Clinton signs visa waiver law to facilitate travel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- President Bill Clinton signed legislation Monday that will allow citizens of many countries to enter the United States for business or tourism without first obtaining a U.S. visa.

The visa waiver will be granted to citizens of countries that grant similar privileges to U.S. citizens.

"By facilitating travel to the United States in this manner, the Visa Waiver Program is helping to generate billions of dollars in tourist and business revenues for U.S. companies," Clinton said in a statement.

The U.S. had been running a pilot program for 12 years to see if the visa waiver would work.

Clinton said the program will also allow the State Department to reallocate resources as it will not need to issue routine visas in low-risk waiver countries.

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