The Trump administration put new requirements in place on Friday for the 38 countries participating in the U.S. Visa Waiver Programme, including that they use U.S. counterterrorism data to screen travelers, officials said. The programme allows citizens of mainly European countries to travel to the U.S. for up to 90 days without a visa. The threshold for the overstay rate triggering the public information campaign requirement is two per cent, the officials said. The overall overstay rate for VWP countries is 0.68 per cent, lower than non-VWP countries excluding Canada and Mexico, which is at 2.07 per cent, according to the DHS report. The U.S. will also start assessing VWP countries on their safeguards against “insider threats” at their airports, especially those with direct flights to the U.S., officials said.

Source: Punch December 15, 2017 18:45 UTC