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New US Travel Rules May Spark Chaos at Airports

DUBAI - Travellers to the US may be held up by new restrictions which come into effect today and require an online security application to be approved 72 hours ahead of a flight.

A spokesman for the US Embassy in Abu Dhabi said that under the new rules, travellers, who were previously allowed to enter the US without a visa, must have filled in an online application form 72 hours before travelling.

Their requests must also have been approved by the US Department for Homeland Security.

The rule will apply to travellers with British, German, French, Japanese, Australian and other passports that were once previously able to guarantee a 90-day stay without obtaining a visa.

“It will apply to business customers as well as normal customers. It will affect 33 countries that were previously on the visa waiver scheme, including Britain.”

Passengers could be prevented from boarding airlines if they do not have the correct documentation when they are checking in at departure gates.

However, the expatriate community were unaware of the change.

“There will be chaos at the airport,” said David Beasley, a British commercial director of a Dubai-based industrial supplier, who frequently travels to the US on business. “This will mean that those who want last-minute tickets to the US will not be able to get them.

“For me, sometimes I have to leave suddenly on business. This will slow things down significantly. On a general level, it will be interesting to see whether they will deny anyone entry on the basis of the questionnaire, and if so, on what grounds.”

A spokeswoman for the British Business Group in Abu Dhabi said they did not have details of the change and would be unable to comment on whether it would affect business.

The British Foreign Office has warned that travellers who booked their tickets prior to the new rules coming into force could be “caught out” when travelling to the US. An official at the British Embassy, who was not authorised to speak to the media, said they had not received prior notification of the change before it was announced.

No figures were available at the British Embassy for the number of Britons travelling from Dubai to the US.

On average, around 9,000 passengers every week fly via British Airways from the UAE. A spokesman for the company said that all existing passengers had been notified. “We gave our customers sufficient time to follow the new rules,” he said. “We don’t foresee any problem.”

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