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Action Alert
We Need Your Help to Right a Wrong:
Demand Greece's Path to Become a Visa Waiver Nation
Receives a "Green Light"
Contact The White House Today!
BACKGROUND
The Bush Administration is prepared to announce an expansion of the United States' Visa Waiver Program during the next four to six weeks. The visa waiver program allows foreign nationals to travel to the United States for purposes of tourism or business without having to apply for a visa. There are 27 countries currently in the Visa Waiver Program.
Greece has long been considered a leading candidate for expansion for many reasons, including:
- Greece is the only country formally nominated by the U.S. Department of State (September 2007) to proceed with a formal evaluation process to be conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
- Greece provides for visa free travel reciprocity for United States citizens for 90 days (tourism and business purposes)
- Greece's visa refusal rate is exceptional. It is less than the required 3 percent refusal rate of U.S. non-immigrant visitor visa applications. FY07 Refusal Rate was 1.6%.
- Greece's quality of life and EU citizenship discourages any possible reason for a Greek national to travel illegally to the United States or overstay his/her visa. In addition, Greece is a member of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.
- As of January 1, 2007, Greek authorities announced that Greek passports issued prior to January 1, 2006 will no longer be valid for travel. Therefore, Greek nationals will be traveling with new, machine-readable passports that are produced using state-of-the-art technology (biometrics) to meet the highest possible security standards and specifications-even higher standards than the passports of the many current 27 visa waiver nations.
STATUS
We learned and confirmed this week that Greece's path to become a visa waiver nation has received a "red light" from the Executive Branch due to a "political issue" with Greece.
Prior to this news, DHS and Greece have been working toward completion of the necessary requirements for Greece to fulfill to become a visa waiver nation.
- Teams from DHS have conducted security reviews of Greece in November 2007 and in early 2008.
- DHS has provided Greece with Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) that lay out new legislative requirements from the 9/11 act, and other technical documents, for Greece's signature.
ACTION
AHEPA Supreme President Ike Gulas has sent a letter to President George W. Bush, and key administration officials and members of Congress, expressing the Greek-American community's strong discontent with the Executive Branch's new policy that blocks Greece's path toward becoming a visa waiver nation.
Now it is your turn. The constituents must have a voice. Please contact President Bush today!
Contact President Bush Today!
- Email (preferred) or call President Bush
- Request that the President intervene to give a "Green Light" for Greece to proceed on its path to become a visa waiver nation.
- Present the reasons why the resolution merits debate (you can utilize the talking points list below)
SAMPLE LETTTER
Helpful Tips
- Identify yourself as an American Citizen
- Keep your message as brief and as focused as possible.
- Personalize Your Letter! Explain how this policy affects you personally as a citizen.
- Send us a copy of your correspondence or let us know that you called by dropping an e-mail to: policy@ahepa.org.
October 8, 2008
The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Bush:
I am writing as a concerned American citizen in regard to your administration's recent policy decision to block Greece's path to become a visa waiver nation because of a "political issue" that has arisen between the United States and Greece, two long-standing NATO allies.
Greece is well-qualified and positioned as the leading candidate country for visa waiver expansion. Greece must meet the security requirements as presented to it by the Department of Homeland Security; however, obstructing Greece's roadmap to become a visa waiver nation based upon a "political issue" that has no bearing on Greece's outstanding merits to join the visa waiver program is unacceptable to me. It punishes American citizens of Greek heritage, and countless Philhellenes, who would look to Greece as a visa waiver nation as an opportunity to strengthen economic, cultural, and social ties in addition to it being a strong indication of trust from the United States.
The case for Greece is strong.
- Greece is the only nation of all the candidate nations that has been formally nominated by the State Department;
- Greece's visa refusal rate is well below 3 percent (1.6 percent); and
- Greece's passport biometrics exceeds technology used by current VWP nations.
Therefore, please provide Greece with a "green light" in its quest to become a visa waiver nation.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
NAME
ADDRESS
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Please contact AHEPA Headquarters, (202) 232-6300 with any questions. Thank you!
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AHEPA is the largest Greek-American association in the world with chapters in the United States, Canada, Greece, Cyprus, and sister chapters in Australia and New Zealand. It was established in 1922 by visionary Greek Americans to protect Hellenes from prejudice originating from the KKK, and in its history, AHEPA joined with the NAACP and B'nai B'rith International to fight discrimination.
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