- Thread starter Chirimoya
- Start date
Entering the US without a biometric passport
I hope this helps.
If you are a traveler from a VWP country and your passport does not meet these requirements, you may want to consider obtaining a new VWP-compliant passport from the passport issuing authority in your country of citizenship. Otherwise you cannot travel under VWP and you must obtain a visa in your valid passport for entry into the United States.
Taken from Visa Waiver Program (VWP)
If you are a traveler from a VWP country and your passport does not meet these requirements, you may want to consider obtaining a new VWP-compliant passport from the passport issuing authority in your country of citizenship. Otherwise you cannot travel under VWP and you must obtain a visa in your valid passport for entry into the United States.
Taken from Visa Waiver Program (VWP)
That is how I'm reading it Chiri. Your Swiss born neighbour will need a visa along with the valid passport in order to enter the US. So the question is which is easier to get, a new passport or a visa?
I'm not having any luck finding that info but it could be because they have voted to also include finger prints in the passport.
here is the link Swiss Abroad
here is the link Swiss Abroad
Hang on, I found this ESTA Web Site Now Available in 13 Additional Languages for U.S.-Bound Travelers from Visa Waiver Countries - CBP.gov
Best thing is to call the US embassy and ask.
Best thing is to call the US embassy and ask.
Swiss Nationals holding a non biometric BUT electronically readable passport known as Model "03" issue BEFORE October 26th 2006 is valid for entry under the Visa Waiver Program.
Holders of "03" passports issued after above date NEED to apply for a visa at the US consulate of their jurisdiction (I you live legally in the DR, the US consulate in Santo Domingo).
I you have a non-electronically readable Swiss passport (pre Model "03") you will need to get a new passport (either an "06" eligible for entry under the VWP or a "03" and apply for a visa).
Please read this page: Visa Waiver Program - U.S. Embassy Bern Switzerland
Holders of all "06" passports are eligible for entry under VWP. However, that passport can only be applied for in Switzerland or a few select Swiss Consulates throughout the world (the Swiss consulate in Santo Domingo is NOT one of them!) if your biometric data has NOT been taken, as only these few select Swiss consulates have the technical setup to take them.
I May of 2010 there will be an altogether NEW Model "10" Swiss passport, which is biometric and also has a chip. This one shall be available at ALL Swiss consulates which shall all be equipped with the technology to take the data and will also be eligible for entry under the VWP.
... J-D.
Holders of "03" passports issued after above date NEED to apply for a visa at the US consulate of their jurisdiction (I you live legally in the DR, the US consulate in Santo Domingo).
I you have a non-electronically readable Swiss passport (pre Model "03") you will need to get a new passport (either an "06" eligible for entry under the VWP or a "03" and apply for a visa).
Please read this page: Visa Waiver Program - U.S. Embassy Bern Switzerland
Holders of all "06" passports are eligible for entry under VWP. However, that passport can only be applied for in Switzerland or a few select Swiss Consulates throughout the world (the Swiss consulate in Santo Domingo is NOT one of them!) if your biometric data has NOT been taken, as only these few select Swiss consulates have the technical setup to take them.
I May of 2010 there will be an altogether NEW Model "10" Swiss passport, which is biometric and also has a chip. This one shall be available at ALL Swiss consulates which shall all be equipped with the technology to take the data and will also be eligible for entry under the VWP.
... J-D.
[Reply to Anna] She has done this and she showed me the form confirming she had been authorised, but I wasn't sure it permitted the traveller to enter without biometric passports.
I'm going to have to call the embassy on her behalf because she doesn't speak English or Spanish, and she said that they hung up on her when she asked if anyone spoke French.
Thanks JD - I will pass this on to her.
I'm going to have to call the embassy on her behalf because she doesn't speak English or Spanish, and she said that they hung up on her when she asked if anyone spoke French.
Thanks JD - I will pass this on to her.
This was really helpful, JD. It helped us confirm that as the holder of a 03 passport issued after October 2006 she definitely does need a US visa.
What we failed to do after this was to speak to a human being at the US embassy in Santo Domingo, because alas, when you phone the number none of the automated options fitted in with our particular question: would they accept a non-immigrant visa application from a Swiss national who is not a DR resident?
Unless anyone here knows the answer to that question or can point me in the right direction, it looks like she will have to wait till after May 2010 (she said the consulate here had told her March) so she can get a biometric passport.
You are welcome and I am glad I could be of help.
To get one-on-one assistance at the Santo Domingo US consulate's phone line, you first need to buy a "15 minute PIN" (yes, that's what it's called) at any Banco Popular... which runs around 500 DOP as a pre-paid feed for their phone service. They have been quite clear and informative on that line with me.
The second part of you question I am not sure. Technically, when you are legally in a foreign country, resident or not (E. g. "tourist") you would fall under the jurisdiction of the consulates and embassies closest to you.
Now, the US consulate will, as you already suspect, have rules as to the eligibility to a visa to enter their country for applicants who are "only" legal tourists within their jurisdiction, which may or not make a successful application possible. As I DO NOT know these rules, you will have to inquire.
So, back to considering spending around DOP 500.oo to get a certified answer to this.
The start date for the issuance of the Swiss "10" passport MAY indeed be March instead of May... I am not sure. The Swiss consulate in Santo Domingo is VERY accessible and always trying to be helpful... so I would not hesitate contacting them.
... J-D.
She may have already exhausted the RD$500 option because she claimed to have spoken to a consular official who hung up on her when she asked to speak to a French speaker. Otherwise I don't know how she got through to a human being because none of the automated options seemed to lead anywhere but a recorded message.
She seems resigned to abandoning the plan for the time being and waiting for March or May when she can get her new passport from the consulate in SD, but at least we managed to save her from wasting more time and money.
She seems resigned to abandoning the plan for the time being and waiting for March or May when she can get her new passport from the consulate in SD, but at least we managed to save her from wasting more time and money.
IF she has a PIN, it is good for the time she bought it (5 or 15 minutes). If she has remaining time, she can call again and us up the remaining portion of her PIN time.
They have operators in both, Spanish and English, the local language and the official US language. If she wants information in French, she might want to try to contact the US consulate general in Bern, Switzerland instead. They might be able to give her a response to the same question.
Non-Immigrant Visas - U.S. Embassy Bern Switzerland:
Again, that's off the consular pages of the US consulate IN SWITZERLAND. The stance may be different here!
J-D.