Passengers travelling to the United States who are exempt from visa requirements need to apply for a travel authorisation.
Find out how the exemption programme works, how to proceed and where you can request exemption.
We warn you that without this authorisation (or visa), entry to the country is not permitted.
Passengers traveling to the United States for tourism or business purposes for 90 days or less do not need a visa if they are nationals of one of the following countries:
| Andorra | Japan |
| Australia | Latvia |
| Austria | Liechtenstein |
| Belgium | Lithuania |
| Brunei | Luxembourg |
| Chile | Malta |
| Czech Republic | Monaco |
| Denmark | New Zealand |
| Estonia | Norway |
| Finland | Portugal |
| France | Republic of Korea |
| Germany | San Marino |
| Greece | Singapore |
| Holland | Slovakia |
| Hungary | Spain |
| Iceland | Sweden |
| Ireland | Switzerland |
| Italy | United Kingdom* |
*British citizens only without permanent residence restrictions in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands and Isle of Man.
For more information on Visa Exemption visit the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website.
If you have a passport from one of these countries which was issued after 2001, you must use the Electronic System for Travel Authorization to apply for an electronic authorisation whenever you travel to the United States of America.
To obtain it just go the website and complete the form. This process must be carried out at least three days prior to travel. However, and to prevent any setbacks, you can request this authorisation before booking the trip.
Since 20 March 2010, airlines that allow passengers to travel to the USA without authorisation are also penalised.
TAP reserves the right, as of that date, to refuse to allow passengers to board until they have completed the necessary formalities.
Procedure:
More information available at:
For legal reasons, all passengers travelling to the USA must provide the following information when booking:
The first 3 items are absolutely compulsory:
Airlines are required to send this information to the United States authorities up to seventy-two (72) hours prior to departure of the flight or they may have to cancel bookings, even if the tickets are issued.
TAP thanks all its passengers for their comprehension, so that it may meet these requirements in good time and guarantee the usual quality of our service.
See how the data passengers provide is handled.
US law requires all airlines operating flights to, from or within the USA to provide the department in charge of the United States Customs and Border Protection service with electronic access to all passenger data, in order to prevent and combat terrorism as well as other criminal offences considered to be serious.
TAP complies with this legal requirement.
The United States Customs and Border Protection has access to information about the booking and itinerary (PNR) of passengers travelling to, from or through the United States, such as:
The US Customs and Border Protection will not use booking data considered “sensitive”, such as:
Information on the passenger’s food preferences or requested medical services can be used.
The department responsible for Customs and Border Protection has access to the booking records (Passenger Name Record - PNR) and uses the data to prevent and combat terrorism and other serious criminal offences.
Under United States law, booking data cannot be disclosed. However, this data is analysed on a case-by-case basis and data may be passed on to other government law enforcement and anti-terrorism authorities.
Booking data may also be used to protect the vital interests of passengers or third parties (e.g. in the event of a public health emergency) or in the prosecution of criminal acts and judicial or other proceedings required by law.
Passenger name records are obtained directly from the airline’s booking and check-in system by United States Customs and Border Control and analysed before the passengers’ arrival, in order to determine whether any of these poses a possible threat.
Furthermore, the details are stored by the US Customs and Border Protection for three years and six months. If the Department accesses the data manually during the period, they will be kept in hard copy form over the next eight years, for auditing.
The United States Customs and Border Protection may take other technical and organisational measures to prevent misuse of these data.
If you wish to access your booking records held by the US Customs and Border Protection you may send your request by letter, addressed to:
An alternative address is:
For further information about procedures for making this request, please see Section 103.5 of title 19 of the United States Code of Federal Regulations.
Written requests for amendments and complaints about the use of booking records (Passenger Name Records) may be sent to:
The decisions made by US Customs and Border Protection are reviewed by the head of the Privacy Division of the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, DC 20528.The application for review is sent by a passenger to the data protection authority in any EU country, if they do not feel they have received a satisfactory answer from the United States authorities.
