dazkers

my wife and i are hopefully going to the u.s for a short holiday in the nearfuture would we need a visa to travel there?

Manc

Are you British Citizens?

dazkers

yes we are manc

rogerpenycate

At the moment (from the UK) it's quite simple.
They have a visa waiver progam which means you fill in a card on the plane with your address etc.
No need for a visa.

However, there is a possibility/probability that in October all of that will change when/if they withdraw this programme.
It would mean that in future you will need to travel to the US Embassy in London to get your visa (a short hop down the M1 !!)
prior to your trip. It used to be the same years ago.
This will cause chaos both to people coming on holiday and visitng us ex-pats who live here.
God knows what it will do to US tourism particularly in places like Florida.
This is a probability even though we are strong allies !!

Manc

you can come on a Visa Waiver until October I believe. Then you might need one of them new fancy biometric passports.

ladyofthelake

This subject is very confusing!
I thought you would only need a visa if you had a new passport issued after the end of October. Anyone else can continue to use the visa waiver programme.
Any other advances?

Duncan Roberts

Also, if you have a criminal conviction you need a visa

Lion in Winter

I think Manc is right on this one. Up until October, you can use the passport you have, no visa. After that, everyone will need a visa unless and until they get one of the new, machine readable ones. At least that's what my sister in England said.

Englishmum

All the info for British citizens currently resident in the UK (plus a list of all the other visa waiver countries) and intending to visit the USA is on the British Airways website.

It has an excellent overview of the new regulations set to come in force from 26 October for any visitors going to the USA:

http://www.ba.com (choose UK as your country of residence; then on the Homepage look on the right-hand side of the screen and click on "New US Travel Regulations").

Hope this helps!

ladyofthelake

If you look at the UK Passport Service website, they say this:

Our understanding of the effect of the US requirements as they currently stand is:

Machine Readable Passports (i.e. the current type of British passport) issued up to and including 25 October 2004 are valid for visa-free travel to the US until the passport expires.

Machine Readable Passports, issued from 26 October 2004 onwards will need a visa attached by the US Embassy to permit travel to the USA.

Biometric Machine Readable Passports, available from mid 2005 are valid for visa-free travel to the US.

Passport Service