September 25 2003

The Secretary of State has granted a postponement until October 26, 2004, as the date by which Visa Waiver Program travelers from 21 countries must present a machine-readable passport at a U.S. port of entry to be admitted to the country without a visa.

The countries for which the postponement has been granted are: Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Andorra, Brunei, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Slovenia did not apply for a postponement because most nationals of those countries already hold machine-readable passports. As of October 1, 2003, visa waiver travelers from these countries must present either a machine-readable passport or a United States visa.

Belgium, which is a visa-waiver country, was not eligible to apply for a postponement. Belgian nationals have been required to travel with either machine-readable passports or visas since May 15, 2003.

Citizens of visa-waiver countries are allowed to visit the U.S. for a maximum period of 90 days, on business or pleasure, without a visa.