A new bill, introduced by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-California) and Roy Blunt (R-Missouri), mandates the inclusion of Israel in the Visa Waiver Program.  The Visa Waiver Program allows citizens of certain designated countries to enter the U.S. for up to 90 days for business or tourism purposes without first having to apply for a visa.  Currently, there are 37 countries that are members of the Visa Waiver Program, including most western and central European countries, Singapore, Australia, and Taiwan.

The Senate bill incorporates language from separate earlier bills by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Rep. Brad Sherman (D-California) in the House of Representatives that exempts Israel from a requirement that qualifying countries must have maintained a “nonimmigrant refusal” rate of less than 3%. “Nonimmigrant refusals” refers to the rate that U.S. consular officers turn down applicants for nonimmigrant visas.  Israel’s current refusal rate is 5.4%.

There is precedent for exempting countries from this requirement.  In 2008, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Hungary, South Korea and Lithuania were added to the list; each of these countries continues to maintain nonimmigrant visa refusal rates higher than Israel’s.

The second requirement for a country to become a Visa Waiver participant is that the country provide “reciprocal privileges to citizens and nationals of the United States.” Israel has come under fire from Arab-American groups and some lawmakers in recent years for refusing entry into Israel to Americans of Arab descent.  The Senate bill would require Israel to make “every reasonable effort, without jeopardizing the security of the State of Israel, to ensure that reciprocal travel privileges are extended to all United States citizens.

The U.S. House of Representatives version of the same bill also mandates the inclusion of Israel into the Visa Waiver Program, but only once Israel meet’s the program’s requirements.

We will continue to provide updates as soon as they become available.