Some US Allies Seek More Visa Waivers

Poles line up in front of the Visa Section of the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007. President Bush recently signed a law that expands a program allowing visa-free travel to the United States for citizens from some countries, but not for Poland and other close U.S. allies. The new law has disappointed many U.S. allies, but it is particularly grating for Poland, a country that has made big contributions to combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and has supported U.S. plans to install missile-defense interceptors on Polish soil. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz) (Alik Keplicz - AP)

To meet the new standard, the Bush administration is now working with countries to find ways to lower their visa rejection rates, including public information campaigns to discourage applicants who are likely to be denied.

U.S. lawmakers also are looking into whether visa screening statistics are produced consistently in all embassies or whether varying screening methods make it harder for some countries to qualify.

For Poland and other countries like Romania, which are far above the 10 percent threshold, new legislation may be the only way into the program.

Reps. John Shimkus, R-Ill., and Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., already have drafted a bill that would remove the 10 percent requirement.

Any renewed push to change the law, however, faces opposition in Congress. Many lawmakers believe the visa-waiver program makes the United States more vulnerable to terrorists and illegal immigrants. Some who fought the bill say that after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the United States should not allow any foreign citizens to enter without visas.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, author of the amendment that set the 10 percent threshold, has pointed out that al-Qaida members Zacarias Moussaoui and Richard Reid did not need visas to enter the United States. Moussaoui's passport was from France, Reid's from Britain. Feinstein has called the program, "The soft underbelly of our national security."

She and other opponents almost certainly would fight any new attempt to loosen the requirements.

Some advocates of expansion believe that opposition could ease after a few countries are admitted.

"If the expansion process goes smoothly, it could open the way for improved legislation," said James Carafano, a researcher at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington.

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Associated Press Writer Monika Scislowska in Warsaw contributed to this report.