US to announce plan for new visa rules for some Europeans

The Obama administration is easing new visa requirements for certain European travelers who have visited Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan in the last five years, a move that quickly angered some in Congress who pushed for new travel restrictions.

Being removed from the VWP doesn’t mean a person is banned from traveling to the USA; they will have to apply for a visa, like residents of non-VWP countries.

The biggest question mark concerns groups of individuals that could be exempted from the law, allowing them to continue traveling to the USA under the Visa Waiver Program. Instead, those people – who otherwise would have been eligible to participate in the visa waiver program – will have to obtain a visa through the State Department.

While the new rules are unlikely to affect great numbers of people, in December the European Union Ambassador to the U.S., David O’Sullivan, along with 28 ambassadors from E.U. countries, wrote an op-ed in The Hill expressing some concerns about the change to the visa program.

Iran is also claiming the United States is violating last summer’s nuclear accord by penalizing legitimate business travel to the Islamic Republic.

Under the new law, the secretary of Homeland Security may waive the restrictions for individuals whose entry is deemed to be in the national security interests of the United States.

Citizens of 38 countries, including the United Kingdom and France, can visit the U.S. for up to 90 days without a visa – unless they are relevant dual nationals. No waivers appear to apply to dual nationals, the AP reports.

Iraq and Syria were specifically targeted because the Islamic State occupies significant territory in each of those countries.

The new rules will only apply to those who have have been present in Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Syria from March 1 2011. Iran and Sudan, like Syria, are designated by the U.S.as state sponsors of terrorism.

“The Obama administration is blatantly breaking the law, a law the president himself signed”, said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul.

The US said its embassies were ready to speed up applications for anyone affected by the changes who needs a US visa for urgent business, medical, or humanitarian travel to the US.