There were numerous friendly nations, such as the European Union, surprised at the announcement made today by United States of America Customs and Border Protection. An insurance plan for a tourist tax was announced. The United states would require that a $14 “operational and travel promotion” cost be paid with the tourist tax from 36 different nations. The tax will apply if the traveler does not already possess a United States of America visa, reports Yahoo! News.
Tourist tax ‘inconsistent with facilitating transatlantic mobility’ says EU
The European Union has been really open in its opposition to the United States’ newly instituted tourist tax masquerading as an operational and travel promotion fee. Many nations, including Australia, Germany, France, Japan and the United Kingdom, could have travelers on the sea or within the air that have to pay the fee. Homeland security explained what the tourist tax is going to be going towards. The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) was free, although now it will be paid for with this tax. The system is meant to check foreign tourists against no fly lists. The New York Times explains that visitors will have to have internet access along with a credit or debit card to them. This is to help them shell out the tourist tax as they go via the ESTA program. A non-immigrant visa has to be applied for at a United States embassy if a traveler is denied by the ESTA. There is one shady part of this. ESTA doesn’t have to tell applicants why they didn’t get in.
Tourist dollars paying for stuff
Homeland Security explains that the mandatory travel promotion cost is really only $10, however the additional $4 is assessed to help recoup administrative costs. If you’re a tourist, just remember one thing. Everything goes a lot better with an ESTA application submitted before really traveling. Upon approval, ESTA authorization is generally good for multiple entries to the United States of America within a two-year period, unless the traveler’s passport expires or Homeland Security determines that it is necessary for the tourist to reapply. CBP.gov is the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s site which is where you are able to discover the vacationer tax, or “operational and travel promotion fee” information.
Discover more details on this subject
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/national/08062010_2.xml
Yahoo! News
news.yahoo.com/s/ynewspoint/20100907/ts_ynewspoint/ynewspoint_ts3556
