The Obama administration is currently looking at the possibility of extending the visa waiver program to include citizens of Brazil, Argentina and Chile, Rodger Dow, President of the U.S. travel association, announced recently.
The Visa Waiver Program allows entry into the U.S. by foreign tourists from selected countries, for up to 90 days without having to obtain a tourist visa.
“We are looking at the possibility of extending the Visa Waiver program for Argentina, Brazil and Chile,” said Dow during the 42nd International Pow Wow, an international business conference taking place this week in Orlando, Florida.
In this annual travel conference, over 1,000 U.S. travel organizations meet with over 1,500 international buyers in order to create future business negotiations which, in turn, generates billions of dollars in future U.S. travel and tourism.
According to Dow, this extension could happen in the next 26 months, “Although there are still a lot of steps to be taken.”
Recently, the Obama administration announced the extension to include the country and citizens of Greece.
The Visa Waiver program now includes the majority of Western Europe, along with Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Singapore.
The program used to include Argentina and Uruguay, but both were excluded in 2002 and 2003 due to the economic crisis that happened in both countries in 2001.
