How to make us love Electronic Travel Authorizations
I have European friends who will not travel to the United States. They feel as if they’re treated like criminals when they go through immigrations. Foreign nationals are greeted with long lines, surly customs agents and fingerprinting of all 10 fingers.
Oh, and now there’s a new online questionnaire that must be filled out.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announcement of the new online system of data collection, Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), has been met with dramatically different reactions. The program will apply to all visitors, even those from countries that are members of the Visa Waiver Program.
The Washington Post reports that DHS is pitching this as an improvement that will actually save time and allow better national security. DHS chief Michael Chertoff says is a much-needed upgrade.
Rather than relying on paper-based procedures, this system will leverage 21st-century electronic means to obtain basic information about who is traveling to the U.S. without a visa.
Officials compared the current visa program with Australia’s. Of course, the Australian program is actually an online visa and costs Australian $20, collected online at the time of the application for the Electronic Travel Authority.
The Travel Industry Association, normally against anything that will limit foreign visits to our country has come out firmly in favor of this new program.
The travel industry is committed to working with DHS on implementation of ESTA, which is modeled on a successful Australian program. ESTA is good for travelers because it can streamline documentation requirements and ensure the continuation of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).
Their caveat is that the government needs to start a marketing campaign to let foreigners know that this new program is not a threat and another barrier to entry, but simply a benign, new and improved process to update and simplify entry into the U.S.
According to the Post, the reaction from the other side of the Atlantic hasn’t been so enthusiastic.
Jacques Barrot, a European Union vice president, asked for more details about U.S. plans, E.U. officials said. The commission is determining whether the requirement is tantamount to a visa and whether to study imposing a similar requirement on Americans traveling to Europe.
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, a Dutch member of the European Parliament, said the effort “contributes to an atmosphere of general distrust” fostered by American security measures. “Transatlantic cooperation between the intelligence services is the only way forward, not the massive collection of data in general,” she said.
These tit-for-tat grumblings don’t seem like a good start.
But, let’s look at the bright side of the law.
In reality, the tourists and businessmen will not be providing any additional information than they fill in on the I-94W paper forms normally passed out on-board airplanes while winging their way across the Atlantic or Pacific. Plus, rather than having to fill out the form every time one visits the U.S.A. this electronic data will be valid for multiple entries over two years.
Is the DHS program “streamlining” the system? Yes, and in the long run, making it easier for multiple reentries.
Is the program another hoop that visitors have to leap through before boarding a flight to America? Absolutely. Friends in Europe are saying, “enough!”
To make this new program fly and assure visitors that we are only requiring them to fill out these online forms to make their travel life easier, the government should probably look to the advertising agencies that promote Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Kellogg’s and Disney.
If anyone can make filling out more immigration forms and having personal travel data amassed in a giant international database an added benefit of travel, the marketing geniuses that promote Wonder Bread and Frosted Flakes as health food, may have a chance.
You may also be interested in these articles
Comments
Please share your thoughts...