Visa Waiver Program (VWP)
Updated 2024-07-30
2023-09-27 Joint Statement on the Designation of Israel into the Visa Waiver Program Today, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas, in consultation with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, announced the designation of Israel into the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). By November 30, 2023, the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) will be updated to allow citizens and nationals of Israel to apply to travel to the United States for tourism or business purposes for up to 90 days without first obtaining a U.S. visa, a step which further strengthens the security, economic and people-to-people ties between the United States and Israel. Following updates in Israel’s travel policies, all U.S. citizens may request entry to Israel for up to 90 days for business, tourism, or transit without obtaining a visa. https://www.state.gov/joint-statement-on-the-designation-of-israel-into-the-visa-waiver-program/
2024-07-09 US, Israel sign final agreement needed for visa waiver, but key bills remain stuck Israeli and US officials took another step on Thursday toward a long-awaited visa waiver deal between the two countries, signing the final bilateral agreement needed to implement the program. Public Security Minister Omer Barlev, accompanied by Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, signed the Preventing and Combating Serious Crime (PCSC) information-sharing agreement with US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Jonathan Shrier.
However, there is still a long way to go before Israel is eligible to join the Visa Waiver Program. The VWP requires additional legislation to be passed in the Knesset, which opposition parties led by Likud stymied before the Knesset was dissolved last week. https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-israel-sign-final-agreement-needed-for-visa-waiver-but-key-bills-remain-stuck/
2022-06-22 IMEU Policy Analysis #7: Biden’s Trip to Saudi, Israel Reinforces Human Rights Abuses President Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Palestinian West Bank in July undermines his administration’s professed commitment to advancing human rights in its foreign policy.
Biden’s trip could endorse Israel’s discrimination against Palestinian Americans by allowing Israel admission into the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) as it imposes new draconian restrictions on Palestinian Americans’ freedom to travel.
The VWP provides nationals of participating countries with visa-free access to the US provided that the participating countries provide reciprocal treatment to US citizens.
Israel’s decades-long pattern of discriminatory entry policies against Palestinian Americans renders it ineligible to join this program. In July, Israel is set to implement draconian new restrictions that will severely limit the rights of Palestinian Americans to visit, live, work, study, and teach in the occupied West Bank, making Israel’s ineligibility for this program even more clear.
Members of Congress should press President Biden to respond to congressional concerns about Israel’s ineligibility to join the Visa Waiver Program and its new restrictions on the rights of Palestinian Americans to enter the West Bank. https://imeu.org/article/imeu-policy-analysis-7-bidens-trip-to-saudi-arabia-israel-reinforces-author
2022-06-09 Progressive Lawmakers Ask Biden to Keep Israel Off Visa Waiver Program Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib among Democrats voicing concern over ‘ethnically-based discrimination’ toward Arab and Muslim Americans, following new guidelines introduced by Israel’s Defense Ministry in the West Bank. They are calling on the Biden administration to keep Israel out of the Visa Waiver Program due to its “disparate treatment” of Palestinians. https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2022-06-09/ty-article/.highlight/what-progressives-want-to-get-from-israel-in-return-for-visa-waiver/00000181-43c6-ddb3-abd1-5fc7df430000
2021-11-14 Policy Analysis #3: Israel Is Not Eligible for Visa Waiver Program After President Biden’s meeting on August 27 with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the White House issued a readout stating the countries are “working together towards Israel’s inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program.”
The Visa Waiver Program is administered by the State Department and provides for reciprocal, visa-free entry to the United States and participating countries by their respective nationals. The program has stringent entry and security requirements. Despite Israel’s long-standing desire to join the program, its discriminatory treatment of US citizens based on their ethnic and religious identities and their political viewpoints has led to a high rejection rate of US citizens seeking entry to Israel and to Occupied Palestinian Territory it controls, rendering it ineligible for participation in the program.
However, President Biden’s statement that he will “direct our teams to work toward Israel fulfilling the requirements of the visa waiver program to get that done” signal that Israel’s inclusion in the program could be imminent despite its systematic discrimination against US citizens. On October 26, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas confirmed that Israel is at the top of the list of four “candidates in the pipeline” for participation in the program, and Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan stated that “very significant progress has been made toward achieving the objective.”
Members of Congress must ensure that Israel ends its discriminatory treatment of US citizens, as required by US law and Israeli treaty obligations to the United States, discussed below, prior to its admission to the Visa Waiver Program. https://imeu.org/article/policy-analysis-3-israel-is-not-eligible-for-visa-waiver-program
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