Executive Travel : Program Helps Keep U.S. Business-Friendly

A pilot program that cuts paperwork for international business travel got an 11th-hour revival from Congress this week when members of the House voted to continue the Visa Waiver Pilot Program.

The visa waiver program allows foreign business travelers and tourists from 22 eligible nations to travel to the United States without visas.

Although Americans were accustomed to being able to travel widely without acquiring visas, especially in Europe, visitors from other countries had generally needed to prove they were not likely to try to stay in the U.S. permamently and often faced an annoying series of steps to get a visa.

The waiver program, started in 1988, recognized that free flow of business and leisure travelers would benefit international trade and was worth the small risk of allowing residents of certain developed countries to travel freely in the U.S. Also, some countries, such as France and Japan, agreed to drop visa requirements for U.S. visitors when the program began.

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Obtaining visas can be a hassle for foreign business travelers and tourists, said Greg Farmer, U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism.

South Korean travelers, for example, are not covered by the program and must still obtain a visa to travel to the United States. A South Korean business owner could quickly get to Canada to nail down a deal but not the U.S. “Despite great efforts by the U.S. embassy in Seoul, there are lengthy lines for obtaining a U.S. visa,” Farmer said. “However, Canada allows South Koreans to enter its territory without a visa and Australia issues visas to South Koreans within 24 hours, making these countries more competitive than ours.”

The program extension, which is part of a bill called the Technical Corrections Act, now goes to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which must act before Sept. 30.

The Air Transport Assn., a Washington-based trade group representing the airline industry, as well as the Commerce Department, has been lobbying for the last month to make sure the program doesn’t lapse.

The program currently waives visa requirements for travelers from nations including Britain, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Italy and the Netherlands, for stays of less than 90 days in the United States.

Only countries that have demonstrated that their citizens pose a low risk of illegal immigration to the United States can participate. To be eligible, countries must have had a low rate of visa refusals (less than 2%) and visa overstays (less than 2%) for the previous two years.

“The value of the program to international visitors is demonstrated by the growth in its use,” Farmer said. “In 1988, only 10% of the total arrivals from the first eligible countries used the program. By 1993, 70% of total arrivals (from) nine of the primary countries used the visa waiver.”

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About 10 million foreign visitors to the U.S. are expected to travel without visas this year. According to the Commerce Department, 95% of travelers from Japan now arrive without visas, 67% from Britain, 73% from Germany, 78% from France, 79% from Italy, 61% from Switzerland, 75% from the Netherlands, 50% from New Zealand and 62% from Sweden.

“The visa waiver is useful at a couple of different levels,” said Air Transport Assn. spokesman Chris Chiames. “It makes the last-minute business meeting possible for a European businessman who finds out he needs to attend a meeting in the United States.”

It also makes it easier for international business travelers to take quick advantage of air fare deals without worrying about visa applications, he said.

“The program was started as a way of making travel easier for foreign travelers and work of the U.S. government easier,” said Gary Sheaffer, spokesman for the U.S. Department of State.

It has cut down the number of visas processed by some consulates by tens of thousands. The program may only be used by travelers who would otherwise have qualified for a visa. Travelers with criminal records, for example, could not enter the country legally, he said. Also, students are not eligible to have the visa requirement waived.

“The program has been very successful,” Sheaffer said. “We would like to make it permanent.”

Indeed, the program has proven so popular that some members of Congress would like to see it expanded to include some countries, such as Greece, Ireland, and Portugal, which do not meet the current criteria, Chiames said.

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If the visa waiver program is not renewed, many international business travelers would get bogged down in bureaucratic paperwork, he said. Because the program has dramatically reduced the number of visa applications for U.S. visits, many U.S. embassies and consulates have cut staff and no longer have the resources to process a surge in applications. In addition, if waivers are withdrawn, nations such as France and Japan may withdraw the reciprocal privileges.

It would throw everything into a state of confusion, said Chiames. “We don’t even want to think about it.”

Visa-Free Entry

Countries that have demonstrated that their citizens pose a low risk of illegal immigration to the United States and dates when they entered the visa waiver program:

July, 1988

Britain

December, 1988

Japan

July, 1989

France, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands

October, 1991

Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, San Marino, Spain

July, 1993

Brunei

Note: Canadians are covered by unrelated, more relaxed regulations.

Source: Air Transport Assn. of America