Visa Waiver Program/ESTA and travel to United States
KUWAIT CITY, March 27: The US Embassy wishes to remind all nationalities who are able to travel to the United States via the Visa Waiver Program that as of 01 April, 2016 they must have a valid electronic passport. This rule applies even to those who possess a valid Electronic System for Travel Authorization. The US Embassy strongly recommends that all travelers check to ensure their passports are valid electronic passports before they make arrangements to travel to the United States on the Visa Waiver program.
Electronic passports have this symbol on their cover:
You can check if your passport is valid for travel under the VWP by carefully reading the following page: https://travel. state. gov/ content/visas/en/visit/visawaiver-program.html.
Any traveler who does not have a valid electronic passport is still eligible to travel to the United States with a valid non-immigrant visa issued by a US embassy or consulate. Such travelers will be required to appear for an interview and obtain a visa in their passports at a US embassy or consulate before traveling to the United States. Information on visa applications can be found at: http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en.html.
A full list of countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) can be found at the following link: http:// ice2016orlando.org/host-travel-hotel/visacustoms/vwp/
The following 37 countries are Visa Waiver Program participants (as of 08/13/2015): Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and United Kingdom.