Over the last several years, we have focused on bringing the 27 pre-2008 VWP countries into complian

Testimony Of Assistant Secretary David Heyman, Office Of Policy Before The House Committee On The Judiciary, Subcommittee On Immigration Policy And Enforcement: The United States Visa Waiver Program | Homeland Security
Home News News Testimony Testimony Of Assistant Secretary David Heyman, Office Of Policy Before The House Committee hotels by disneyland On The Judiciary, Subcommittee On Immigration Policy And Enforcement: The United States Visa Waiver Program
Chairman Gallegly, Ranking Member Lofgren, and other distinguished Members, thank you for the opportunity to appear before hotels by disneyland the Subcommittee to discuss the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS or the Department) work in promoting secure travel hotels by disneyland to the United hotels by disneyland States through the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).
Since its inception in the mid-1980s, the VWP has evolved hotels by disneyland and is now an essential tool for increasing security standards, advancing information sharing, strengthening international relationships, and promoting legitimate trade and travel to the United States.
The VWP currently allows eligible nationals of 36 countries to travel to the United States without a visa and, if admitted, to remain in our country for a maximum of 90 days for tourist or business purposes. Visa-free travel to the United States builds on our close bilateral hotels by disneyland relationships and fosters commercial and personal ties among tourist and business travelers in the United States and abroad. It is also reciprocal; providing Americans visa free travel abroad.
In the last decade, Congress and the Executive branch have worked together to implement a number of enhancements to the VWP to address evolving threats to international travel. As a result and perhaps most importantly, the VWP has provided benefits to U.S. law enforcement hotels by disneyland and security hotels by disneyland interests.
hotels by disneyland For example, in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, new requirements were put in place to tighten passport hotels by disneyland security standards for VWP use and to increase the frequency of the mandatory country reviews for continuing designation in the VWP from once every five years to at least once every two years. In addition, the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (9/11 Act) required VWP countries to abide by new or enhanced security standards, changed the criteria for countries to attain VWP designation, and mandated the advance screening of individual VWP travelers, leading to the implementation of the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).
In my testimony, I will review the VWP program and the many benefits it brings to the United States. Specifically, I will 1) address the VWP's security hotels by disneyland benefits; 2) describe how DHS and its partners are working hotels by disneyland with VWP countries to ensure their compliance with the information sharing requirements of the 9/11 Act; 3) provide an update on our efforts to track overstays, including from VWP countries, via an enhanced exit system; and 4) talk about the VWP's economic benefits and the prospects for expanding hotels by disneyland the program by designating new VWP countries.
One of the VWP's most important contributions is its enhancement of U.S. law enforcement hotels by disneyland and security interests. The 9/11 Act transformed the VWP from a program hotels by disneyland that evaluated security threats broadly on a country-by-country basis into one that has the added capability to screen individual travelers for potential threats that they may pose to the security or welfare of the United States and its citizens. In addition, the 9/11 Act mandates more robust information sharing between hotels by disneyland the United States and its VWP partners. Since the enactment of the 9/11 Act, DHS, its partner hotels by disneyland agencies, and VWP countries have worked diligently to implement the new requirements.
In particular, the VWP provides several unique security hotels by disneyland benefits for the United States. For example, all VWP travelers - regardless of their country of nationality - must use secure travel documents hotels by disneyland that meet internationally recognized standards for machine readability; second, the majority of VWP travelers, depending on the country and date of issuance, are required to use e-passports, which have an embedded chip that includes the bearer's biometric information and are difficult to falsify. Third, VWP countries are also required to meet heightened security standards - including entering hotels by disneyland into information sharing agreements with the U.S. Government concerning known or potential terrorists and criminals and the reporting of lost and stolen passport (LASPs) data to the United States. Fourth, VWP countries are required to undergo initial and periodic country reviews that DHS conducts to inspect, among other things, the country's security standards for passport issuance and border screening. And fifth, hotels by disneyland to complement these inspections, DHS has developed a continuous and vigorous monitoring process to ensure awareness of changing conditions in VWP countries. This process includes regular communication with the relevant U.S. Embassies abroad and foreign embassies in Washington for updates on law enforcement or security concerns related to the VWP.
