The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 created the VWP as a pilot program, and the Visa Waiver Permanent Program Act permanently established the program in October 2000. The program’s purpose is to facilitate the legitimate travel of visitors for business or tourism. By providing visa-free travel to the United States, the program is intended to boost international business and tourism, as well as airline revenues, and create substantial economic benefits to the United States. Moreover, the program allows State to allocate more resources to visa-issuing posts in countries with higher risk applicant pools. In November 2002, Congress passed the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which established DHS and gave it responsibility for establishing visa policy, including policy for the VWP. Previously, Justice had overall responsibility for managing the program. In July 2004, DHS created the Visa Waiver Program Oversight Unit within the Office of International Enforcement and directed that unit to oversee VWP activities and monitor participating VWP countries’ adherence to the program’s statutory and policy requirements. In September 2007, the office was renamed the Visa Waiver Program Office. To help fulfill its responsibilities, DHS established an interagency working group comprising representatives from State, Justice, and several DHS component agencies and offices, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Since the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, Congress has passed several other laws to strengthen border security policies and procedures. For example, the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 increased the frequency—from once every 5 years to at least once every 2 years—of mandated assessments of the effect of each country’s continued participation in the VWP on U.S. security, law enforcement, and immigration interests. The 9/11 Act also added security requirements for all VWP countries, such as the requirement that countries enter into an agreement with the United States to share information on whether citizens and nationals of that country traveling to the United States represent a threat to the security or welfare of the United States or U.S. citizens. When the Visa Waiver Pilot Program was established in 1986, participation was limited to eight countries. Since then, the VWP has expanded to 36 countries. Figure 1 shows the locations of the current member countries. To qualify for the VWP a country must offer reciprocal visa-free travel privileges to U.S. citizens; have had a refusal rate of less than 3 percent for the previous fiscal year for its nationals who apply for business and tourism visas; issue machine-readable passports to its citizens; enter into an agreement with the United States to report or make available through Interpol or other means as designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security information about the theft or loss of passports; accept the repatriation of any citizen, former citizen, or national against whom a final order of removal is issued no later than 3 weeks after the order is issued; enter into an agreement with the United States to share information regarding whether citizens and nationals of that country traveling to the United States represents a threat to U.S. security or welfare; and be determined not to compromise the law enforcement (including immigration enforcement) or security interests of the United States by its inclusion in the program. In addition, all passports issued after October 26, 2005, must contain a digital photograph in the document for travel to the United States under the program, and passports issued after October 26, 2006, must be e-passports that are tamper-resistant and incorporate a biometric identifier. Nationals from countries that have joined the VWP since 2008 must use e-passports in order to travel under the VWP. Effective July 1, 2009, all emergency or temporary passports must be e-passports as well for use under the VWP. To be eligible to travel without a visa under the program, nationals of VWP countries must have received an authorization to travel under the VWP through ESTA; have a valid passport issued by the participating country and be a national seek entry for 90 days or less as a temporary visitor for business or have been determined by CBP at the U.S. port of entry to represent no threat to the welfare, health, safety, or security of the United States; have complied with conditions of any previous admission under the program (for example, individuals must not have overstayed the 90-day limit during prior visits under the VWP); if entering by air or sea, possess a return trip ticket to any foreign destination issued by a carrier that has signed an agreement with the U.S. government to participate in the program, and must have arrived in the United States aboard such a carrier; and if entering by land, have proof of financial solvency and a domicile abroad to which they intend to return. Travelers who do not meet these requirements are required to obtain a visa from a U.S. embassy or consulate overseas before traveling to the United States. Unlike visa holders, VWP travelers generally may not apply for a change in status or an extension of the allowed period of stay. Individuals who have been refused admission to the United States previously must also apply for a visa. VWP travelers waive their right to review or appeal a CBP officer’s decision regarding their admissibility at the port of entry or to contest any action for removal, other than on the basis of an application for asylum. DHS has implemented ESTA to meet the 9/11 Act requirement intended to enhance program security and has taken steps to minimize the burden on travelers to the United States added by the new requirement, but it has not fully analyzed the risks of carrier and passenger noncompliance with the requirement. DHS developed ESTA to collect passenger data and complete security checks on the data before passengers board a U.S. bound carrier. In developing and implementing ESTA, DHS took several steps to minimize the burden associated with ESTA use. For example, ESTA reduced the requirement that passengers provide biographical information to DHS officials from every trip to once every 2 years. In addition, because of ESTA, DHS has informed passengers who do not qualify for VWP travel that they need to apply for a visa before they travel to the United States. Moreover, most travel industry officials we interviewed in six VWP countries praised DHS’s widespread ESTA outreach efforts, reasonable implementation time frames, and responsiveness to feedback but expressed dissatisfaction over ESTA fees. Also, although carriers complied with the ESTA requirement to verify ESTA approval for almost 98 percent of VWP passengers before boarding them in 2010, DHS does not have a target completion date for a review to identify potential security risks associated with the small percentage of cases of traveler and carrier noncompliance with the ESTA requirement. Pursuant to the 9/11 Act, DHS implemented ESTA, an automated, Web- based system, to assist in assessing passengers’ eligibility to travel to the United States under the VWP by air or sea before they board a U.S. bound carrier. DHS announced ESTA as a new requirement for travelers entering the United States under the VWP on June 9, 2008, and began accepting ESTA applications on a voluntary basis in August 2008. Beginning January 12, 2009, DHS required all VWP travelers to apply for ESTA approval prior to travel to the United States. DHS began enforcing compliance with ESTA requirements in March 2010, exercising the right to fine a carrier or rescind its VWP signatory status for failure to comply with the ESTA requirement. Although passengers may apply for ESTA approval anytime before they board a plane or ship bound for the United States, DHS recommends that travelers apply when they begin preparing travel plans. Prior to ESTA’s implementation, all travelers from VWP countries manually completed a form—the I-94W—en route to the United States, supplying biographical information and answering questions to determine eligibility for the VWP. DHS officials collected the forms from VWP passengers at U.S. ports of entry and used the information on the forms to qualify or disqualify the passengers for entry into the United States without a visa. DHS uses ESTA to electronically collect VWP applicants’ biographical information and responses to eligibility questions. The ESTA application requires the same information collected through the I-94W forms. When an applicant submits an ESTA application, DHS systems evaluate the applicant’s biographical information and responses to VWP eligibility questions. (See table 1.) If the DHS evaluation results in a denial of the application, the applicant is directed to apply for a U.S. visa. For all other applications, if this review process locates no information requiring further analysis, DHS notifies the applicant that the application is approved; if the process locates such information, DHS notifies the applicant that the application is pending, and DHS performs a manual check on the information. For example, if an applicant reports that a previous U.S. visa application was denied, DHS deems the ESTA application pending and performs additional review. If on further review of any pending application DHS determines that information disqualifies the applicant from VWP travel, the application is denied, and the individual is directed to apply for a visa; otherwise the applicant is approved. Figure 2 illustrates the ESTA application review process. (See app. II for information on how to apply for ESTA.) According to DHS data, the number of individuals submitting ESTA applications increased from about 180,000 per month in 2008, when applying was voluntary, to more than 1.15 million per month in 2009 and 2010 after DHS made ESTA mandatory. DHS approved over 99 percent of the almost 28.6 million ESTA applications submitted from August 2008 through December 2010, but it also denied the applications of thousands of individuals it deemed ineligible to travel to the United States under the VWP. The denial rate has decreased slightly from 0.42 percent in 2008 to 0.24 percent in 2010. (See fig.