Travel crackdown: US tightens visa waiver scheme in wake of Paris attacks

The White House has announced changes to the popular US visa waiver programme so that security officials can more closely screen travellers from 38 countries allowed to enter the United States without obtaining visas before they travel.

Under the new measures, which were prompted by the November 13 attacks in Paris by Islamic State militants, the Department of Homeland Security would immediately start to collect more information from travellers about past visits to countries such as Syria and Iraq, the White House said.

The scheme has come under scrutiny following the Paris attacks since several of the suspected perpetrators were from Belgium and France, which are countries on the list.

The changes will “enhance our ability to thwart terrorist attempts to travel on lost or stolen passports,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters in Paris, where US President Barack Obama is attending UN talks on climate change.

The DHS would also look at pilot programmes for collecting biometric information such as fingerprints from visa waiver travelers, the White House said.

The DHS would also ask Congress for additional powers, including the authority to increase fines for air carriers that fail to verify passport data, and the ability to require all travellers to use passports with embedded security chips, the White House said.