DHS Designates Greece for the Visa Waiver Program

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has added Greece to the list of countries that may participate in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), as detailed in a final rule published in The Federal Register on March 31, 2010. As such, citizens and eligible nationals of Greece who are otherwise admissible to the U.S. may now enter the country without first obtaining a nonimmigrant visa for purposes of business or pleasure for a period of ninety days or less. At this time, other countries designated for the VWP include Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Korea, San Marino, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Decisions to designate countries for the VWP rest with Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano in consultation with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and requirements set forth in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) must be met in making the determinations. Such requirements include that the country being considered for designation issues acceptable machine-readable passports, that the country's designation would not negatively affect U.S. security, and that the country has an agreement with the United States to share information on security threats by its citizens or nationals.

It will be interesting to monitor whether the U.S. government will consider revoking Greece's status due to the current economic situation in that country. In 2002, the United States removed Argentina from the list of designated VWP countries after an economic crisis increased the possibility of individuals abusing the program to enter the United States and overstay their allocated time.