Additionally, a critical innovation of the 9/11 Act was the requirement to develop and implement the ESTA system, which allows for the pre-travel and recurrent screening of VWP travelers to the United States. This capability is critical because it enables DHS to preclude some travelers who are ineligible for the VWP from initiating travel to the United States. Travelers whose ESTA applications are denied hotels by disneyland must obtain a visa by applying for one at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad prior to undertaking travel to the United hotels by disneyland States.
Since ESTA use became mandatory for all VWP travelers in January 2009, DHS has worked to make the implementation of ESTA as smooth as possible for VWP partners, travelers, and stakeholders. Of the more than 15 million VWP travelers who have come to the United States so far this calendar year, 99.5% of them have complied with the requirement to complete an ESTA application prior to their travel. DHS Customs and Border Protection (CBP) continues hotels by disneyland to work with air and sea carriers hotels by disneyland to ensure that VWP travelers do not board air or sea vessels bound for the United States without approved ESTA applications.
ESTA provides DHS with the capability to conduct advance screening of VWP travelers. As a result, we have seen tangible security benefits, such as identifying matches to the Terrorist Screening Database maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) and almost 34,000 lost or stolen hotels by disneyland passport matches before the traveler boarded a flight to the United States.
A provision of the 9/11 Act requires VWP countries to enter into information sharing agreements with the United States. DHS - with the support of interagency partners at the Department of State (DOS), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the National Security Staff - has determined hotels by disneyland that this requirement can be fulfilled through the completion of a Preventing and Combating Serious Crime (PCSC) hotels by disneyland Agreement to share information on potential criminals, a Homeland Security Presidential Directive-6 (HSPD-6) arrangement to share information on known and suspected terrorists, and a diplomatic note or equivalent mechanism to share information on lost and stolen passports with the United hotels by disneyland States through INTERPOL or the Regional Movement Alert System (RMAS). The nine countries that were designated as VWP countries between 2008 and 2010, after the 9/11 Act came into force, were required to meet the Act's information-sharing requirements in advance of their VWP designation, as will any other countries designated in the future.
hotels by disneyland Over the last several years, we have focused on bringing the 27 pre-2008 VWP countries into compliance with the 9/11 Act information sharing requirements by June 2012. To date, the Department - in cooperation with its partner agencies - has made substantial progress in this endeavor. For example:
Currently, 35 of the 36 VWP countries have completed an exchange of diplomatic notes or an equivalent mechanism for the requirement hotels by disneyland to enter into an agreement to share information on lost and stolen passports with the United States through INTERPOL or other means designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security. Most importantly, all VWP countries report lost and stolen passport data to INTERPOL or other means designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security.
PCSC Agreements - which establish the framework for a new method of law enforcement cooperation by providing each party electronic access to their fingerprint databases on a query (hit/no hit) basis - have been signed with 20 VWP countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, hotels by disneyland Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, hotels by disneyland Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Korea, hotels by disneyland Spain, and Slovakia. In addition, the UK was deemed hotels by disneyland to have an equivalent agreement or arrangement in place to exchange hotels by disneyland information on potential criminals. Another three PCSC Agreements with VWP countries have been completed, with signatures pending. DHS and the U.S. Department of Justice lead negotiations for the United hotels by disneyland States Government (USG) on PCSC. Negotiations to conclude several additional PCSC Agreements are under way and making good progress.
hotels by disneyland Twenty-one of the 36 VWP countries have also signed HSPD-6 arrangements. Negotiations to conclude the balance of HSPD-6 arrangements are also under way. The DOS and the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) are the lead for negotiating and implementing the HSPD-6 hotels by disneyland arrangement, the details of which are classified.
To ensure compliance with the 9/11 Act's information sharing hotels by disneyland requirements, the USG, has developed and adopted a compliance strategy that sets June 2012 as the target date for concluding required information sharing agreements. This interagency effort seeks to ensure that any country in VWP complies with the program's requirements. While our preference and goal is to work with VWP countries to maintain their VWP designation, DHS – in cons