Brussels, 09/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - In an attempt to prevent possible jihadists travelling to the United States on European passports, the US House of Representatives voted on Tuesday 8 December to tighten controls on travel under the visa waiver programme that allows nationals of 38 countries, including 24 EU member states, to stay for up to 90 days without the need for a visa.
The Bill was passed by 407 votes to 19, AFP reports, and now goes before the Senate. The changes brought in would remove visa exemption from anyone from the 38 partner countries who has travelled to Iraq, Syria, Iran or Sudan since March 2011, thus obliging them to apply to the US authorities for a visa before they travel. The changes would also apply to those who hold dual nationality with any of the above mentioned countries, for example, someone who has dual French and Iranian nationality, even though that person has never visited Iran.
In the wake of the Paris attacks of 13 November, the House of Representatives, which has a Republican majority, voted to restrict the entry of Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the US. Under the visa waiver programme, some 20 million visitors, including those from 30 European countries, travel to the US for short stays, with the only formality being to complete an online ESTA form. The elected representatives' fear is that French or Belgian jihadists, such as those involved in the bloodshed in Paris, could travel to New York.
The partner countries, in exchange for being part of the visa exemption programme, sign agreements on information sharing on their passengers (terrorist suspects, criminal records) and best practice with Washington. The new law would increase the powers of the US administration to remove states which do not cooperate fully from the programme. It would force countries to update the Interpol database within 24 hours of any lost or stolen passports and to cross-check their nationals travelling to the US against Interpol's lists of terrorists and criminals, AFP says. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)