Several countries are expected to be impacted by America's upcoming plans to change the type of information required from Visa Waiver Program applicants.
In 2024, the US is said to have welcomed over 72 million international tourists into the country, many of whom will have been a tourist who had applied for an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) before traveling.
The US' VISA Waiver Program allows people from several of European countries, a handful of Asian and Pacific countries, and other places like Mexico and Qatar, to stay in the US for up to 90 days without needing a visa.
You do, however, have to apply for an ESTA.
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Per the US Department of State, an ESTA is 'a web-based system operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to determine eligibility to travel to the United States for tourism or business under the VWP'.
The 42 VWP designated countries include Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, and the United Kingdom in Europe, as well as Australia, Brunei, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan.
Those from Israel, Qatar, and Chile are also eligible for an ESTA under the VWP scheme.
As it stands you have to provide personal details about yourself (including your address, phone number and email), emergency contact information, and some general eligibility questions to be granted an ESTA.
According to The New York Times, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has revealed its plans to ask for much more details about ESTA applications, including social media information.
In a document filed in the Federal Register yesterday (December 9), it was revealed that the CBP will ask people for 'a long list of personal data including social media, email addresses from the last decade, and the names, birth dates, places of residence and birthplaces of parents, spouses, siblings and children'.
And it won't just be recent social media posts the CBP will look at, apparently its review will look at up to five years of history. Yikes.
The changes come after the Trump administration announced new fees for those wanting immigrant visas while in the US.
There's already a fee to apply for a US visa but, thanks to the 'Big Beautiful Bill', people also have to pay an additional $250 now. You can, however, get this money back when your visa expires as long as you've stuck to the permit's conditions, Time Out reported.
The new fee came into force on September 30.
Topics: Travel, Social Media, US News, World News
Niamh Shackleton