VZCZCXRO8461
OO RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSM #0581/01 2331449
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 201449Z AUG 08 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3693
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0740
RUEHDN/AMCONSUL SYDNEY 0074
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 0392
RUEHNZ/AMCONSUL AUCKLAND 0009

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 STOCKHOLM 000581 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO DHS 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y - CORRECTION OF PARA MARKINGS 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CPAS CVIS CMGT PREL SW
SUBJECT: HANDICAPPED APPLICANT'S ESTA REJECTION HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR 
BETTER INSTRUCTIONS 
 
STOCKHOLM 00000581  001.4 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: A physically handicapped applicant was required 
to apply for a tourist visa after having affirmatively answered to 
the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) application 
question regarding physical disorders.  Her case, which was covered 
by a national paper, highlights a weakness in the automatic nature 
of the ESTA application process and the verbatim use of language 
from the I94W landing card without readily available definitions or 
assistance.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
FOR SWEDES, MUSCLE DISEASE IS A PHYSICAL DISORDER 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On August 11, an applicant with a muscle disorder that 
confines her to a wheel chair appeared at the Embassy to apply for a 
tourist visa after having her ESTA application denied.  A CLASS 
check confirmed her suspicion that her ESTA application was denied 
for having answered affirmatively to the question "Do you have a 
communicable disease; physical or mental disorder; or are you a drug 
abuser or addict?"  Fluent in English and accustomed to informing 
airlines and other service companies about her condition in order to 
receive assistance or appropriate seating, the applicant read the 
question as applicable to her condition and answered it accordingly. 
 
 
¶3.  It was only after being rejected that the applicant returned to 
the ESTA website and, after scrolling through a laundry list of 
instructions and definitions, discovered that the definition of 
"physical disorder" - a condition "that may pose or has posed a 
threat to [one's] property, safety or welfare or that of others" - 
probably did not apply to her physical handicap.  Nevertheless, she 
was unable to simply try again.  NOTE: Post is aware that applicants 
may reapply for an ESTA after ten days have past.  END NOTE. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
INCIDENT TAILOR MADE FOR PRESS COVERAGE 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  Fortunately, the applicant was not scheduled to fly for another 
week, though because she was rejected on a Friday afternoon, she 
suffered a certain amount of anxiety until she contacted the Embassy 
the following Monday.  Post then accommodated her with a special 
appointment, apologizing for her troubles and explaining the pilot 
nature of the program, while simultaneously dismantling the 
fingerprint scanner so that she could reach them from her wheel 
chair.  Post also couriered her visa back to her hometown the next 
day to ensure she made her flight. 
 
¶5.  Unfortunately and completely inadvertently, the applicant's visa 
appointment coincided with Post's ESTA briefing for some 40 members 
of the Swedish travel industry.  While clearing security at the 
Embassy entrance, these guests met the applicant in her wheel chair, 
and were primed to press our DHS guest speaker regarding the ESTA 
ineligibility questions.  By the weekend, the applicant's experience 
had made its way to Sweden's national newspaper, Expressen.  Post 
had been contacted by the paper to provide a response in advance and 
the paper did note that applicant felt she had received sympathetic 
and professional service, along with a promise from the Embassy to 
follow-up. 
 
¶6.  Nevertheless, the simple facts of the story along with a picture 
of the applicant in her wheel chair provided a stark contrast to our 
outreach efforts to characterize ESTA as a convenient and simple 
security measure.  As the applicant, who lived 200 kilometers away, 
noted, what would have happened had she only 72 hours in advance and 
lived in the far north of Sweden?  Will other handicapped applicants 
who answer similarly also be forced to spend money and time on 
travel to the Embassy and the visa interview?  Do physical or mental 
disorders such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's (eventually terminal) 
qualify as threats to one's safety and welfare? 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
DEFINITIONS SHOUD BE CLEARER AND READILY AVAILABLE 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶7.  This incident is in many ways a worst case scenario and 
underscores an unavoidable weakness in such an automated system. 
Had the applicant answered the same question on her I94W on her 
flight to the United States, she most likely could have received 
guidance from the airline staff and in any case from the CBP officer 
at passport control, and would have entered the United States visa 
free.  While Post recognizes that it would be impossible to 
implement a "live review" of every ESTA rejection to avoid similar 
situations, clearer instructions and/or definitions need to be made 
available for each ineligibility question.  Verbatim translations of 
the I94 landing card questions can be much more daunting when there 
 
STOCKHOLM 00000581  002.4 OF 002 
 
 
is no one around to ask for assistance.  One solution would be to 
either provide expanded definitions of ineligibility terms on the 
same web page, perhaps via hyperlinks on phrases such as 
"communicable diseases, physical or mental disorders."  Another 
option would be to open a new window upon any affirmative answer to 
an ineligibility question that would lead to a series of more 
detailed questions as to the nature of the disorder or 
ineligibility. 
 
¶8.  COMMENT: It is perhaps a truism to note that cultural contexts 
will always influence how questions are understood and answered.  In 
Sweden, there is a tendency to speak directly, and to answer 
literally and honestly, as did this qualified applicant.  She also 
accepted our explanation that ESTA was in its pilot stage and that 
problems such as this would only become apparent through some real 
life feedback, which is the purpose of this cable.  We do not expect 
a long line of handicapped applicants to form outside of the Embassy 
once ESTA becomes mandatory.  However, it takes very few instances 
such as this to create a similarly ugly perception, and thus hope 
these or similar recommendations will quickly be implemented.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
SILVERMAN