Embassy of the United States Paris, France

Changes in Visa-Free Travel to the United States

May 17, 2005

As of June 26, 2005, travelers who wish to enter the United States will need to present either (1) a machine readable passport or (2) an older non-machine readable passport with a visa. On that date, the United States will begin full enforcement of machine readable passport requirements.

Since October 2004, U.S. law has required that citizens of countries such as France that participate in the “Visa Waiver Program” have a machine readable passport in order to travel to the United States without a visa. U.S. authorities at ports of entry have had the discretion to grant one-time exemptions on a case-by-case basis to travelers who presented older, non-machine readable passports. This discretionary period is now coming to an end.

All French citizens are urged to obtain machine-readable passports prior to travel to the United States; they may then travel without a visa.

French citizens with the older, non-machine readable passports may continue to travel to the United States but only if they obtain a visa.

For more information on the “Visa Waiver Program” and U.S. visas, please consult the Embassy’s website.