O Visa Waiver Program (em português Programa de Isenção de Visto) é um programa do governo americano que permite a cidadãos de 27 países ingressar nos Estados Unidos da América para viagens a turismo ou negócios de até noventa dias sem a necessidade de obtenção prévia de visto.
O programa de isenção de visto foi introduzido em 1986 com o fim de facilitar as viagens de turismo e negócios de curta duração para nacionais de países com baixos índices de imigraçã ilegal nos Estados Unidos.
No mapa acima estão em azul os países isentos de visto para os EUA.
Em vermelho estão os futuros países que farão parte dessa lista (entre eles o Brasil)
Em novembro de 2006, os 27 países que participam do programa de isenção de visto são:
Alemanha, Andorra, Áustria, Austrália, Bélgica, Brunei, Cingapura, Dinamarca, Eslovênia, Espanha,
França, Islândia, Irlanda, Itália, Japão, Liechtenstein, Luxemburgo, Mônaco, Nova Zelândia
Noruega, Países Baixos, Portugal, Reino Unido, San Marino, Suécia, Suíça
Para gozar da isenção, o indivíduo deve ser titular da nacionalidade de um dos 27 países acima. Residentes permanentes nestes países não podem usufruir da isenção, a menos que - obviamente - sejam nacionais de algum dos 27 países.
Dentre os países-membros da União Européia não gozam da isenção de visto os nacionais de: República Tcheca, Chipre, Eslováquia, Estônia, Grécia, Hungria, Letônia, Lituânia, Malta e Polônia.
Os futuros países são:
Argentina, Brasil, Chipre, Coréia do Sul, Repúplica Tcheca, Estonia, Grécia, Israel, Malta, Eslováquia, Taiwan e Uruguai.
Requisitos para o programa de isenção:
Os requisitos para o tipo de passaporte variam com sua data de emissão:
Passaportes emitidos (ou renovados) antes de 26 de outubro de 2005 devem conter uma banda de leitura óptica (machine readable passport).
Passaportes emitidos (ou renovados) depois de 26 de outubro de 2005 devem conter a banda de leitura óptica (machine readable passport) e fotografia digitalizada do titular, ou seja, a fotografia deve ser digitalizada e depois impressa no passaporte (e não colada).
Passaportes emitidos (ou renovados) depois de 26 de outubro de 2006 devem conter um chip com os dados biométricos do titular.
A validade do passaporte
Normalmente é exigido que o passaporte tenha uma validade de no mínimo seis meses a partir da data prevista de saída dos Estados Unidos. Todavia, esta exigência pode variar ligeiramente.
Outros requisitos
Os demandantes da isenção de visto também devem:
- ter cumprido todos os requisitos em anteriores viagens aos Estados Unidos;
- não ser inelegível para um visto;
- não pretender permanecer nos Estados Unidos com um objetivo diferente do turismo ou negócio de até noventa dias. Especificamente, jornalistas não podem usufruir do programa de isenção se a visita for a serviço.
- pagar uma taxa de seis dólares se a entrada for efetuada por terra. Para os que entram via aérea ou marítima o custo da taxa está incluído no bilhete.
Aqueles que não preencham todos os requisitos devem solicitar um visto de ingresso num consulado ou embaixada dos Estados Unidos da América em seu país de residência.
Abaixo segue o texto em inglês:
The visa waiver program was introduced in 1986 with the aim of facilitating tourism and short term business visits to the United States, and allowing the Department of State to focus consular resources on addressing higher risks to the U.S.
In November 2006 it was announced that plans for an Electronic Travel Authorization would be developed so that VWP travellers can give advance information on their travels to the United States. In return, they will be given authorization electronically to travel to the United States. This program will be modelled on the Electronic Travel Authority scheme that has been used in Australia for many years.
To be eligible for a visa waiver under the VWP, the traveller seeking admission to the U.S. must be a citizen of a country that has been designated by the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of State, as a "program country". Permanent residents of designated countries do not qualify unless they hold a citizenship of another designated country. The criteria for designation as program countries are specified in Section 217 (c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (U.S.C. 1187). The criteria stress passport security and a very low nonimmigrant visa refusal rate: not more than 3% as specified in Section 217 (c)(2)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as well as ongoing compliance with the immigration law of the United States.
As of 2006, 27 countries were designated as VWP participants:
Europe (22)
Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
Asia (3)
Brunei, Japan, Singapore
Oceania (2)
Australia, New Zealand
Enlargement of the group of eligible countries
After the expansion of the European Union in 2004, both the newly admitted countries and EU agencies began intensive lobbying efforts to include those new countries in the VWP. The U.S. government initially responded to those efforts by developing bilateral strategies with 19 candidate countries known as the Visa Waiver Roadmap process. The U.S. government began to accept the possibility of departing from the original country designation criteria - which had been contained within immigration law per se - and to expand them by adding political criteria, with the latter being able to override the former. This development began first with Bill S.2844, which explicitly named Poland as the only country to be added to the VWP, and continued as an amendment to the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 (S.2611), whose Sec. 413, Visa Waiver Program Expansion, defined broader criteria that would apply to any EU country that provided "material support" to the multinational forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, the definition of that "material support" would be met again only by Poland and Romania, a fact that was not favorably received by the other EU candidate countries.
During his visit to Estonia in November 2006, President Bush announced his intention "to work with our Congress and our international partners to modify our visa waiver program" . Recently (July 2007) the Congress and the senate passed the Secure Travel and Counterterrorism Partnership Act, directing the secretary of Homeland Security to establish a pilot program to expand the visa waiver program for up to five new countries that are cooperating with the US on security and counterterrorism matters[citation needed]. This new act changes the nonimmigrant visa refusal rate threshold - from 3% - to 10%, thus making 12 countries qualify for inclusion in the visa-waiver program: Argentina, Brazil, Cyprus, Czec Republic, Estonia, Greece, Israel, Malta, Slovakia, South Korea, Taiwan and Uruguay.
Cyprus, Greece and Malta had already refusal rates less than the original 3%, but were not included in the VWP countries. However, for continued participation, DHS re-evaluates participating countries every two years, as required by Congress. Through this process, two countries, Argentina and Uruguay, now are no longer eligible to participate. Current members will have to fulfill any new requirements to continue their eligibility for membership in the program.
While all participating nations must provide reciprocal visa-free travel for U.S. citizens (usually ninety days for tourism or business purposes), Australia is the only nation that requires U.S. citizens (and other VWP nations) to apply for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA), which in fact is a visa that is stored electronically in a computer system operated by the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC). A passport holder must apply for and purchase an ETA through an authorized travel agency, airline, or via the official DIMA website before departing for Australia. However, as the ETA process is relatively free of formality, the United States recognizes it as the equivalent of visa-free travel.
The only European microstate that is not a member of the program is the Vatican City. Its candidacy in the program is still a mystery, with no knowledge whether it will or will not seek membership in the program.
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