US adds visa restrictions to Yemen, Somalia, Libya travelers
WASHINGTON, February 19, 2016
The United States has added Yemen, Somalia and Libya as "countries of concern" under its visa waiver programme, the US Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday, in a move that will make US visa procedures more stringent for individuals who have visited those nations during the past five years.
The new restrictions were imposed under a law passed after the November attacks in Paris attributed to Islamic State. Citizens of US allies who previously had been able to travel to the United States without first obtaining a visa now will have to apply to US consulates for such visas if they have traveled to those designated countries in the past five years.
The Homeland Security Department said the new requirements will not automatically affect nationals from visa-waiver countries who also are dual nationals of Yemen, Somalia and Libya.
The department said that under the new procedures, the Homeland Security secretary can waive the more stringent visa requirements on a case-by-case basis.
Such waivers would primarily be available to journalists or individuals traveling on behalf of international organisations or humanitarian groups, the department said.
The latest visa waiver restrictions were imposed as US security agencies sharpen their focus on the threat posed by Islamist foreign fighters and seek to make it more difficult for them to take advantage of the US visa waiver programme.
The programme allows citizens of 38 mainly European countries to travel to the United States for up to 90 days without a visa.
Before traveling to the US, citizens of visa waiver countries must register online using a US government system called ESTA. This system gives US agencies the opportunity to check out visa waiver applicants' backgrounds through intelligence and law enforcement data bases before giving them permission to board US-bound flights.
The US visa waiver programme came under harsh scrutiny in the US Congress after the Paris attacks because some of the militants behind the attacks were European nationals, theoretically eligible for US visa waivers, who had become radicalised after visiting Syria.
The three additional nations join Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Syria as countries subject to restrictions for those seeking to travel to the United States.
Homeland Security said it will continue to work with the State Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to determine whether additional countries should be added to the list. - Reuters
