The Visa Waiver Program: Balancing Tourism and National Security

The Visa Waiver Program: Balancing Tourism and National Security

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March 15, 2018
The Visa Waiver Program: Balancing Tourism
and National Security
The U.S. Visa Waiver Program (VWP) is intended to
entity to promote U.S. tourism—and $4 goes to defray
encourage travel to the United States by allowing citizens
DHS’s costs of screening VWP applicants.
of more than three dozen countries to visit without
The VWP was established as a pilot program in 1986 and
obtaining visas from a U.S. consulate. The program was
became permanent in 2000. It is the largest source of
originally established in 1986. In recent years, some
overseas visitors to the United States, other than visitors
Members of Congress and the Trump Administration have
from neighboring Canada and Mexico (which accounted for
expressed concern that potential terrorists holding passports
half of total arrivals in the United States in 2016). Canadian
from a VWP country might be able to enter the United
nationals can travel visa-free to the United States, but
States. Discussions over reform of the VWP are occurring
Mexicans must obtain visas. Border crossing cards, often
at the same time as a recent dip in the number of visitors to
referred to as “laser visas,” are issued to Mexican citizens
the United States from VWP countries.
for short-term entry to the United States border zone for
What Is the Visa Waiver Program?
business or tourism.
The Visa Waiver Permanent Program Act (P.L. 106-396)
U.S. Travel and Tourism Economy
allows citizens holding a passport from 38 developed
In 2015, the latest year for which data are available, the
nations in Europe, Asia, Oceania, and South America (see
nation’s tourism industries accounted for 2.7% of U.S.
Figure 1) to visit the United States on trips of 90 days or
gross domestic product. Of the 7.6 million American jobs
less for business or tourism without first obtaining a visa.
directly and indirectly supported by the domestic travel and
The VWP sets standards for travel documents, requires
tourism industry in 2016, 1.2 million were supported by
information sharing between member countries and the
international visitors, according to the Department of
United States, mandates reporting of lost or stolen travel
Commerce. The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates
documents, and requires travelers to use e-passports, which
foreign travelers accounted for 25% of tourist spending on
include a digital chip containing biometric information and
lodging, 27% of tourists’ food and beverage demand, and
are relatively difficult to tamper with.
24% of total passenger air transportation demand in 2015.
Figure 1. 38 Visa Waiver Program Countries
In addition, international travelers spent about $244 billion
in 2017 on passenger fares on U.S. air carriers and travel-
related goods and services, which makes tourism the United
States’ single-largest services sector export. The U.S. travel
and tourism sector has maintained an annual trade
surplus—$70.1 billion in 2017—with the world every year
since 1989.
Arrivals of foreign visitors increased over many years, with
growth interrupted by the terrorist attacks of September 11,
2001, and by poor economic conditions in Europe and
Japan in 2009. Between 2015 and 2017, however, the
number of foreign residents arriving in the United States is
estimated to have fallen from 77.5 million to 75 million, a
drop of 3%, despite relatively strong economic growth

around the world. This decline has occurred at a time when
Source: Graphic created by CRS using data from the U.S.
cross-border tourism is increasing globally.
Department of State—Bureau of Consular Affairs.
Figures from the World Bank show the United States’ share
Prior to boarding a plane or ship for the United States, all
of the 1.2 billion global tourism arrivals shrank to 6.1% in
prospective VWP travelers must obtain pre-travel
2016 from 6.4% in 2015.
authorization through the Electronic System for Travel
Visitors from VWP Markets
Authorization (ESTA). This is a web-based application run
by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which
In FY2016, about 23 million people entered the United
determines the eligibility of the foreign national to enter
States under the VWP, accounting for roughly a third of all
under the VWP. An ESTA authorization is generally valid
temporary visitors to the United States. Arrivals from many
for multiple entries over a period of two years.
of the VWP countries responsible for the highest volumes
of tourist visits declined significantly (see Figure 2).
Each VWP traveler who uses ESTA is charged a $14 fee.
Of this, $10 is used to fund Brand USA—a public-private
https://crsreports.congress.gov

