US to require online registration for visa-free travel

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States said Tuesday that it will require visitors who are allowed to enter the country without visas to register biographical details online at least three days before they travel.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who announced the changes, said they will help the United States boost the security of its visa-free travel program by allowing the government to screen visitors before they travel. Currently, visitors fill out paper forms en route and are screened by U.S. customs agents upon arrival.

The U.S. will begin implementing the changes in August, Chertoff said. Online registration will be mandatory for all visa-free travel by January 12.

There are currently 27 countries whose citizens are not required to obtain visas for U.S. entry, including those in most of western Europe as well as Andorra, Australia, Brunei, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore. Eight other countries -- among them the Czech Republic, Hungary and South Korea -- are expected to be admitted to the visa waiver program.

When the Homeland Security Department began discussing the online registration rule last year, European businesses worried that business travel could be impeded.

But Chertoff argued that the system will simplify visa-free travel, because visitors will only be required to register online once every two years instead of filling out forms each time they travel.

The United Kingdom, whose citizens have long enjoyed visa-free travel to the United States, indicated it would accept the changes.

"Obviously we understand the need to improve travel security, and we welcome this additional information from the U.S. on when and where they are going to implement (the new measures)," a British Home Office spokeswoman said on the government's customary condition of anonymity.

The Confederation of British Industry, a business coalition, said it was reassured that the legislation contained provisions for last minute travel by business travelers.