The Visa Waiver Program is different than the Immigrant Visa Process. Also called VWP, it is part of what the United States government has created to allow citizens, specifically those that are traveling into the United States for the purpose of tourism, or even business, to be in America for up to 90 days without having to go through the procedure of getting a visa.  The VWP program is something that applies to all 50 states, including Australia, as well as territories such as Puerto Rico and also the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. Let’s look into more depth at this policy, and how it will be applicable in 2017. In contrast to it, immigration to US is a much longer process and with a totally different scope.

USA Visa Waiver Program (VWP) 2017 – How It Works

The USA VWP 2017 works like this: let’s say that you are coming in from a different country and you want to visit friends or relatives that are living in any location across the United States. It is also possible that you may have Australian citizens that  would like to visit Bermuda, Mexico or Canada. This VWP allows you as an Australian to go to these areas, stay for up to 90 days, without having to apply for a visa. If you did not know, a visa is essentially permission given by a government to which you are visiting their country, allowing you to have permission to stay. These are always needed if you are going to stay longer than 90 days, but due to the Visa Waiver Program, you can bypass this by staying under that maximum number. There are some changes updated in Jan 2016 as noted by official US Department of State website.

Different Countries That May Actually Join The Program

Expanding beyond this point, there are countries that have been nominated until now for the status of being part of this VWP. They have created what some referred to as a roadmap, those that have been nominated but have not yet joined. Some of these countries include Israel, Turkey, Romania, Argentina, and Cyprus to name a few. Argentina was a member up until 2002, and Uruguay was a member of until 2003, but their eligibility was withdrawn. One of the reasons for revoking this eligibility is that there may have been some violation which occurred which caused the United States not to allow this to happen. However, the Visa Waiver Program for 2017 may allow some of these countries to come back in depending upon how things go.

How Many People Came In From Different Countries?

The answer to this question is linked to a fascinating statistic regarding the number of people that used this VWP to come into the United States. Some of them are quite high. For instance, Australia had over a million people, and France had nearly 2 million people, with Japan almost exceeding 4 million. The clear leader of the pack was the United Kingdom, and there was a total of 22 million people that utilized this ability back in 2014. This number is more than likely much higher, and as time passes and more people become part of this program, it will probably grow too much higher numbers. There are also restrictions as different rules are applied across current year, as noted here.

What Is The Overstay Rate For USA Visa Waiver Program 2017

Besides Australia, it is clear that more countries will soon be admitted, but some of them are not doing very well regarding impressing upon the United States there desire to stay consistent with the 90-day program. Some people have overstayed, and by doing so, they cause problems with the countries that are allowed and may make it impossible for their country to get back in if taken off. Some of the largest violations were from Germany, followed by the United Kingdom and Spain. Italy was also up there was 17,000, so this is going to happen year after year. It is important for these countries to realize that it is so important not to exceed these limitations just as they would not appreciate Americans doing that in their country. In terms of rules for Australia, they have not changed that much and you can check for an independent evaluation for your Esta Visa Australia with Estavisa.com.au. Overall, it’s an excellent program, and it looks very favorable for the USA Visa Waiver Program 2017 to get even better. It is one of the best ways for people to travel, something that should never be abused, and as relations between other countries and the United States become better, it should continue to grow to allow people to travel without restrictions.