U.S. embassy warns of fake news sites on changes to visa waiver program |17 November 2016

The embassy of the United States of America has stressed that reports of new countries being added to the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) are false.

“The Department of Homeland Security, which administers the VWP in consultation with the Department of State, has not announced any new VWP entrants,” a communique from the embassy says.

The full list of countries whose citizens or nationals are currently eligible for the VWP, is available at travel.state.gov (full link: https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/visit/visa-waiver-program.html).

“The U.S. Department of State is committed to facilitating legitimate travel to the United States for qualified individuals, through a transparent and efficient visa application process, and by expanding consular operations overseas.  We encourage visa applicants to visit travel.state.gov for more information about U.S. visas,” adds the communique.

The communiqué notes that changes to visa requirements will always be posted on travel.state.gov, and directly on relevant U.S. embassy and consulate websites. 

“Potential visa applicants are advised to disregard information from unverified or ‘spoof’ news sites,” says the communique. 

The Department of Homeland Security administers the VWP in consultation with the Department of State. The program is open only to countries that meet specific legal requirements. These requirements include:

• A visitor visa refusal rate of less than three percent;

• Information sharing agreements;

• The issuance of e-passports, and

• Successful completion of a DHS-led security evaluation.