WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- U.S. Officials are providing more details of the president's proposal to broaden the Visa Waiver Program, sketching the outlines of an ambitious plan for an electronic visa-lite system, which would enable travelers to get pre-cleared against terrorism and immigration watch-lists before traveling to the United States.
In remarks in Europe this week, President George W. Bush addressed complaints from the leaders of several of the post-Soviet democracies there about the restrictive requirements for the program, under which citizens of 27 participating nations are entitled to travel to the United States for up to three months for business or pleasure without a visa.
Bush said officials in Estonia had been "straightforward and very frank" about the issue. He said there was "deep concern" that people from countries fighting alongside the U.S. military in Iraq weren't able to travel to the United States as freely as they would like.
The issue also came up in Latvia, and been raised with Bush before by Poland, and other former East Bloc countries which are now U.S. allies, and in some cases members of NATO and/or the European Union.
Bush promised Tuesday to send a proposal to Congress to "modify" the program, "to make sure that nations like Estonia qualify more quickly," while strengthening its security.
Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security laid down the broad outlines of the reform package Bush would be sending to Congress. They include a new visa-lite system called an "electronic travel authorization," that would be issued to passport-holders before they traveled to the United States, as well as better information-sharing by new member nations on lost and stolen passports and criminal and terrorist watch-lists; and higher standards for their document and airport security.
In return for subscribing to these additional security measures, officials said, nations that wanted to join the program would be granted flexibility on other current requirements of membership, such as the less-than 3 percent refusal rate on visa applications.
"We know that realistically, there are some (countries) that are not going to make the three percent bar," said Department of Homeland Security Spokesman Jarrod Agen, adding that the focus of such metrics was on a pre-Sept. 11 conception of how the program might be abused -- "looking at economic factors and illegal migration."
The additional measures for new members would enhance the security of the program as a whole, said Agen, because the United States would work with existing visa-waiver nations to extend the new measures to their participation in the program, too.
"We can start to phase (them) in for existing Visa Waiver Program nations down the line," he said of the requirements for pre-submission of travelers' personal data and government sharing of watch-list information. "The ultimate aim is a universal program."
Agen added that "details remain to be worked out with Congress and our international partners," but said the electronic travel authorization scheme operated by Australia was a good model.
"The idea is that before people travel, they can submit their information and we can run it through to let people know they are cleared to travel to the United States," he said, adding that the ultimate aim was "real-time clearance" for intending visitors, perhaps over the Internet.
Agen said the information intending travelers would be required to submit would be more than the simple biographical details included on passports, but said details of what kinds of data had yet to be finalized.
Officials said the process would not replace inspections at ports of entry, nor would it replace the discretion of border inspectors to refuse admission to any foreigner.
In the past, House Republicans and some senators of both parties have resisted administration efforts to push back deadlines for countries in the program to adopt security measures, and their opposition made any expansion of the program a political non-starter.
Some observers suggested that, with Democrats now in control of Congress, the administration might have more leeway on the issue.
"We're optimistic" about being able to work with the new Congress to get the reforms through, said Agen.
He said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had reached out in phone calls to key lawmakers of both parties to promise "We will not do something that will not be a net gain in security terms."
Nevertheless, critics said much more information about the proposed new measures was needed.
"If Australia is the model, that's good," said Janice Kephardt, a former Sept. 11 commission staffer and border security consultant, praising the "electronic travel authorization" system they use.
But she said there were many unanswered questions about the proposal. "We just don't know enough" to be able accept the department's assurances on security, she said.
