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Is it War or Simply Bureaucratic Red Tape?
Some claim there’s no love lost between the French and the US. Bonjour Paris readers would be the first to disagree. But there’s a glitch in passport/visa regulations that is causing a whole lot of French people to swear. French and American officials are working together to try to expedite the process. In the meantime, many French citizens who might have gone to the US for work or for play (not to mention spending lots of money in hotels, restaurants and stores) are opting for other destinations. Obtaining a US visa has become a costly exercise in patience and many French say it necessitates way too much frustration. Why bother waiting up to three months for an interview and then pay more than 100 euros to have the right to board a US-bound plane?
In complete fairness, this isn’t an example of the current US administration out to get the French. President Bush and President Chirac may not have agreed about weapons of mass destruction, but until recently, French citizens have not needed visas to enter the US for stays less than 90 days.
The rules changed. According to the US Government’s website:
If a passport does not have this feature, French citizens can still travel without a visa if they:
- were issued a valid passport before October 26, 2005, with a machine-readable zone, or
- have "e-Passport," which includes an integrated computer chip capable of storing biographic information from the data page, a digitized photograph, and other biometric information. (All passports issued from Visa Waiver Program countries are required to be e-Passports as of October 26, 2006.)
Of all of the countries in the EU, French passports are the only ones that don’t conform to the above specifications. Perhaps that’s because there’s only one French company that has the contract to fabricate passports. Both the French and the US are exerting pressure to get the presses rolling. Some say the company has been holding off on issuing new passports until the regulations for biometric ones are signed, sealed and delivered. And that’s part of the problem. Some countries are pro-retinal identification and/or fingerprints embedded in a microchip. Experts are unanimous that a photo of someone’s face isn’t accurate enough to deter unwanted “visitors” post 9-11.
Once non-US passport holders arrive in the US, they’re required to go through passport control lines where they’re photographed and fingerprinted.
Not everyone is behind this “big brother” approach to crossing borders. Civil rights advocates are adamantly against the implementation of a global biometric identity system for air travelers. “We are increasingly concerned that the biometric travel document initiative is part and parcel of a larger surveillance infrastructure monitoring the movements of individuals globally," said civil liberty groups Privacy International and the American Civil Liberties Union. Privacy International warned, “It could create a global database of over a billion people by 2015.”
The US Consulate in Paris has tried to expedite the process of French citizens obtaining visas but it’s been nearly impossible. In spite of its quadrupling the staff, the wait has been as long as three months simply to get an interview. Bonjour Paris has been advising its French readers to make an appointment at neighboring US consulates (Brussels?) where they are able to obtain nearly immediate visas. Those consulates aren’t under the same pressure as Paris to issue US visas since the passports in those countries conform.
In spite of the US’s efforts, French businessmen and tourists have expressed their displeasure. Many have been forced to change their plans.
It may not be retribution but, now when American citizens reserve flights to France, they are required to have a return ticket to the US within 89 days. Unless they have a long-term visa, passengers will not be allowed to board the plane.
And FYI, when I left France last week to fly to the US, there were two lines at passport control. One was for EU passport holders and the second was for American citizens. I wonder if that has special significance.
