US visa waiver scheme - help!!

[JP27]

Hi. Anyone have any info on (US based for now, but Europe v. useful too) operators who belong to the US visa waiver scheme? Looking for a list of participants to save the long haul of contacting ops manually. Tried online but found nothing really...any ideas gratefully received.?? Thx!!

[EvilKitty]

A search on the US State Dept. website for "VWP carriers" gives a PDF listing them all (http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/87163.pdf). It appears to be dated 2005 so may not be current.

Alternatively, you can request a copy of the carrier list from the Department of Homeland Security (http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html for ref):

Department of Homeland Security’s National Fines Office
1525 Wilson Blvd.,
Arlington,
VA. 22209

You need to be a citizen of a VWP member country travelling to the US on one of these carriers for certain visitor or business reasons, otherwise you need the relevent visa. If in doubt check with your local US Embassy.

You should remember though that crew members are not eligable for VWP access to the US and will need the appropriate visa.

[kwachon]

Valid as of today. :}

Currently, 27 countries participate in the Visa Waiver Program, as shown below:

Visa Waiver Program - Participating Countries.

Andorra Iceland Norway Australia Ireland Portugal Austria Italy
San Marino Belgium Japan Singapore Brunei Liechtenstein Slovenia Denmark
Luxembourg Spain Finland Monaco Sweden France The Netherlands
Switzerland Germany New Zealand United Kingdom

It is not the carrier per say that participates but the country of origin of the passenger.

[Arkwright]

I know of passengers refused entry in New York after arriving on a Chartered Jet from the UK.

I forget where the jet then took them, but they had to leave US soil and re-enter on an approved Visa Waiver scheme scheduled carrier.

I'm 99% confident that it is not just the passport holders country of origin that is taken into account.

Could be an expensive mistake.......

[JP27]

thanks guys, yes I know the nationality of the pax & crew figure as well. It's a US plane & crew on this one, so that's no problem and the pax are either Swiss or German, so that's ok too. I'll have a look at the site info, thanks kwachon

[JP27]

happened to me in the early days of the US visa rule too but luckily (?!) we only had to pay a fine, around £3000 GBP I think. Will def check it properly before the flight but we have a few weeks anyway - thanks again all

[Cubs2jets]

I believe you will find that the VWP (Visa Waiver Program) is only available to passengers traveling by commercial airline.

C2j

[JP27]

no there are a number of charter operators who belong as I have operated Challengers & Gulfstreams from Europe to the US on this basis many times

[kwachon]

The rule concerning Private Aircraft.


Q: Can Private Aircraft Participate in the VWP?A: Private aircraft will not be eligible to participate in the VWP until the Secretary of Homeland Security publishes regulations pertaining to the administration of the VWP's carrier provisions, including private aircraft provisions. The Secretary of Homeland Security must also revise carrier agreements in order to collect information necessary to identify any domestic corporation that wishes to participate in the program. Presently, the Secretary of Homeland Security is drafting regulations and revising carrier agreements.
Once published and subject to any regulatory restrictions, the following private aircraft will be eligible to apply for participation in the VWP:
Operators of aircraft conducting operations under part 135 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, and
Operators of non-commercial aircraft that are owned or operated by a domestic corporation conducting operations under part 91 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulation:}