New Rules for Visa Waiver Program & ESTA

Under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), citizens or nationals of 38 participating countries (see list below) are allowed to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without first obtaining a visa. Travelers must have a valid Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) approval prior to travel.

New U.S. laws after the deadly attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, make significant changes to the Visa Waiver Program. The new laws add a dual national provision that requires citizens of those countries listed below to get visas if they also happen to be nationals of Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan.

Nationality can be conferred through marriage or birth and such nationality is rarely easy to renounce. An Australia citizen born and raised in Australia may be considered Iranian based on father Iranian citizenship even though never visited the Middle East. Civil liberties and minority rights groups pointed out that there is no international agreement on the rules of nationality and that many people are dual nationals even if they do not wish to be.

Citizens or nationals of the following countries* are currently eligible to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), unless citizens of one of these countries are also a national of Iraq, Iran, Syria, or Sudan.

Andorra	Hungary	Norway
Australia	Iceland	Portugal
Austria	Ireland	San Marino
Belgium	Italy	Singapore
Brunei	Japan	Slovakia
Chile	Latvia	Slovenia
Czech Republic	Liechtenstein	South Korea
Denmark	Lithuania	Spain
Estonia	Luxembourg	Sweden
Finland	Malta	Switzerland
France	Monaco	Taiwan*
Germany	Netherlands	United Kingdom**
Greece	New Zealand