Since 1986, the US visa waiver program has been in effect for developed European and Asian countries. To date, agreements on a simplified border-crossing procedure have been signed with 27 countries: all the states of "old Europe," Slovenia, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, and Brunei. Any citizen of these countries can enter the US without a visa for up to 90 days; they only need to show a passport to a border guard.
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, prompted the US to strengthen the screening of people entering the country, and they demanded that the 27 countries introduce new-generation passports that are harder to forge. Congress wanted these countries to begin issuing documents containing the holder's biometric data (information about fingerprints and the retina stored on a microchip) and a digital photo that is not pasted but printed directly on the plastic page in 2005.
The innovation required large technical and financial expenditures, and the European Union asked for a postponement. The US legislature then set two deadlines: October 26, 2006, for introducing biometric passports, and October 26, 2005, as an interim measure, for introducing passports with digital photographs.
As the Financial Times reported, the passport services of France, Italy, and Austria missed the deadline. "France and Italy have capabilities, but they are limited and cannot cover the entire country," said Elaine Deszenski, Assistant Secretary for Policy and Planning at the US Department of Homeland Security. "New passports are now being issued in major cities, while the rest of the country does not have enough." Rome has already announced that new passports will be issued throughout Italy from April next year. Jean-Baptiste Matte, press attaché of the French Foreign Ministry, said his country would be able to meet the US requirements only at the beginning of next year.
This means that some citizens of France and Italy will now be required to obtain visas for travel to the US.
"In reality, the effect of the innovation will be minimal in the first few weeks," says Elaine Deszenski. A visa will be required only for those who have received a new passport of the old type after October 26. Holders of old passports whose validity has not expired will continue to travel to the US as before.
Many fear that unpleasant scenes will now occur in airports and that US authorities will deport some French and Italian citizens back home. However, the Americans promise not to be heavy-handed: if a traveler convinces the border guards that they knew nothing about the new rules, they will be allowed in. Sanctions against airlines that allow a person with a "wrong" passport and no visa on board will be introduced in April.
Austria acted more cleverly than the others. Like Italy and France, it had not managed to prepare for the new requirements. Martin Kremer, Austria's consul general in Washington, admitted to State Department officials that his country cannot issue new-style passports to everyone, but offered an alternative: issue them an insert with a digital photo. The consul general's proposal satisfied the Americans. All Italian activity, meanwhile, came down to the Italian embassy in Washington sending a note to the State Department expressing regret that the US could not postpone the deadline.
In 2004, of the 27 countries whose citizens enjoy visa-free entry, 15 million people visited the US, including 775,000 from France and half a million from Italy. According to some estimates, the US economy earned about $10-15 billion from these visitors.
Andrei VETVINSKY.
Gzt.ru