Visa Waiver Program Ireland

History of the Visa Waiver Program Ireland (VWP)

1986 saw the U.S. Congress create the Visa Waiver Program. The Visa Waiver was created by the U.S. Congress to allow short-term tourist and business visits to the United States. It also allows the U.S. State Department access to its consular resources in high-risk cases. In July 1988, Visa Waivers were granted to the United Kingdom for the first time. In the same year, Japan was added to the program (16/12). The following countries were added to the program in October 1989: France, Italy (the Netherlands), Sweden and Switzerland. Andorra joined the program in 1991. Brunei, an Asian country, joined the program in 1993. The Republic of Ireland was added to the VWP List on April 1, 1995. In 1996, Argentina became the second VWP country in Latin America. Slovenia joined the VWP on 29 September 1997. In 1999, Uruguay and Portugal were added to the Visa Waiver Program Ireland (9 August). In 2002, Argentina was removed from the list. Uruguay was also taken off the list in 2003. Chile joined the program in 2014. In November 2019, Poland became the latest country to join VWP. The George W. Bush administration increased entry requirements after the September 11th attacks. Visitors to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program were required to have a machine-readable passport to enter the country. This requirement became effective on October 1, 2003. This law was not fully implemented until October 26, 2004, because many countries in the VWP still issue passports which are not machine-readable. This group included more than one-third of the French and Spanish passports. This delay was not applicable to Belgian passports, as their integrity and security were at risk. All VWP travellers entering the U.S. with passports issued after 26 Oct 2006 or earlier are required to have biometric passports. For Brunei, Liechtenstein, and Andorra Brunei, this law is not yet in force. The Electronic Travel Authorization program (ESTA) was launched in November 2006. It allows VWP travellers to provide advance information about their trip and to authorise electronic travel authorisation. This does not guarantee admission to the U.S.