Frendo raises US visa issue with Rice

Malta has asked the United States to waive the need for travel visas for citizens from the new EU member states, a policy already being implemented in the case of the old 15 members, bar Greece.

The issue was raised by Foreign Minister Michael Frendo on behalf of the new EU member states during a meeting between the 25 EU foreign ministers and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earlier this week in Brussels.

Dr Frendo said that now that the EU has expanded, it is high time the US revises its policy on entry visas. He said the present arrangements for the European citizens from the old member states, which form part of the visa waiver programme (VWP), should be extended to the rest of the EU, including Malta.

He said the new member states are committed towards security of a very high standard and are also introducing biometric recognition into their passports. Ongoing discussions on this issue between the US and the EU should be concluded as soon as possible so that all EU citizens will be treated the same by the US.

Under the VWP, EU citizens are allowed to enter the US visa-free for up to 90 days. But this applies only to the old member states, except for Greece, and only Slovenia has been given the green light by the US to join the programme.

Last October, officials from the US Department of Homeland Security and the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs met in Brussels with officials from the European Commission and 10 member states to discuss the issue.

A spokesman for the US Embassy in Brussels told The Times that at the moment Greece and nine of the new EU member states do not meet all the criteria to join the VWP. However, the spokesman said: "US officials will continue to review the situation in each country and make nominations for participation in the VWP if and when a country becomes eligible". He said this is similar to the approach used by most EU member states in defining which third countries qualify for "visa waiver" status according to the Schengen Agreement.

Asked to specify Malta's present position in the ongoing negotiations, the spokesman would only say that Malta is not currently participating in the VWP "but we cannot comment on the status of an individual country".

The spokesman said that US visa policies and procedures are established in accordance with specific laws and legislatively mandated requirements. Legislation for the VWP requires the US to review each country individually for purposes of determining compliance with requirements of the VWP. He specified that "this should not be viewed as a reflection of the overall bilateral relationship with the US as many countries not in the programme are among the closest friends and partners of the United States".

Among the strict requirements to qualify for VWP status, countries must first meet a threshold requirement of an average non-immigrant visitor refusal rate of under three per cent. Once that threshold is met, the other criteria come into play. These include the issue of machine-readable passports that, after October 26, 2005, are biometrically enhanced. Countries must also offer visa-free travel to American citizens, certify that they report the loss or theft of blank passports to the US government and have a low rate of immigration violations and refused admissions.

In addition, the US Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, must also make a positive determination regarding the impact the country's potential VWP participation would have on US national security and law enforcement interests.