Advocacy Email - July 25, 2004

NAFSA* Action Alert
*Association of International Educators

For more information, contact: govrel@nafsa.org.

It is important that you contact your Senators to support S. 2324, Visa Waiver Program Compliance Amendments of 2004, to extend the deadline for biometric passports for Visa Waiver Program countries. Requiring millions of new people to obtain visas will seriously impact students and scholars who already face visa issuance delays. There is very little time left on the Congressional calendar and this bill must be passed before the end of the session to provide relief from the October 26, 2004 deadline.

Background

The requirement that VWP countries issue biometric passports to international visitors that enter the United States on this program by October 26, 2004 was part of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002. S. 2324, the Visa Waiver Program Compliance Amendments of 2004, extends the deadline until November 30, 2006.

Requiring millions of new people to apply for visas, including scheduling and conducting the required interviews, will seriously impact students and scholars who are already experiencing visa delays in many countries. In a joint letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Sensenbrenner and in testimony before the committee, Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge and Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed support for the extension of the deadline. This extension is vital because none of the VWP countries will be able to comply with this deadline to meet the needs of travelers.

More than two-thirds of international visitors arrive under VWP, with more than 13 million visitors in FY 2002. In the absence of an extension, these visitors would be required to obtain visas from consular offices, and the Department of State is ill prepared for such an extreme increase in visa demand. This large influx of additional visa applicants can only cause additional delays for existing visa applicants, including students and scholars. Extending the biometric passport for VWP countries is necessary to ensure the viability of the visa issuance process.

ACTION:
Requested by August 31, 2004

NAFSA urges you write your Senators today asking them to support S. 2324. Please take five minutes and access the "Take Action!" page on NAFSA's web site at http://econstituent.votenet.com/nafsa.
There you will find a sample letter which you can use to write to your Senators and let them know how important it is to extend the biometric passport requirement for VWP countries.