Register with the U.S., or you're not going to Disney World

I suspect this is just one more "security" measure that will discourage people from visiting the U.S., especially people from the affected countries. It seems rather odd that the largest and most significant U.S. partner in the Iraq war (the U.K.) wouldn't have also been granted an exemption?

As Pat mentioned earlier, not everyone has net access and some people may not even be aware of this until they show up at the airport. I'm sure the U.S. tourism industry is ecstatic over these additional regulations.

I wonder what "measures" will be next?

WOW,, that is going to be a huge problem,, it so far has not been well advertized,( first I have heard of it ) , so many people will likely not have heard about it. As article says,, not everyone HAS online assess, so will not be able to fill form in ahead of time.. so travellers will likely be asked to come even EARILER to airports to fill forms out at check out( article says forms can be filled out only hours in advance).. so really, then one wonders,, who really is going through forms and has enough time to really CHECK if they are honestly filled out.

Personally its all gone crazy,, just because of that one diaper bomb guy( the stuff was in his undies).. its gotten silly.

Just start profiling people and get over it.

The story Frank II linked to is pretty vague but I think it's just talking about the ESTA thing?

The system was in place, but optional, when I last flew to the states and I was made aware of it, quite clearly, during the booking process - so it looks like KLM at least is on the ball. As it was optional I didn't bother which is I guess why take up is still only 91% - I do suspect there will be a few disappointed people when the system kicks in properly though!

I do think it's pointless security theatre and a minor inconvenience but at least it has been well publicised (at least over here.) One one hand it's no more inconvenient that the Aussie eVisitor thing but, on the other, the last thing the US tourist industry needs is something else that gives people the perception that the US is difficult to visit...

It looks like Canadians are exempt from the requirements which is perhaps why pat hasn't seen much publicity? (ESTA is not connected to the "pants bomber" at all BTW.)

That requirement caught up with me already last spring. I had absolutely no idea when I was told I should have registered online before going to the US. If I had booked my flight IN one of the countries that are subject to this registration requirement the travel agent would have told me. But if you book your ticket directly online nothing will show up to tell you about this requirement. And I had seen NOTHING in the news about it.

Last year, the registration was done then directly at the airport. The officer was anything but friendly to me and it made for a very unpleasant experience to enter the US ... but other friends of mine who got surprised in the same way had friendlier officers and it wasn't made into a big deal.

Honestly, I'm registered now but still don't care much about going to the US because I'm worried that another thing will be invented in the meantime and I get surprised and hassled once again. And how am I supposed to find out? Calling a US embassy or consulate is just about impossible. When the visa waiver program was implemented I spent several days, phone calls and trips to the consulate trying to find out if it applied to me and got very conflicting information - all that for a 4 day trip to Disney Land.

We have reached the point in the US where you have to have government permission to travel and, of course, your travel is recorded and filed for future reference. The slippery slope of personal freedoms has become more slippery.

As Peter mentioned, Canadian and Mexican citizens are exempt.

Here are the affected countries:

Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingom,

"The system was in place, but optional, when I last flew to the states and I was made aware of it, quite clearly, during the booking process"

Peter, how did it come up in the booking process? I've booked flights before but have never been asked about my nationlity or if I have a passport or visa - only if I want travel insurance. And if you book online without a real person being involved nothing shows up either.

I will confess to not remembering the exact details but it was part of the online booking bit (I think I was notified by email too.) Again, this may be different for Canadians, but to fly to the US we already have to provide our passport number and a number of other pieces of info. in advance via the airline so they automatically ask extra questions when you book a US bound flight. (In fact the EU needed a special directive to break it's own data protection laws to comply with US demands.)

But I'm not Canadian. And many people living in Canada aren't Canadian citizens. I'm sure they make up a large percentage of Canadian airlines' customers. And no, you don't have to give your passport # no matter to which part of the world you're flying to.

P.S. On a related note does anyone know what the deal is with US VISIT now-a-days, especially the exit control "check out kiosk" things?

I remember a few years ago they were making a bit deal out of it, "don't forget to sign out or they'll be trouble!!!!" On my last trip no one at O'Hare would admit to even having heard of the concept, has it been quietly killed? Did I imagine it?

Peter, scroll down a bit and it give you departure information.

US-VISIT

Steve, U.S. citizens are now required to not just give their names (which must match their ID exactly) but birthdays and sex information (Male or Female, not frequency) to fly. The program is part of "Secure Flight." It will be completely rolled out by this fall.

This is for all flights, not just international but domestic as well.

BTW...flying internationally is not a right, it's a privilege. You can be refused a passport if the government has a good enough reason.

And remember, TSA initially said the new virtual strip machines have no way of storing any images. Now they admit the machines actually do....but that is turned off. Are their noses growing?

A-HA, that explains it, thanks Frank. I went through a period of flying via Atlanta a lot (Delta were the cheapest carrier MAN - the US.)

@Beatirx AFAIK you do have to give your passport details before flying to the US. I think they call it APIS (too many acronyms!) again it was pretty well publicised when it was introduced. It was in the main news quite a lot because the US data protection laws are not compatible with those in the EU and there was a lot of fuss about if the airlines were allowed to share data in the way required. Again, maybe Canada/Canadians have some exemption?

