DHS Wants Your Opinion on Foreign Visitor Paperwork Changes
Published Date: 1/14/2025
Notice
Summary
The Department of Homeland Security is updating the forms and electronic system travelers use when entering or leaving the U.S. (Forms I-94, I-94W, and ESTA). If you travel internationally, these changes might affect how you provide your info. The public can share their thoughts by March 17, 2025, and the update aims to keep things smooth without extra costs or delays.
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 3 costs, 0 mixed.
ESTA collection to cover added VWP countries
CBP is updating the ESTA/I-94 collections to account for travelers from currently designated Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries and from potentially added VWP countries over the next three years; once a country is designated as a VWP country, eligible citizens may travel to the U.S. for up to 90 days without a visa but must obtain ESTA authorization.
VWP ineligibility for certain country travel since Mar 1, 2022
Under the Visa Waiver Program Improvement Act, certain nationals of VWP countries are generally ineligible to travel under the VWP if, at the time of applying for admission, they are nationals of or have been present on or after March 1, 2022, in Iraq, Syria, a country designated as a state sponsor of terrorism, or another country of concern as designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security.
ESTA website will require a selfie
If you apply for travel authorization under the Visa Waiver Program (ESTA) through the ESTA website, you will be required to provide a photograph of your face (a “selfie”) in addition to the passport biographical-page photo. Third parties (for example, travel agents or family members) applying on your behalf would also have to submit a photograph of the ESTA applicant; ESTA Mobile already requires a live photo.
Air/sea arrivals no longer fill paper I-94
CBP now gathers I-94 arrival/departure data for passengers arriving by air or sea from automated sources like the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) instead of requiring travelers to submit a paper I-94 upon arrival. Travelers entering at land ports may apply for a provisional electronic I-94 via the public I-94 website and can access and print their electronic I-94 at https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home.
Estimated time burden for travelers and responses
CBP estimates per-response times for these collections: Paper I-94 — 8 minutes (1,782,564 respondents); I-94 website — 4 minutes (91,411 respondents); I-94W — 16 minutes (1,138,644 respondents); ESTA Mobile — 22 minutes (2,172,611 respondents); ESTA website — 18 minutes (12,311,462 respondents). The notice lists the estimated total annual burden hours for each collection.
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