Some Israelis desperate to flee to the United States in the wake of the Hamas terror attack are struggling to get visas because a new system to facilitate easy visa-free travel between the U.S. and Israel is not scheduled to go into effect until Nov. 30. The new visa waiver status for Israel was announced by the Department of Homeland Security in late September, and officials tell NBC News they don’t plan to speed up the launch of the program.
such as Special Immigrant Visas and humanitarian parole, both of which were recently made available to people escaping violence in Afghanistan and Ukraine. Forty other countries have a reciprocal visa waiver program agreement with the U.S., which means red tape for travelers is limited. Countries with agreements include Australia, Japan and nearly every nation in Europe.