BRUSSELS (Reuters)- The United States will launch a pilot scheme on Friday which willrequire travelers covered by its visa waiver program to get priorInternet authorization before boarding flights to America.
U.S. officials outlining the Electronic System for Travelauthorization (ESTA) denied it would amount to reintroduction of visas– a concern voiced in the European Union — even though fees might becharged for the process in future.
"The ESTA is not a visa," Jackie Bednarz, attache for the U.S.Department of Homeland Security, told a news briefing in Brussels onMonday. "It’s very different in our minds."
She said a pilot program for the system would be launched on August1 and electronic authorization will be a requirement for all citizenscovered by the visa waiver program from January 12.
The system will require travelers to complete an online application form via the website esta.cbp.dhs.gov answering questions they must currently respond to on paper forms aboard flights or ships bound for the United States.
These include whether or not a passenger has a communicable disease,a physical or mental disorder, or abuses drugs, or has been convictedof certain criminal offences, or been involved in espionage, terrorismor genocide.
A spokesman for the European Commission, the executive body of the27-nation European Union, said it would have to assess whether or notthe program was tantamount to a visa once the new regulations wereformally published.
"We’ll have to see how it works and exactly what the measures will be," Michele Cercone said.
FRICTION WITH EU
The scheme is being launched at a time of friction over visas between Brussels and Washington.
Currently only 15 EU states are covered by the visa waiver program.It does not apply to 11 of the 12 mostly ex-communist countries thatjoined the 27-member bloc in 2004 and 2007, or to older member Greece.
The European Commission said last week it would propose forcing U.S.diplomats to get visas to travel to the European Union 2009 unlessWashington moves toward granting citizens of all EU states visa-freeentry by the end of the year.
The United States has said it plans to allow some more EU states tojoin its visa-free program this year and Bednarz said U.S. authoritiesbelieved introduction of the new system should make it easier toinclude more EU countries.
She said the system would help identify travelers who were notauthorized to travel to the United States before they reached thecountry and had to be turned back.
While U.S. authorities recommended applications be submitted 72hours before travel, in most cases authorization — required to enablea passenger to check in — would be virtually instantaneous and validfor two years for multiple journeys.
Bednartz said there would be no fee, although this did hadCongressional authorization. "In the future there maybe a fee," shesaid, without elaborating.
Electronic authorization will be required for sea and air travel, but not for entry via land borders such as from Canada.
Twenty-seven countries are currently covered by the U.S. visa waiver program.
Details of the new electronic program are available on www.cbp.gov/travel.
(Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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