Probably the most interesting part of this is if states don’t integrate by 2027 they will no longer be eligible for the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). That adds a lot of friction for citizens of that state to travel to the U.S. for any reason.
From the presentation:
For all travellers (and asylum seekers) before entry into USA
Hit/ No hit query of the foreign databases
On hit: retrieval of existing data record in pull procedure
A part of visa issuance by a U.S. Embassy is a background check against both US databases and those of the local country. I believe all visa appointments perform digital capture of fingerprints, face, along with anything on an e-Passport.
So this gets the U.S. nearer to equivalence in VWP with what they can already do with the visa processes?
If you don’t want the U.S. to hold your biometric information it sounds like you just won’t be traveling to that country any longer.
So the change is the “watch list” lookup / handover of records for hits. Hate to be in the camp saying that “if you haven’t done anything wrong you have nothing to worry about” but I honestly assumed that those checks were already done.
No idea where you live but:
https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-...
This also gives you TSA Pre. It’s cut my average time spent queuing in U.S. airports and at the border by an order of magnitude. Worth the effort.
On airports, there are a set of U.S. airports like Los Angeles which always seem to have long queues, and a few where CBP is more prone to asking 20 questions of everyone.
On times of year, visiting cities when a big convention is happening can be much slower, as can traveling near a holiday like Thanksgiving.
I’ve witnessed and stood in a 3 hour queue at San Francisco and that was my #1 motivator to go get Global Entry sorted.
I simply went there to visit a friend which had moved there, that is all.
So just before the transit area after coming off the plane, a ginger and a brown haired fellow stopped me and started asking questions, without showing a badge or identifying themselves. They were plain clothed officers, guessing they are police was rather easy, they had very bad choice of çlothing style. So they ask where are you going and why. Purpose of stay and lenght, how will you get there and blabla, many follow up questions. Do you have a return ticket, whats her name.
I told them, thats your job to find out and I intend to travel by cab, am I good to go now.
They let me go on my way.
This is the kinda people who will be dealing with our data, hell no.
I will fill out whatever if I ever wanna go to the us, but I prefer to not hand over any data upfront.
You need to travel to the U.S. with these changes? You still use ESTA and VWP, and the U.S. pulls what they need via an IT integration.
You need to travel to the U.S. and these changes get a “No” from EU states? You go through the visa process for tourism or business, they get your biometrics and background checks through that process. It takes longer. It costs more money. It is more onerous to you as an applicant.
Every time you cross the border as an alien you are fingerprinted and photos are taken (exceptions are given for diplomats).
In short, it’s the same outcome for U.S. travel and your only way to stop the U.S. having this information is to not travel there…
$350 and a minimum six month wait for an appointment at an EU consulate if a congressperson wants to vacation in Italy.