From today onwards, travelers from the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries must get approved via the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) before they fly to the United States. “ESTA is a web-based system, initially launched in August 2008, that determines the preliminary eligibility of visitors to travel under the VWP prior to boarding a carrier to the United States.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) declared that all nationals of the VWP countries must follow the new regulation when they travel to the U.S. Currently, the countries that are under the VWP program are: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.