--- description: More information will be gathered from travelers about past visits to countries such as Syria and Iraq title: White House Strengthens Visa Waiver Program Following Paris Attacks image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc5c96a62a814151/69887334ab6d773b446a75be/ap_91977435319.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [National Security](/tag/national-security/) ## National Security Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # White House Strengthens Visa Waiver Program Following Paris Attacks by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 1, 2015 2:12 AM CUT  Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., shows her passport during a news conference on closing loopholes in the Visa Waiver Program, Nov. 19, 2015. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., shows her passport during a news conference on closing loopholes in the Visa Waiver Program, Nov. 19, 2015.Tom Williams—CQ Roll Call/AP by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 1, 2015 2:12 AM CUT The White House on Monday announced changes to a U.S. visa waiver program aimed at more tightly screening travelers from 38 nations not required to get visas before traveling to the United States. The security “enhancements” — which come after deadly terror attacks in Paris earlier this month which left 130 dead — include the Department of Homeland Security working to gather more information from travelers about past visits to countries such as Syria and Iraq, the White House said. The White House characterized the “enhancements” as a move that would stymie terrorists who try to use lost or stolen passports to… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/white-house-strengthens-visa-waiver-program-following-paris-attacks-n471621?cid=par-time%5F20151201 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4130340/white-house-visa-waiver-program-paris-attacks/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4130340/white-house-visa-waiver-program-paris-attacks/"},"headline":"White House Strengthens Visa Waiver Program Following Paris Attacks","datePublished":"2015-12-01T02:12:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:58:57.472Z","description":"More information will be gathered from travelers about past visits to countries such as Syria and Iraq","url":"https://time.com/4130340/white-house-visa-waiver-program-paris-attacks/","keywords":["National Security","White House","Visa","paris attacks"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc5c96a62a814151/69887334ab6d773b446a75be/ap_91977435319.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc5c96a62a814151/69887334ab6d773b446a75be/ap_91977435319.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Visa Waiver Program","caption":"Visa Waiver Program","creditText":"Tom Williams—CQ Roll Call/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/national-security/","name":"National Security"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4130340/white-house-visa-waiver-program-paris-attacks/","name":"White House Strengthens Visa Waiver Program Following Paris Attacks"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A Syrian Refugee Story","description":"Inside one family's two-year odyssey from Daraa to Dallas","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/9hguWqCD/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-11-24T21:22:09.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/9hguWqCD.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4130340/white-house-visa-waiver-program-paris-attacks/","duration":"PT4M50S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4130340/white-house-visa-waiver-program-paris-attacks/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```