Travelling on Cayman passports without chips
Will I need to change my (Cayman) passport to travel to the US on the visa waiver programme? I currently have the passport without the chip they require as of 1 April 2016. My passport does not expire until 2020. I am being told it only affects the UK passport but others are saying something else. Can you clarify?
Auntie’s answer: To avoid any more confusion, I put your question to the Passport & Corporate Services Office. Here is the answer: “The requirement by the USA to have a biometric ‘chipped’ passport is for the British citizen/UK passports, not the BOTC/Cayman passports. We are not on the visa waiver programme although we can travel to the US on a waiver in our passport if we do not have a visa.”
For those who might need a bit more clarification, an immigration official explained that under the US visa waiver programme mentioned above, holders of British passports (among other countries) may enter the US without a visa. “However, Cayman is not part of the USA visa waiver programme; therefore if travelling on a Cayman passport to the USA you will need to either have a visa or apply at the passport office here for a waiver.”
In case you need more information, you can call the Passport Office at 943-7678 or 949-8344.
Category: Ask Auntie
Just had a family member return from the US on a Cayman MRP but without a chip on a Cayman Visa waiver, with no issues at all.