating a photo-digitized image and other enhanced security features. U.S. Embassies and Consulates will achieve this goal by transferring the passport issuance function to a domestic U.S. passport facility. The new photo-digitized passports can only be issued in the United States. Applications for these passports will continue to be accepted at Embassies and Consulates around the world.

These new procedures will increase the time that Embassies and Consulates, including Embassy Bern, will require to process passport applications. The Department of State is, however, committed to ensuring that American citizens receive secure documents in a timely manner. American citizens are encouraged to apply early for passports, whether they are first-time issuances or replacements for expiring or lost/stolen passports.