"Non of this has anything do do with US citizens,"

Of course it does --- all residents of the US, citizens, non-citizens, illegal aliens. green cards -- all must have permission from the US government to travel anywhere in the US or outside the US via air.

I'm not sure how much difference it will make TBH.

I think there is an impression that the US is a potentially difficult place to visit. This impression already exists so although ESTA won't help I think the people who will be discouraged already have been.

As for people that still travel to the US, either through choice or necessity, the situation isn't much different. It's not like this has come out of the blue, suddenly changing a previously user friendly immigration system, this is just the latest in a line of innovations to flight Turr.

ESTA is an order of magnitude less intrusive than US VISIT which forces you to be finger printed like a criminal.

ESTA is pretty much exactly as intrusive as APIS as it's the same information with the same privacy concerns.

The only real difference is the minor inconvenience of having to fill out a web form as well as giving the details to the airline. It may well be the straw that breaks the proverbial back for some people but, for most people, if other issues haven't put people off visiting the US this is just one extra inconvenience...

I like to call it Visa lite.

Be prepared to have to do the same when you travel under a visa waiver to Europe. I can't imagine they won't return the favor.

Brad, I doubt the Europeans would do something so stupid to hurt tourism.

We do it because the government knows if they yell "terryrist," the people here shake at the knees. They say you need to go through a machine that shows you naked to save us from "terryrists" and the people go "OK," anything to protect from the boogie man.

In Germany, people stripped naked to protest the use of body scanners and the German government decided they were an invasion of privacy. The people there saw through the theater. Here, we buy more popcorn to enjoy the show.

Much of the rest of the world uses behavioral profiling--although some are putting body scanners in to please the U.S. Government. Think of it as the "road company" to "Security Theater."--we only equate profiling with racism. Two completely different things yet no one is willing to explain it because yelling "racism" makes better television than explaining psychological concepts.

And every time the government screws up...instead of taking blame, they just up put on another layer of "security theater."

Rated "R" for Ridiculous.

Hi everyone.

I've read through these replies and it seems to me that there is a double standard at work here.

I have coworkers who travel to Europe alot and they have no trouble telling me that Europe is NOT an easy place to get in to even if you are an American.

I'm wondering why America tightening its airport security is seen as "ridiculous" and liable to make the US an unattractive place to visit when there isn't any criticism for Europe and its security measures.

Can someone enlighten me please?

There are a lot of people on this board who know more than I do, so maybe one of them has a better answer, but I never found it especially difficult to get into Europe. Certainly I never had to register before my trip to go there. It's pretty much been get on the plane (passport check), get off the plane (passport check/stamp), go be in Europe.

Going back to the U.S. actually takes longer because I have to fill out the customs form, go through customs, etc. (had to go through customs in Italy too but since there wasn't anyone there to 'man the booth' I just walked through).

Now, moving to Europe on a long-term basis can be difficult and reasonably so. But I'm not sure I know too many U.S. citizens who would consider it difficult to go for a short visit.

Your co-workers may have been speaking about admission to work in the European Union. But admission as a tourist has been relatively pain free as far as I've noticed. Their security checks are strict, but everything seems to move faster....however, their security people are more experienced at this than North America is.

I never ever have trouble entering Europe as an American citizen, with the exception of the one time I entered London and forgot to put my hotel name on the immigration form (and that was right after the London bombing).

What I ALWAYS find more troublesome and annoying is getting BACK to the US. Last time I came back to the US from Rome, all US bound passengers not only had to go through a separate terminal, but everyone also had to show his/her passport FOUR times before boarding the plane. Four times!!! Now that's excessive!
Not to mention landing on US soil after a long-haul flight and facing the most unfriendly immigration and custom officers you'd encounter anywhere in the world! Does this sound inviting?

I'm not sure if answering that "question" seriously is reasonable, but I just can't help myself:

Can someone enlighten me please?

There are no European equivalents to:
- ESTA (advanced registration)
- US-VISIT (fingerprinting and photograph)
- I-94W (Visa Declaration Form)
- 6059B (Customs Declaration Form)

So US-citizens who visit the EU don't have to register in advance, don't have to fill out forms, aren't photographed and fingerprinted.

I don't see how calling advanced registrations and fingerprinting, i.e. something the USA does and the EU don't, "ridiculous" could be a "double standard at work."

Don’t forget the passenger manifest form that US citizens must now complete at the gate in order to come home with name, name of contact person not on your flight (not required), passport number, and signature. What’s the point, and what a waste?! This information is already collected and available in any number of places should the DOT need it. I know why they say they need it, but why run everyone through another wringer? Ridiculous!

Unfortunately, going into the US (or at least, flying) has become such a hassle and their customs people are so brutally rude and scary that I just don't bother going to the US anymore. I'd rather stay within Canada or fly overseas. I wonder how all these new (and surprise) measures are affecting US tourism.

If you think getting back into this country is annoying as a U.S. citizen, imagine how infinitely more annoying it is if you're not. I worked hard enough to get a green card, and all it get is continued harrassment at the border.

On all 5 occasions I have travelled to the US I have encountered surly immigration officers and that was prior to 9/11. USA is not an option for vacations AND I have just watched FOOD INC.