U.S. rejects Israeli request to join visa waiver plan

[drewb]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=332818&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

The United States has rejected Israel's request to
join the Visa Waiver Program, which would exempt
Israelis from the need to obtain visas to enter
the U.S.

The Bush administration has also
refused to exempt Israelis from
the new visa requirements that
took effect worldwide this
July, meaning that Israelis
must still undergo personal
interviews in order to obtain a
visa. They will also need to be
fingerprinted once that
requirement goes into effect -
a move expected in the near future.

[yuvalmadar]

1. How did that effect the tourism in the US?

[yuvalmadar]

2. How did that effect the tourism to the US?

[tinnypriv]

3. The whining there has been about this in Israel is unbelievable

Britain is a big US ally. We have to get visas (my ex just had to in order to study in Colorado). What's the big deal?

[sujan]

4. hmm

you didn't know Israel was our 51st (welfare) state? Did ya?

[Violet_Crumble]

5. Are you sure about that?

We're in the VWP, so I'd be thinking that Britain would be too. It only applies to stays under 90 days, so that's probably why yr ex had to get a visa. It doesn't apply to business trips either, though it sounds like now anyone applying for a business visa has to do the interview thing too. Back in the days when I used to organise the visas for my boss, she just had to fill in a form which included the question along the lines of 'Are you a terrorist?' and convenient little boxes to tick yes or no. The article said the US is planning on scrapping the VWP, so I don't really see the point in Israel applying to join up. One of the Bush administration's reasons for declining Israels request was 'And finally, the U.S. feared that many Israelis would abuse their visas to stay on in the U.S. illegally.' Yeah, they should know all about non-citizens overstaying visas in another country. After all, there's a shitload of US citizens who overstay their visas here...

Violet...