EU Stalls On US Visas

It seems odd that after all this time, the EU thinks the USA cares. The US would merely impose sanctions against any country they can't just walk into. At most, they would declare the particular country is harbouring terrorists. The UN would endorse such action, now that the organization is in complete control by the US.

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Expect little from life and get more from it.

<p>My understanding is that each of the 15 of 25 EU nations that have visa waivers with the USA was arranged individually; that is, the pre-2004 EU as a whole was not the entity that has signed on for visa waivers. (This is demonstrable by Slovenia being “in” and Greece being “out”, despite Greece being a pre-2004 EU state and Slovenia being a post-2003 EU state.) Our <i>Immigration and Nationality Act</i> states the conditions for a nation to be eligible for visa waivers; some of those conditions are objective, and some of them are subjective. I don’t know which subjective conditions are driving the continued exclusion of the 10 of 25.</p><p>---<br>Shatter your ideals upon the rock of Truth.<br />
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— The Divine Symphony, by Inayat Khan<br />

Lets not forget that according to the U.S. conditions for visa-free relations for a test two-year period, a country must be in the EU, support the USA in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan by deploying a unit of at least 300 members and be no security risk for the USA.


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Perception is two thirds of what we perceive reality to be.

Difficult decisions are a privilege of rank.

<p>jensonj,</p> <p>I’m not sure whether your tongue is in your cheek or not. Among the participating countries in the visa waiver program are Brunei, New Zealand, Singapore, and Switzerland; each of these countries is neither in the EU nor has units deployed in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Our State Department lists its conditions for participating in the program <a href="http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1255.html">here</a>.</p><p>---<br>Shatter your ideals upon the rock of Truth.<br />
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— The Divine Symphony, by Inayat Khan<br />

"visa-free relations" Where no Visa is a required to travel at all between both Countries. Like Canada and the U.S.A.

Not the "visa waiver program" which is a waiver program where visa's are required.

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Perception is two thirds of what we perceive reality to be.

Difficult decisions are a privilege of rank.

<p>You’re probably thinking of Senate bill 2611, the <i>Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006</i>, in particular section 413, titled <i>Visa Waiver Program Expansion</i>. (The <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/">THOMAS search page</a> at the Library of Congress site can provide the text of the bill.) That particular definition — provision of at least one battalion to Iraq or Afghanistan; EU member; not a security risk — was specifically tailored to add only Poland to the list of visa waiver nations. It was written in this way, as an amendment to the immigration bill, because bills from the previous Senate session that explicitly added Poland to the visa waiver program didn’t go anywhere.</p> <p>Note that this proposal is <i>not</i> a visa exemption, such as Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda have; this bill is providing a visa waiver.</p> <p>Note also that the House of Representatives has not yet taken up this bill, so it’s nowhere near being law yet.</p><p>---<br>Shatter your ideals upon the rock of Truth.<br />
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— The Divine Symphony, by Inayat Khan<br />

Thanks for the info and my mis-understanding.

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Perception is two thirds of what we perceive reality to be.

Difficult decisions are a privilege of rank.

<p>I was wrong on one point in my last post: most Mexicans still require visas to legally enter the USA. I hadn’t realised that the State Department-issued <a href="http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1266.html">Border Crossing Cards</a> include visas, rather than act as a waiver for visas.</p><p>---<br>Shatter your ideals upon the rock of Truth.<br />
<br />
— The Divine Symphony, by Inayat Khan<br />