Visa Requirements
 Visa Waiver Program
 Biometric Visa Program


Visa Requirements
A valid, unexpired passport and visa are needed to enter the United States.  Please read all the instructions below for important information regarding new visa and passport requirements.  As visa requirements are constantly changing, please contact your local U.S. embassy or consulate for verification.  If you require a letter of invitation on Deloitte letterhead, please send an email to Amanda Goldstein at agoldstein@deloitte.com. Please include the name of each person you need a letter of invitation for as it appears on their passport, with the passport number, expiration date, issue date, place of issue, nationality, date of birth, the dates of travel and a fax number where the letter should be sent.

Canadians traveling to the United States need only present valid I.D., but will require a valid passport if arriving from outside the Western Hemisphere.  Mexicans may provide a valid DSP-150 (BCC) in lieu of a valid passport and visa, but will require a valid DSP-150 (BCC) and a valid passport if arriving from outside the Western Hemisphere.

 Back to top

Visa Waiver Program
Foreign nationals from the countries listed below may travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) if they can present an unexpired machine-readable passport.

Andorra	France	Luxembourg	Singapore
Australia	Germany	Monaco	Slovenia
Austria	Iceland	The Netherlands	Spain
Belgium	Ireland	New Zealand	Sweden
Brunei	Italy	Norway	Switzerland
Denmark	Japan	Portugal	United Kingdom
Finland	Liechtenstein	San Marino

As of October 26, 2004, foreign nationals who are traveling to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program are now required to possess a machine-readable passport (MRP) in order to enter the United States without a visa.  Foreign visitors from these countries who do not possess the MRP are now required to obtain a B-1/B-2 visitor's visa in order to enter the United States.

Machine-readable passports are travel documents that conform to international specifications.  They can be identified by the presence of two typeface lines of text at the bottom of the document's biographical page, known as the machine-readable zone; the lines of text contain some of the passport holder's biographic information.  When scanned through a passport reader, the lines electronically provide the information contained on the biographic page of the passport.

Foreign nationals who plan to travel under the Visa Waiver Program should ascertain whether their passports are machine-readable.  Most Visa Waiver Program countries have begun issuing MRPs, but older passports and passports that were issued abroad by a home country consulate may not be machine-readable.  Individuals who are uncertain whether their passports are machine-readable should contact the passport-issuing authority in their country of citizenship.  Families or groups should obtain an individual MRP for each traveler, including infants.  Machine-readable passports typically have biographic data for only one traveler, and families may be denied visa-free entry into the U.S. if biographic data for only one traveler is machine-readable.

NOTE: The MRP requirement applies only to foreign nationals who are traveling under the Visa Waiver Program.  Individuals traveling from other countries with nonimmigrant visas are not required to present an MRP, just a valid, unexpired Passport.

 Back to top

Biometric Visa Program
The State Department's Biometric Visa Program took full effect on October 26, 2004.  By that date, U.S. consulates and embassies were to have started issuing visas that contain biometric identifiers (except for those traveling under the VWP, see below).  Under the program, most non-immigrant visa applicants between the ages of 14 and 79 will be required to make a personal appearance at the embassy or consulate so that their fingerprints can be scanned; visa applicants may also be photographed during the interview (though some consulates are still requiring applicants to submit photographs with a visa application).  Biometric information captured during the visa application process is later coordinated with fingerprints and photographs taken during the U.S. Visitor and Immigration Status Indication Technology (US-VISIT) arrival-departure process at the U.S. port.

The Biometric Visa Program has caused significant changes in procedure at consulates and embassies, with most consular posts requiring applicants to make an appointment for a visa interview and biometrics collection.  Foreign nationals planning to apply for a visa should contact the relevant consular post to obtain the latest information.  See http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/questions_embassy.html for consular contact information.  For information on projected visa appointment and processing times at embassies and consular sections, see http://travel.state.gov/visa/tempvisitors_wait.php.

NOTE: For VWP participants, a separate biometric passport requirement for VWP travelers has been postponed until October 2005.  By that date, Visa Waiver Program countries will be required to issue tamper-resistant passports containing biometric identifiers.  In addition, VWP travelers will be required to present biometric passports when entering under the program, though only if the passport is issued on or after October 26, 2005.

 Back to top