Identity and Passport Service

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Visa-free travel to the US for British visitors extended for a further year

Friday 17th June 2005

The US Department of Homeland Security announced, on 15 June, a one-year extension of its Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) to 26 October 2006.

VWP countries, including the UK, are required to have a biometric passport issuing system in place by 26 October 2006 in order to continue as members of the Programme and benefit from visa free travel to the US after that date.

The US also announced a requirement that all new passports issued on or after 26 October 2005 must contain a digital photo image to enable the holder to travel to the USA visa free. This does not affect the UK as we have been issuing digital passports since 1998.

This means that:

British citizens with machine-readable passports containing a digital photo image will not require a visa to visit the USA because they meet the criteria of the 26 October 2005 VWP deadline.

British citizens with machine-readable passports but without a digital photo will still be able to visit the USA visa free as their passport was issued before the 26 October 2005 deadline.

British citizens without a machine-readable passport must obtain a machine-readable passport or apply for a US visa before visiting the USA.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and UK Passport Service (UKPS) welcome the US decision. It will now enable the UK to finalise the developments of our biometric programme and allows British visitors to continue to visit the US visa free.


Notes for Editors:

  1. The US Congress had introduced a requirement in 2003 that, in order to remain in the Visa Waiver Programme, all member countries had to include a biometric identifier in their passports by 26 October 2004. This deadline was subsequently extended to 26 October 2005.
  2. The US VWP was amended last year to include the requirement that all British visitors, including children, travelling to the US under the Programme, hold a valid machine-readable passport. This is unchanged.
  3. A British passport is machine-readable when there are two lines of letters, numbers and chevrons (“>>>>”) printed at the bottom of the personal information page (page with photograph and personal details). The text will be on a white strip on older machine-readable passports and directly on the pink page of newer passports. If there are no lines of text, the passport is not machine-readable.
  4. Most UK passports are machine-readable. The change to digital photos in UK passports was introduced from 1998 onwards. A digital photograph is one where the image of the photograph has been scanned onto the data page. All new  UK passports issued in the UK and overseas have digital photo images in them.
  5. The US authorities have been granting a one-time exemption to Visa Waiver Programme nationals arriving at US borders without a machine readable passport.  However, the US Department of Homeland Security has announced that this exemption period will cease on 26 June 2005, and the requirement to have a machine readable passport will be strictly enforced.
  6. Biometrics are unique personal features which are being introduced into passports to avoid the scope for identity fraud. (The three most common are face, finger and iris.)
  7. The date for rollout of UK biometric passports is in the period January-July 2006.
  8. Further information about passport and visa requirements for the US is available on the US Embassy website: www.usembassy.org.uk.

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