Visa Waiver Programs

The travel visa system is designed to control and track human movement around the world, and visa waiver programs (VWPs) are considered an alternative to the regular visa-based admission process. VWPs have been devised to eliminate or limit travel barriers in order to stimulate pleasure and business travel to sovereign states around the world. Such visa liberalization policies have reshaped patterns of international arrivals and the tourism development of host countries. Moreover, VWPs evidently provide economic, political, and security benefits according to various studies on travel visa policy. More stringent visa requirements could make it difficult for the United States to compete with other tourism markets, as people would be more likely to consider traveling to other countries that have laxer visa policies. Such visa-free ...