The Visa Waiver Program: Balancing Tourism and National Security
Figure 2. Visitors from Selected VWP Countries to
including Brand USA, and making the revenue available to
the United States
Customs and Border Protection.
A long-standing issue between United States and the
European Union (EU) is the exclusion from the VWP of
travelers from five EU member states (Bulgaria, Croatia,
Cyprus, Poland, and Romania). The EU has argued that the
Visa Waiver Program interferes with European citizenship
rights by excluding at least 14% of EU citizens. The United
States has insisted that each individual EU member country
must meet U.S. security requirements before its citizens can
become eligible for VWP travel. In 2017, the European
Parliament adopted a nonbinding resolution calling for the
EU to suspend visa-free entry for citizens of countries that
do not grant a reciprocal visa waiver to citizens of all EU
member states, but this proposal has not been put into
effect.
Source: National Travel and Tourism Office.
VWP-Related Issues for Congress
For example, the volume of visitors from Germany shrank
Following a number of high-profile terrorist attacks in
10% between 2015 and 2016, and arrivals from the United
Europe perpetrated mainly by European citizens, and
Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and Japan were down as
reports of European countries’ citizens fighting with armed
well.
groups in the Middle East, some Members of Congress
proposed bills to tighten requirements under the VWP. The
Several factors may account for the recent overall slide in
Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel
foreign visitors traveling to the United States, including
Prevention Act, enacted as part of the FY2016 Consolidated
 a strong U.S. dollar in 2016, making stays in the United
Appropriations Act (P.L. 114-113) in December 2015,
States more expensive for international visitors;
made residents of VWP countries ineligible for admission
 weak economies in some other nations, such as Brazil,
to the United States if they are dual nationals of or have
an important source of international visitors, at nearly
been present in Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, or
1.7 million arrivals in 2016; and
Yemen at any time on or after March 1, 2011 (with limited

exceptions). The law also allows the Secretary of Homeland
travelers electing to go elsewhere.
Security to immediately suspend a country’s participation
There is also a perception, supported by surveys conducted
in the VWP if the country fails to provide information
by various travel groups, indicating that prospective
related to security threats.
travelers from VWP countries view the United States as a
less welcoming place than previously, perhaps due to
Meanwhile, other lawmakers have offered bills to expand
changes to the VWP and to publicity surrounding the
the VWP to several other countries, such as Hong Kong and
Trump Administration’s announcements of “travel bans” on
Israel. In the 115th Congress, for example, H.R. 2388 would
visitors from several majority Muslim countries.
extend the VWP to Poland; H.R. 187 would create a
separate visa waiver program for the U.S. Virgin Islands;
The U.S. government predicts an overall rise in foreign
and H.R. 730 would remove the prohibition against VWP
visitors traveling to the United States over the next five
participation by dual nationals from Iraq, Syria, and other
years. However, projections that about 83 million foreign
countries of concern. None of these bills has been reported.
visitors will travel to the United States in 2020 are below
the goal of 100 million set by a federal Task Force on
Travel and Competitiveness established in 2012.
Related CRS Products
CRS Report R43463, U.S. Travel and Tourism: Industry Trends
Executive Branch Actions
and Policy Issues for Congress, by Michaela D. Platzer
In December 2017, as part of the Trump Administration’s
CRS Report RL32221, Visa Waiver Program, by Jil H. Wilson
counterterrorism efforts, DHS announced additional VWP
security measures and called on Congress to codify existing

VWP requirements. In the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018
Michaela D. Platzer, Specialist in Industrial Organization
(P.L. 115-123), Congress extended the Travel Promotion
and Business
Fund fee through September 30, 2027, but the authority to
transfer the funds to Brand USA sunsets at the end of
Jill H. Wilson, Analyst in Immigration Policy
FY2020. The Trump Administration’s FY2019 budget
IF10847
proposes eliminating funding for tourism promotion,

https://crsreports.congress.gov

The Visa Waiver Program: Balancing Tourism and National Security

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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10847 · VERSION 4 · NEW