penguinsix

Joy...

http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage...20081539062868

Passengers travelling to the United States from countries whose citizens do not need visas must register online with the US government at least 72 hours before departure, in the latest measure to strengthen American security.

Rete

How utterly insane. Who thinks up these things? Some paranoid loonie in a position of power?

Manc

It's not really.........

POE officers have like a minute tops to evaluate someone and make a decision.

this way it'll cut down a lot on VWP abuse, and aid the POE officers in determining eligibility into the country, you never know it might well even shorten lines.

fatbrit

Certainly not anyone who has investments in the US tourist industry. This is the end of it.

MsElui

jeez - you know how many daftases we get on here who think they can just go and live there without a visa. can you imagine how many will still neglect to register in advance and just get on the plane - chaos!

Ray

Most of the info is given when you book the flight anyway

Longy

Yep and its something that you have to do with Oz already - taken care of by the company you book with - no big deal.

md95065

I assume that the airlines will have some way of checking whether the advance registration has been done and will refuse to accept the passenger if it hasn't (which, of course, will introduce yet another set of possible screwups ...)

md95065

Yes - in this case I believe that the paranoid loonie in question is probably Michael Chertoff ...

(although, in fairness to him, "paranoid loonie" is pretty much his job description as head of "Homeland Security")

Bladerunner

This is what the US is demanding, but the EU has not agreed to it and is unlikely to sign up to the proposal in its present form.

Certain EU nations, like Poland and the Czech Republic, have already signed up to it though.

The process would require one pre-approval for multiple visits over a 2-year period, and would only apply to those without visas (ie VWP travellers).

Manc

The EU has no say on how the US admits people to the country.

RoadWarriorFromLP

I agree, at least in theory, as the concept makes sense. The Aussies already do something similar to this with their ETA program.

What I don't understand is the 72-hour timeframe. The Aussies can provide an electronic approval in a matter of moments. (Presumably, your details are run automatically through databases, and approval is granted if nothing negative comes up.)

I can't see why the biggest, baddest country on earth can't use its software to do something similar to what the Aussies have been doing for years.

And I doubt that it would curtail abuse at the border. US customs were problematic long before 9/11. In its various incarnations, it has been investigated and criticized by Congress and other government agencies for many years.

The core problem is that the department is run as a series of fiefdoms, with front line employees who are poorly trained and next to impossible to fire. The whole place needs a housecleaning, and I doubt that this is going to help.

md95065

True, but the EU can introduce retaliatory (sorry, that should have been, "reciprocal") measures regarding US visitors to the EU and can, if it wants to, generally behave in a manner that is sufficiently obstructive that the US will have to take notice even if the result is only some small face-saving concessions.

Manc

tit for tat measures are just that.

The EU can do anything it wishes also.

as can Australia, Bangladesh, Somalia and the USA.

AdobePinon

They've also been talking about requiring 72 hours notice for internal US flights too (for anyone). Can't be bothered to dig up a link - it was a month or two back now. Say goodbye to stand-by flights if that happens.