U.S. Visa Waiver Program

A strong and vibrant economy is essential to our national security. The United States welcomed approximately 18 million VWP travelers in FY 2023 who, according to the Department of Commerce, spent approximately $84 billion on goods and services. VWP travelers injected nearly $231 million a day into local economies across the country.

The eligibility requirements for a country’s designation in the VWP are defined in Section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act as amended by the Secure Travel and Counterterrorism Partnership Act of 2007 and the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015. Pursuant to existing statute, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may designate into the VWP a country that meets, among others, the following requirements:

1. Has an annual temporary visitor visa (i.e., B visa) refusal rate of less than three percent;
2. Accepts the repatriation of its citizens, former citizens, and nationals ordered removed from the United States within three weeks of the final order of removal;
3. Enters into an agreement to report lost and stolen passport information to the United States via INTERPOL or other means designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security;
4. Enters into an agreement with the United States to share terrorism and serious criminal information;
5. Issues electronic, machine-readable passports with biometric identifiers;
6. Undergoes a DHS-led evaluation of the effects of the country’s VWP designation on the security, law enforcement, and immigration enforcement interests of the United States; and
7. Undergoes, in conjunction with the DHS-led evaluation, an independent intelligence assessment produced by the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis (on behalf of the Director of National Intelligence).

This requirement only applies to a country’s initial designation into the VWP.

DHS continually seeks to identify new and emerging threats that could adversely affect U.S. security, law enforcement, and immigration enforcement interests. DHS takes a proactive stance to strengthen the VWP and—through support from Congress and the authorities vested in the Secretary of Homeland Security—has regularly introduced additional security requirements to enhance traveler vetting, improve information sharing, and further mitigate threats to the Homeland.

In 2015, Congress and the Secretary of Homeland Security introduced the following VWP enhancements:

• Implementation of the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 6 (HSPD-6) and Preventing and Combating Serious Crime (PCSC) agreements that VWP countries have signed relating to the sharing of criminal and terrorist information;
• Use of e-passports for all VWP travelers, regardless of the passport’s date of issuance and of the date of the country’s designation in the VWP;  
• For VWP countries with a last point of departure to the United States, the conclusion of a federal air marshal agreement;
• Collection and Analysis of Travel Data (API/PNR), consistent with UN Security Council Resolutions 2178 and 2396;
• Use of INTERPOL Lost and Stolen Passport Database to screen travelers crossing a VWP country’s borders (or, for Schengen Member States, entering or exiting the Schengen area);
• Reporting of Foreign Fighters to multilateral security organizations such as INTERPOL or EUROPOL; and
• Cooperation with the United States in the screening of refugees and asylum seekers.

In 2017, the Secretary of Homeland Security announced three additional VWP enhancements:

• Implementation of existing information sharing arrangements by systematically screening travelers crossing their respective borders against U.S. counterterrorism information;
• Implementation of effective safeguards against insider threats in the aviation security environment; and
• VWP countries having a 2% or greater rate of business or tourism nonimmigrant visitors overstaying the terms of their admission into the United States must initiate a public information campaign to reduce overstay violations by educating their nationals on the conditions for admission in in the United States.

In 2022, the Secretary of Homeland Security announced an information sharing requirement for all current and aspiring VWP countries to improve enforcement of statutory information sharing requirements under 8 U.S.C. § 1187 (c)(2)(f). Through the Enhanced Border Security Partnership (EBSP), DHS seeks to routinely screen the biometrics of the following groups against the biometric records of the VWP partner:

• Travelers to the United States who have a nexus to the VWP partner, including its citizens and nationals;
• Applicants for immigration benefits or humanitarian protection in the United States; and
• Individuals encountered by law enforcement in a border or immigration context in the United States.

After designation in the VWP, countries must maintain high and consistent security standards. DHS, in consultation with the Department of State, conducts statutorily required reviews of the effects of each VWP country’s designation in the program on U.S. national security, law enforcement, and immigration interests at least once every two years. During the review process, DHS assesses VWP countries’ counterterrorism, law enforcement, immigration enforcement, passport security, and border management capabilities. DHS collects information from the government of the VWP country under review, the U.S. diplomatic mission in that country, the Departments of State and Justice, the U.S. Intelligence Community, and other sources. Many reviews also include operational site inspections of airports, seaports, land borders, and passport production and issuance facilities in VWP countries. Following the conclusion of every review, DHS, in consultation with the Department of State, provides a report to Congress regarding the assessment results and designation determination.

In addition to the biennial review process, DHS continuously monitors all VWP countries’ compliance to ensure that their continued designation in the VWP will not adversely affect the security of the United States. Continuous monitoring allows DHS to react rapidly to evolving security threats. The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, has statutory authority to immediately terminate or suspend a country’s designation in the VWP without notice if there is a credible threat originating from that country which poses an imminent danger to the United States or its citizens.

In addition to national-level risk assessments, DHS conducts targeted, individualized vetting of all VWP travelers at various points throughout the travel continuum. The Department requires all prospective VWP travelers to obtain pre-travel authorization via U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) prior to boarding a plane or ship bound for the United States. DHS coordinates with the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) to vet ESTA applications to ensure that travel authorizations are not issued to individuals who pose a threat to national security. In November 2014, DHS began requiring ESTA applicants to provide additional information to further enhance its ability to identify applicants on the U.S. terrorist watchlist. Effective October 2022, DHS introduced a new requirement for VWP travelers planning to enter the United Stated by land to also obtain pre-travel authorization before appearing at the land border crossing.

DHS automatically screens all ESTA information against numerous U.S. law enforcement and counterterrorism databases, as well as INTERPOL databases, while upholding strict privacy standards. DHS recurrently vets ESTA data on a daily basis to ensure that we are taking advantage of the latest law enforcement and intelligence information. CBP carefully evaluates any ESTA check that raises a counterterrorism concern. Since ESTA’s inception in 2008, CBP has denied several thousand ESTA applications as a result of vetting against the U.S. Government’s terrorist watchlist.

In addition, U.S. law requires commercial air and sea carriers operating flights to, from, or through the United States to provide Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Records (PNR) data to CBP. This information includes travelers’ biographic and travel reservation information. CBP screens this data against U.S. and international law enforcement and counterterrorism databases to identify high-risk individuals before they depart for the United States and when they travel by air within the United States.

Finally, upon arrival at a U.S. port of entry, CBP officers validate travel and identity documents, collect biometric data from VWP travelers, perform biographic and biometric checks, and may interview select travelers before making an admissibility determination.

The statutory requirement that VWP countries sign information sharing agreements with the United States pertaining to known and suspected terrorists, serious criminals, and lost and stolen passports enhances our vetting of individual travelers. VWP countries have provided the United States with identity information on numerous known or suspected terrorists who were previously unknown to the United States as a result of VWP information sharing arrangements. This information exchange augments the already strong information exchange between the United States and VWP countries’ security services. Moreover, VWP countries have provided over 60 percent of the records in INTERPOL’s Stolen and Lost Travel Document Database, which DHS utilizes in its daily vetting of ESTA applications and Advance Passenger Information/Passenger Name Record data. This information significantly bolsters DHS’s ability to identify and disrupt the travel of terrorists, serious criminals, and other mala fide actors who pose a threat to U.S. security.