New Zealanders need new passports to enter US visa-free

New Zealanders wanting to enter the United States visa-free under the terms of the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) will have to present machine-readable passports (MRPs) from October 1.

The US Embassy in Wellington said in a statement today the change would affect all 27 countries participating in the VWP.

"MRPs use new technologies that make them more secure from tampering than old-style passports.

"Many countries, including New Zealand, already have begun to replace their expiring old-style passports with new MRPs," the embassy said.

After October 1, New Zealanders still holding old-style passports could only enter the US (other than for transit purposes) if they held a valid US non-immigrant visa.

The embassy stressed that the visa application process could be lengthy and usually included a personal interview with a consular officer.

"Families and groups should obtain individual passports for each traveller, including infants.

"MRPs typically have biodata for only one traveller in the machine-readable zone and families may be denied visa-free entry into the US if the biodata for only one traveller is machine-readable," the statement said.

- NZPA