June 14, 2006

Certain Non-Machine Readable Passports Entering on Visa Waiver Eligible for Parole

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in a letter to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), has indicated that certain non-machine-readable emergency and temporary travel documents entering the U.S. on the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) may be eligible for entry into the U.S. by parole. The policy is effective immediately. VWP nationals traveling to the U.S. with non-machine-readable emergency passports or temporary passports may be granted admission notwithstanding the lack of a machine-readable passport if they are otherwise admissible. If parole is granted by CBP, the VWP national must pay a $65 parole fee, will be required to enroll in US Visit and will be referred to secondary inspection for completion of processing.

This policy does not change the current requirement which became effective on June 26, 2005 that travelers from 27 VWP countries must have a machine-readable passport to enter the United States without a visa. The VWP under certain circumstances, enables nationals of the following countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

For further information on the VWP and the machine-readable passport requirement, please refer to Greenberg Traurig’s Immigration News Flash dated June 9, 2005 and our June/July 2005 Newsletter.