After Paris Attacks Changes to the Visa Waiver Program (ESTA) to Enhance Security

In response to the Paris terror attacks, the White House yesterday announced changes to the Visa Waiver Program, used by approximately 20 million visitors per year for citizens of thirty-eight program partner countries around the world. The changes to the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), also known as the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), are designed to counter the “ongoing threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters” who might use the program, and are meant to “aggressively” strengthen the program and bolster relationships with the VWP’s partners. These changes come after new countries were added to the VWP program and other security enhancements were made earlier this year.

What Are the New Changes?

The Obama administration is instructing government agencies to move forward with the following security enhancements:

• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will immediately modify its applications to obtain information from VWP travelers regarding any past travel to “countries constituting a terrorist safe haven” and work in conjunction with the Director of National Intelligence to identify and review these countries to make traveler risk assessments;
• DHS along with other agencies will accelerate its review process for VWP partner countries and provide a report to the President within sixty days regarding possible pilot programs to assess the collection and use of biometrics (fingerprints and/or photographs) to increase security and also identify any countries that are deficient in key areas of cooperation;
• The FBI director will evaluate the terrorism information sharing and any deficiencies between the US and VWP countries in consultation with other agencies and provide the president a report within sixty days;
• DHS will offer assistance to VWP countries to better facilitate terrorism information sharing, including for screening refugees or asylum seekers;
• US government agencies will promote the Global Entry program among VWP partners to further expand this trusted traveler program;
• DHS will work with Congress to seek permission to increase Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) fines from $5,000 to $50,000 for air carriers that fail to verify a traveler’s passport data; and
• US government agencies will deploy Foreign Fighter Surge Teams to work with countries to counter terrorist travel and provide assistance as needed to enhance border security and legislation.

Working with Congress to Enhance the VWP

In addition to these security changes, the White House will work with Congress to provide statutory authority for many key security enhancements to the VWP, including:

• Improve ability to identify individuals who have traveled to conflict zones to train or fight with terrorist organizations and coordinate information between VWP partners and INTERPOL;
• Use international agencies such as INTERPOL to track lost and stolen travel documents to prevent their usage as well as general information sharing to use in border screening activities for VWP partner countries;
• Accelerate requirement for 100% of VWP travelers to use e-passports with security chips and also see how biometrics could be effectively added to the VWP process; and
• Expand the preclearance program so Customs and Border Protection officers can inspect passengers and their baggage at foreign airports prior to departing for the United States.

Even More Changes to the VWP

In addition to the Obama administration’s VWP changes, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Jeff Flake plan to introduce legislation that would prohibit anyone who has traveled to Syria or Iraq in the last five years from traveling to the United States using the VWP and instead require them to obtain a traditional visa stamp.

Not everyone is welcoming changes to the Visa Waiver Program. California Travel Association President Barbara Newton and leaders of several California tourism boards are concerned that changes to the VWP could affect the billion-dollar tourism industry. “We certainly support security and safety of our citizens and everyone around the world,” Newton said to the LA Times. “But we don’t want to see the government do something that would disrupt business and travel.”

Delays in Visa and Passport Issuance at US Embassies/Consulates Caused by Technical Problems

The Department of State (DOS) is currently experiencing technical problems with their overseas passport and visa systems. This appears to be a worldwide situation and not specific to any particular country, citizenship document, or visa category. Those affected by this technical problem should check the DOS website for any updates. Moreover, DOS has not provided a time frame for the resolution.

Nonimmigrant Visa Applicants
The systems in place to perform background security checks on each visa applicant are experiencing technical difficulties. US Embassies/Consulates are not able to bypass these security checks. As a result, nonimmigrant visa applicants filing nonimmigrant visa application Form DS-160 on or after June 9, 2015 will not be able to move forward with their visa application process until the technical issues are resolved. While DOS sincerely regrets these delays, they will only entertain expedite requests for “urgent humanitarian need.” In addition, we expect that even once the situation is resolved, we will see delays while the US Embassies/Consulates clear their backlogs.

Immigrant Visa Applicants
Some immigrant visa applicants continue to experience technical difficulties accessing Form DS-260. The DOS suggests that these issues are intermittent and that applicants return to the application website periodically to try to complete Form DS-260.

