Israel, eleven other countries, eligible for visa waiver program

Israel may soon join the visa waiver club, that is, the group of countries the citizens of which do not need a visa to enter the United States for a period of three months or less. The United States is currently working on an amendment to its visa protocol which would allow for twelve countries to be added to the twenty-seven who already enjoy the visa waiver status.

Ynet’s Yitzhak Benhorin writes that until now, Israel’s efforts to exempt Israeli tourists from the lengthy process of obtaining a U.S. visa have failed, owing to the U.S. criterion that only countries which had less than 3 percent of their applications denied may be included on the list. The homeland security legislation voted on in Congress allows for countries that had less than 10 percent of their applications denied to be included on the list. The rejection rate of Israeli applicants for a U.S. visa hovers at about 3 percent.

Israel will have no problem with meeting additional U.S. demands, such as divulging passenger lists, using biometric passports, and meeting strict security protocols. The security protocols at the Ben Gurion International Airport are up to U.S. code and Israel is expected to be one of the first nations to begin using biometric passports.

Raising the bar to 10 percent means that there are twelve countries, including Israel, qualifying to apply for the visa waiver program. Among them are Argentina, South Korea, Taiwan, and Estonia.