Jadm

Hello,
I thought I would post this experience my UK fatherinlaw had upon
returning from the USA to the UK.
Upon arriving at Gatwick airport 5am UK time he was informed that
beginning October 2005 all visitors from the UK going to the USA will
have to report to the Embassy in London to obtain a VW and new
passport if they do not have one at that time. A holder of an older
passport that has not expire may use that passport, but will still
have to go to the London Embassy to obtain a VW to visit the states
from then on.
straight from the British officials mouth there at Gatwick.
YUK.*

Andy Platt

"jadm" <[email protected]> wrote:

    > Upon arriving at Gatwick airport 5am UK time he was informed that
    > beginning October 2005 all visitors from the UK going to the USA will
    > have to report to the Embassy in London to obtain a VW and new
    > passport if they do not have one at that time. A holder of an older
    > passport that has not expire may use that passport, but will still
    > have to go to the London Embassy to obtain a VW to visit the states
    > from then on.

A lot of things have got lost in translation. A few points though:

a) You get a visa from the consulate, not a visa waiver. The idea of the
visa waiver is you don't need the visa.
b) The consulate in London couldn't cope
c) Visa applications are requested by mail; you may be called to the
consulate for interview.

Right now there are two issues:

a) Current US law requires that travellers using a visa waiver must have a
machine readable passport. They have allowed some countries to submit
waivers on this and all have been granted. Whether they allow that next year
is another issue but, in any case, the solution is a new passport.

b) Current US law requires that from next October (you say '05 but it's '04)
if you have a *new* passport (e.g. one issued after that date) it must have
biometric information for you to be able to use the visa waiver. However,
countries aren't set up from that and, IMHO, the US will be forced to push
the date back.

    > straight from the *British* officials mouth there at Gatwick.

I've emphasized a word there. What the British officials say about US
immigration law has no more weight than what I say. In fact, IMHO, it has
less because I've gone and read the regulations but I bet they haven't!

Andy.

--
I'm not really here, it's just your warped imagination

Roland Perry

In message <[email protected] >, jadm
<[email protected]> writes
    >I thought I would post this experience my UK fatherinlaw had upon
    >returning from the USA to the UK.
    >Upon arriving at Gatwick airport 5am UK time he was informed that
    >beginning October 2005 all visitors from the UK going to the USA will
    >have to report to the Embassy in London to obtain a VW and new
    >passport if they do not have one at that time. A holder of an older
    >passport that has not expire may use that passport, but will still
    >have to go to the London Embassy to obtain a VW to visit the states
    >from then on.

It would help to know what the expiry date of your Father in Law's
passport is - this rather garbled advice may reflect his particular
circumstances.

If he renews between Oct 04 and Oct 05 he'll need to go to the Embassy
and apply for a Visa (not a Visa Waiver).

The only relevance of the Oct 05 date is that this is an estimate of
when the UK will start to issue biometric passports, which will then
mean holders will once again be able to enter USA without a Visa (if, as
they say, you qualify according to all the normal restrictions).

--
Roland Perry

Mrraveltay

jadm wrote:

    > Hello,
    > I thought I would post this experience my UK fatherinlaw had upon
    > returning from the USA to the UK.
    > Upon arriving at Gatwick airport 5am UK time he was informed that
    > beginning October 2005 all visitors from the UK going to the USA will
    > have to report to the Embassy in London to obtain a VW and new
    > passport if they do not have one at that time. A holder of an older
    > passport that has not expire may use that passport, but will still
    > have to go to the London Embassy to obtain a VW to visit the states
    > from then on.
    > straight from the British officials mouth there at Gatwick.
    > YUK.*

The "British officials" at LGW don't determine this, I would rely more
on hearing from the US consulate. It should be noted that it is VERY
possible that the US will delay the Oct '04 date... Note.. if the
British officials are telling you the date is Oct 2005, they are already
in error.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

General rule of life -- do NOT EVER trust advice given to you by any government official. They are often wrong. Hell, the US Supremes have held that absent affirimative misconduct, the Goverment is no liable for bad advice from its minions [Hansen v. Schweiker].

Rather than the "horse's mouth" one might want to consider the other end.

Just Jenney

Some articles have come out lately about the possibility that Britons (and other VWP country citizens) will have to apply for visas in order to visit the US after Oct 2004:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...a_040108135207

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...sa_visas_col_2

Happy reading!

~ Jenney

L D Jones

jadm wrote:
    >
    > Hello,
    > I thought I would post this experience my UK fatherinlaw had upon
    > returning from the USA to the UK.
    > Upon arriving at Gatwick airport 5am UK time he was informed that
    > beginning October 2005 all visitors from the UK going to the USA will
    > have to report to the Embassy in London to obtain a VW and new

Report to the embassy? I don't think they let anyone in without an
appointment anymore. No walk ins

Kocourkov

Yup, it looks like later on this year that a lot of Europeans are going to need visas, and that's going to completely kill the transatlantic travel industry. Seems like a bunch of people in Washington DC think that "foreigners will come here anyway, now they'll have to go through our procedures".

Well, I can tell you that many people in the Benelux will pass up going to the US if they have to wait 8 weeks to get a visa which they will be fingerprinted for. Much cheaper to go elsewhere.

So, if Bush has his way, the money-spending Europeans will disappear and be replaced by campesinos from South of the Border willing to work for $4.50 an hour.

Absolutely brilliant.

Andy Platt

The machine readable passport thing is really a non-issue that should be
already dealt with. That's an easy fix anyway - get a new passport if
necessary. The vast majority are fine. The biometrics issue will be
resolved - there won't be a massive number of people that will suddenly need
visas.

However, if the US doesn't act quickly to correct the misperceptions that
abound in the European media right now, tourism *will* be hit - not because
of new laws but because of uncertainty.

Andy.

--
I'm not really here, it's just your warped imagination
"Kocourkov" <member17536@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Yup, it looks like later on this year that a lot of Europeans are going
    > to need visas, and that's going to completely kill the transatlantic
    > travel industry. Seems like a bunch of people in Washington DC think
    > that "foreigners will come here anyway, now they'll have to go through
    > our procedures".
    > Well, I can tell you that many people in the Benelux will pass up going
    > to the US if they have to wait 8 weeks to get a visa which they will be
    > fingerprinted for. Much cheaper to go elsewhere.
    > So, if Bush has his way, the money-spending Europeans will disappear and
    > be replaced by campesinos from South of the Border willing to work for
    > $4.50 an hour.
    > Absolutely brilliant.
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com