[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 8, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 8CFR217.2]

[Page 397-398]
 
                     TITLE 8--ALIENS AND NATIONALITY
 
      CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (IMMIGRATION AND 
                             NATURALIZATION)
 
PART 217_VISA WAIVER PROGRAM--Table of Contents
 
Sec.  217.2  Eligibility.

    (a) Definitions. As used in this part, the term:
    Carrier refers to the owner, charterer, lessee, or authorized agent 
of any commercial vessel or commercial aircraft engaged in transporting 
passengers to the United States from a foreign place.
    Designated country refers to Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, 
Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, 
Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, 
Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, 
Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom refers only to 
British citizens who have the unrestricted right of permanent abode in 
the United kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the 
Channel Islands and the Isle of Man); it does not refer to British 
overseas citizens, British dependent territories' citizens, or citizens 
of British Commonwealth countries. After May 15, 2003, citizens of 
Belgium must present a machine-readable passport in order to be granted 
admission under the Visa Waiver Program.
    Round trip ticket means any return trip transportation ticket in the 
name of an arriving Visa Waiver Pilot Program applicant on a 
participating carrier valid for at least 1 year, electronic ticket 
record, airline employee passes indicating return passage, individual 
vouchers for return passage, group vouchers for return passage for 
charter flights, and military travel orders which include military 
dependents for return to duty stations outside the United States on U.S. 
military flights. A period of validity of 1 year need not be reflected 
on the ticket itself, provided that the carrier agrees that it will 
honor the return portion of the ticket at any time, as provided in Form 
I-775, Visa Waiver Pilot Program Agreement.
    (b) Special program requirements--(1) General. In addition to 
meeting all of the requirements for the Visa Waiver Pilot Program 
specified in section 217 of the Act, each applicant must possess a 
valid, unexpired passport issued by a designated country and present a 
completed, signed Form I-94W, Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver Arrival/Departure 
Form.
    (2) Persons previously removed as deportable aliens. Aliens who have 
been deported or removed from the United States, after having been 
determined deportable, require the consent of the

[[Page 398]]

Attorney General to apply for admission to the United States pursuant to 
section 212(a)(9)(A)(iii) of the Act. Such persons may not be admitted 
to the United States under the provisions of this part notwithstanding 
the fact that the required consent of the Attorney General may have been 
secured. Such aliens must secure a visa in order to be admitted to the 
United States as nonimmigrants, unless otherwise exempt.
    (c) Restrictions on manner of arrival--(1) Applicants arriving by 
air and sea. Applicants must arrive on a carrier that is signatory to a 
Visa Waiver Pilot Program Agreement and at the time of arrival must have 
a round trip ticket that will transport the traveler out of the United 
States to any other foreign port or place as long as the trip does not 
terminate in contiguous territory or an adjacent island; except that the 
round trip ticket may transport the traveler to contiguous territory or 
an adjacent island, if the traveler is a resident of the country of 
destination.
    (2) Applicants arriving at land border ports-of-entry. Any Visa 
Waiver Pilot Program applicant arriving at a land border port-of-entry 
must provide evidence to the immigration officer of financial solvency 
and a domicile abroad to which the applicant intends to return. An 
applicant arriving at a land-border port-of-entry will be charged a fee 
as prescribed in Sec.  103.7(b)(1) of this chapter for issuance of Form 
I-94W, Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver Arrival/Departure Form. A round-trip 
transportation ticket is not required of applicants at land border 
ports-of-entry.
    (d) Aliens in transit. An alien who is in transit through the United 
States is eligible to apply for admission under the Visa Waiver Pilot 
Program, provided the applicant meets all other program requirements.

[62 FR 10351, Mar. 6, 1997, as amended at 62 FR 50999, Sept. 30, 1997; 
64 FR 42007, Aug. 3, 1999; 67 FR 7945, Feb. 21, 2002; 68 FR 10957, Mar. 
7, 2003]