Do travelers require machine-readable passports to visit the United States?
Visitors traveling from Visa Waiver Countries to the United States holding a valid passport issued prior to Oct. 26, 2005, will not require a visa to enter the country as long as their passport is machine-readable. A machine-readable passport has two lines of characters at the bottom of the photograph page. Visa Waiver Countries are: Andorra, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom. (For citizens with the unrestricted right of permanent abode in England Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.) • Travelers who are issued a passport on and after Oct. 26, 2005, will be required to have biometric data on their passport. If not, they will require a visa to enter the United States. • Travelers from Non-Visa Waiver Countries (all of Latin Ame
