DHS Adds Qatar to the Visa Waiver Program
Admission to the program is likely linked to its role in negotiations between Israel and Hamas
By Elizabeth Jacobs on September 27, 2024
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and U.S. Department of State Secretary Antony Blinken announced this week that the United States added Qatar to the list of countries whose nationals may enter the United States without first obtaining a visa. Qatar’s admission to the Visa Waiver Program is likely linked to the role the country has played in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas — rather than because it is in the general public’s interest to allow Qataris to enter the United States without first receiving visas.
The Visa Waiver Program, which was first adopted as a pilot program in 1986, but was made permanent in 2000, allows aliens who are citizens or nationals of participating countries to travel to the United States without a visa if they meet certain eligibility requirements. Eligibility for the Visa Waiver Program is limited to aliens who are traveling for business or tourism and only allows these visitors to stay for up to 90 days. Countries must have a nonimmigrant visa refusal rate below 3 percent for the previous fiscal year to be eligible to participate. Participating governments must also make reciprocal travel benefits available to U.S. citizens traveling to their countries. Currently, 41 countries (counting Qatar) participate in the program.
Even when a country is in the Visa Waiver Program, there are some limits. The Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015 requires visas for nationals of Visa Waiver countries if they have traveled to or been present in North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, or Yemen on or after March 1, 2011, (with limited exceptions for travel for diplomatic or military purposes in the service of a VWP country). The act also makes ineligible for visa-free travel those nationals of VWP countries who have traveled to or been present in Cuba on or after January 12, 2021 (with the same limited exceptions as above) and nationals of VWP countries who are also nationals of Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, or Syria. (These aliens must make appointments at U.S. embassies or consular offices for standard visa processing.)
https://cis.org/Jacobs/DHS-Adds-Qatar-Visa-Waiver-Program
