WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Italian and French citizens risk losing the right to visa-free U.S. travel on Wednesday when new American passport rules take effect, but U.S. security officials expect the logistical and economic impact to be limited. Austria, which had also been expected to miss the October 26 deadline to include a digital photograph in all new passports, appears to have found an eleventh-hour solution to salvage its visa-free travel privileges, a U.S. official said. Apart from these three states, all of the other 27 mostly European countries in the elite "Visa Waiver Program" will certainly meet the new rules, ensuring more than 10 million mostly high-budget travelers will continue to need nothing but a valid, machine-readable passport to visit the United States.
Austria, which had also been expected to miss the October 26 deadline to include a digital photograph in all new passports, appears to have found an eleventh-hour solution to salvage its visa-free travel privileges, a U.S. official said.
Apart from these three states, all of the other 27 mostly European countries in the elite "Visa Waiver Program" will certainly meet the new rules, ensuring more than 10 million mostly high-budget travelers will continue to need nothing but a valid, machine-readable passport to visit the United States.