Passport Applicants
The technical difficulties are also causing delays in the printing of US passports that were approved at overseas passport facilities. Applications accepted by the Passport Unit at an Embassy abroad on or after May 26, 2015 are affected by this delay. Applicants who requested a US passport during this time frame and who have travel plans within the next ten business days should consider requesting an emergency passport at the US Embassy at which they originally applied.

UPDATE (June 18, 2015): The State Department reports that the Bureau of Consular Affairs continues to address the global technical problems with their visa systems. While there is no indication that the outage was related to a cyber security issue, the system is not expected to be online before next week at the earliest. Although passports are still being processed, visa applicants should expect lengthy delays and also that their appointments may be rescheduled. US Embassies/Consulate are prioritizing urgent medical and other humanitarian cases as well as H-2A agricultural workers. We will provide any additional updates as we receive them.

UPDATE (June 23, 2015): The State Department reports that as of yesterday twenty-two consular posts have been reconnected to their systems (which represents about half of the global nonimmigrant visa volume), and they are continuing to restore systems to full functionality. Though some progress has been made, biometric data processing has not been fully restored. As promised, the State Department has prioritized temporary and seasonal workers with nearly 1,250 visas issued in Mexico, and they have issued more than 3,000 visas globally for urgent and humanitarian travel. There is a large backlog of cases to clear, but many posts are conducting visa interviews and are able to print some visas and also have rescheduled visa appointments. Domestic passport operations are functioning albeit with some processing delays and the State Department continues to issue routine and expedited passports to US citizens for all overseas travel needs.

UPDATE (June 24, 2015): The State Department reports that thirty-nine consular posts, which represents more than two-thirds of their normal capacity, are now online and issuing visas.  Moreover, the State Department anticipates that the system will be fully reconnected this week, and personnel will work over the weekend to clear the backlog.

AP: “U.S. passport and visa database crashes due to an 'unspecified glitch' leaving millions of travelers stranded”

The Associated Press is reporting that the Department of State’s database for issuing US passports, visas, and other travel and identity documents has crashed. There is no indication yet of the cause of the crash, but travelers and others abroad applying for these documents are warned of “major delays.” According to the AP, “potentially millions” of US citizens and international travelers in need of visas are affected by the problem, which “is worldwide and not specific to any particular country, citizenship document, or visa category.” The State Department’s Consular Consolidated Database is used to verify that background checks on applicants are conducted and to print the visas and other documents.

SECOND UPDATE 7/31/14: The main travel page of the State Department’s website is providing daily updates as they work towards a resolution.  They have added a FAQ page which provides more extensive information on the problem and the steps they are taking to process visa applications faster. They’ve also announced that during this period, priority is being given to immigrant visa processing. As for nonimmigrant visa processing (i.e., the processing of temporary work and travel visas), the site states: “Some Embassies and Consulates may temporarily limit or reschedule nonimmigrant visa interview appointments until more system resources become available to process these new applications.” Therefore, applicants for nonimmigrant visas are encouraged to give themselves plenty of time to process their visa stamps, and to expect significant delays until the visa system is back up and running at full capacity.   The Wall Street Journal has detailed some of  the difficulties these technical problems have caused.

Passports, Lost, Stolen, Drawn On

Metro reported on a story (which The NY Daily News picked up) about a four-year old boy who decided to use his father's Chinese passport as a drawing pad. Kotaku makes a compelling argument that the story is a hoax, but documents another more likely example of a kid coloring on a parent's passport. Whatever the authenticity of these stories, it's an important reminder, especially in these busy summer months of travel, for all to keep their passports safe and secure--both from children's hands when they have a crayon and potential thieves. For foreign nationals who have passports lost or stolen, the State Department has instructions (first noting that copies should be made of the passport, visa stamp, and I-94): file a police report; request a replacement I-94 if applicable; contact the appropriate country embassy for passport replacement; contact the US Embassy/Consulate where the visa stamp was issued to report it was stolen; and lastly, to apply for a replacement visa stamp.

UPDATE: Further confirmation that the story (though a good one) was a hoax.