New anti-terrorism laws are about to make life tougher for Kiwis
wanting to travel to the United States.
US Homeland Security is introducing a new website registration
system as part of a security crack down. It means travellers will
have to register online at least three days before they travel.
Since the 9/11 attacks, security and entry requirements at American airports have tightened.
But New Zealand remained part of the visa-waiver programme and at present, Kiwis do not need a visa to visit the US.
Prime Minister Helen Clark is aware of the situation saying it has been in the pipeline for quite some time.
Clark says the changes are due to laws passed after 9/11 requiring changes be made to the USA's visa waiver system. She says it applies to all countries and given the USA has been subject to terror attacks the changes are of no surprise.
But with the new three-day limit those in the travel industry want a clear indication of what will happen for travellers who need to fly to the US at the last minute.
"We expect that the people who are going to be most unconvinced by this will be business travellers and those people who have got family emergencies who don't have three days to book to go to the states," says Brent Thomas, House of Travel.
A US Embassy spokesperson says it's likely that emergency travel within the 3 day limit will be allowed if it's on humanitarian grounds, such as attending a family funeral.
The new registration process is expected to come into force at the start of 2009.
Other visa-free countries whose citizens will be required to register include those in most of Western Europe as well as Andorra, Australia, Brunei, Japan, and Singapore.
