Travelling to the USA for New Zealanders could look very different in the future, with US President Donald Trump’s administration proposing to make visa-exempt tourists disclose their social media history, phone numbers, family members’ details and biometric information.
On Wednesday (New Zealand time), a notice was published by the US Customs and Border Protection on the Federal Register (this is the daily journal of the US Government where they share public notices and government agency rules).
The proposal outlined how 42 countries who currently do not need a visa to enter the United States would have to share the past five years of their social media history and “high value data elements.”
This includes:
Phone numbers used in the last five years
Email addresses used in the last ten years
IP addresses and metadata from electronically submitted photos
Family members’ names (parents, children, spouse and sibling)
Family members’ dates of birth, places of birth and their residencies
Family phone numbers used in the last five years
biometric information (face, fingerprint, DNA and iris)
Business phone numbers used in the last five years
Business email addresses used in the last ten years
Visa-exempt countries include New Zealand as well as Australia, France, Britain and Japan.
The ABC reported that people from visa-exempt countries have been able to apply for a waiver, called the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), “on which the provision of social media history is optional”.
“Under the proposed new rules, the inclusion of five years’ worth of social media data would also become a mandatory part of ESTA applications,” the ABC reported.
Travellers from countries where visas are required, have been sharing this type of information since 2019, the ABC reported.
The public and affected agencies have 60 days to comment on the proposal put forth by Trump’s Administration.
US has the right to set own policy, Seymour says
Asked about the proposal on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour said the US had the right to set its own policy.
“All I’d say is Kiwis are a pretty friendly bunch, don’t pry too hard on us.”
A spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said: “Every country has the right to create its own immigration frameworks.”
“It should be noted this is a proposal and has not been implemented,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson referred New Zealand travellers to the SafeTravel website as that has current travel advice for all destinations.
Anyone with further queries should contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the spokesperson said.