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May 15, 2005
Released by the State Department on May 12, 2005
The Department of Homeland Security today announced that as of June 26, 2005, ALL persons traveling under the auspices of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) must present a machine-readable passport (MRP) to travel to the United States without a visa. Starting on that date, transportation carriers will be fined $3,300 per violation for transporting any Visa Waiver traveler to the U.S. without a machine-readable passport.
Machine-readable passports include two optical-character, typeface lines at the bottom of the biographic page of the passport that, when read, are supposed to deter fraud and help confirm the passport holder’s identity quickly. A sample image of a machine-readable passport may be found at http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html#4.
Visa Waiver travelers who are not in possession of machine-readable passport may also apply for a nonimmigrant visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad if seeking entry for business or tourist visits to the United States. Please contact our office for further details.
The machine-readable passport requirements do not affect the separate deadline requiring Visa Waiver Program country passports issued on or after October 26, 2005, to contain biometrics in order to be used for visa-free travel to the United States.
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