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visa
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do i need a visa to travel from england to america
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This is what the Foreign & Commonwealth Office say:
"Visa Waiver Programme
The US operates a Visa Waiver Programme (VWP), available to most British Citizen passport holders travelling on business, pleasure or transit from where they normally reside and who intend to stay in the US for less than 90 days. The VWP is not available to other categories of British nationals and you should check the data/photograph page of your passport to see whether you are described as a British Citizen. If you are not, you should consult the information on the Visa Waiver Programme on the US Embassy website for further information.
Sorry, I accidentaly cut off the next bit:
From 26 October 2004, all British passport holders, including children, travelling to the USA under the VWP will need their own machine-readable passports (MRP). From 26 October 2004, anyone without a MRP, including children who are currently on a parent's passport, will need a visa to travel to the USA. See paragraph below on UK passports to find out if you hold a MRP. If, after 26 October, a Visa Waiver Programme national presents him or herself for admission to the United States without a machine-readable passport or non-immigrant visa, US Customs and Border Protection officers may grant a one-time exemption to admit the traveller to the United States. The traveller will be issued a letter explaining the US entry requirements and his or her passport will be annotated that a one-time exemption has been granted. However, entry is not guaranteed, and travellers without a MRP should apply for a new passport or a US visa well before travelling, if at all possible.
The US Government has agreed to extend to 26 October 2005 the date by which eligible travellers from VWP countries must have biometrically-enabled machine readable passports if they wish to enter the country without a visa. In the first instance, biometric passports will contain data about the holder's face, this could be followed by other unique personal information such as fingerprints or iris details. The UK is working on its programme to introduce biometric passports, but it will not be fully ready in time for the new US deadline. British Citizens who would normally travel under the VWP may therefore require a visa, which will include biometric data, to enter the US on or after 26 October 2005.
I was on holiday in Canada recently and went to Buffalo NY (USA) to stay with a lady friend who I've been chatting to online for over 5 years, and to see Niagara Falls. My wife originates from Montreal (Quebec) and still holds a Canadian passport, although she has residency papers for UK. At immigration they asked for the address where I would be staying and I told them I didn't know, I had just been on my cellphone to my friend and she was meeting us just over the border. We had to wait in the car. Unlucky for us it was shift change so the time getting through US immigration took an hour.
They made me fill in some paper and stamped my passport and gave me a green piece of card to go with my passport and told me to show it when re-entering the USA. They charged $6 US for this, and it was valid for 90 days. When I went to Niagara Falls I showed them my passport with the card they gave me and had no trouble getting back in. When I was leaving USA to head back to Toronto airport in Canada the officer asked if I would be returning to USA and I said no as I was heading back for England (via Toronto) and she took the card from me.
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