§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what advice is available to UK citizens wishing to travel to the US on the requirements of the US Administration for(a) confidential financial information, (b) availability of visas and (c) grounds for possible deportation. [168251]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienAll information about US visa and immigration procedures is available from the US authorities through their London Embassy website: www.usembassy.org.uk or by telephone to their Visa Information Service, details of which are available on the website. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) travel advice for the United States also gives information about some aspects of US immigration procedures of which British citizens should be aware when planning a trip to the US. FCO travel advice is available on the FCO's website: www.fco.gov.uk
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he is taking to protect the interests of UK citizens wishing to travel to America, with particular reference to visa requirements. [168256]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienMy right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has expressed his concerns to US Secretary of State Colin Powell about changes to the US Visa Waiver Programme that are due to came into effect on 26 October 2004. As US legislation stands, all British passports issued after 26 October 2004 will require a biometric for the holder to visit the US visa-free after that date. The UK is committed to introducing biometric passports, but not until end-2005. UK Government officials are also in discussions with the relevant US authorities on this issue. We hope that an extension will be granted to the 26 October 2004 deadline, which would minimise disruption to travellers. It is too early to be able to predict the outcome of these discussions. In the interim, some 400,000 UK citizens planning to visit the US would need visas. Those holding passports issued prior to 26 October 2004, provided that they were machine readable, would continue to be able to travel to the US under the Visa Waiver Programme.