A hearty welcome to our friends from Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and South Korea! These nations are the latest to join the Visa Waiver Program, a security pact that allows visitors entry into the United States for 90 days business or pleasure without a visa. Good news for foreigners with a hankering to see the National Mall, right?

The Hill blog reports that the Visa Waiver Program not only facilitates easy travel, it promotes U.S. security interests here and abroad. Each Visa Waiver Nation agrees to share important information on terrorism and crime, which tips off the U.S. on current threats but also helps to craft a security regime that anticipates the next one. Travelers agree to security vetting and biometric scanning before they even board the plane. Further, The Hill notes, visitors from VWP nations account for “roughly two-thirds of all U.S. overseas arrivals” and spend on average $4,000 after they arrive. Expanding this base can’t hurt the 1 in 8 Americans whose job is supported by tourism and travel.

Travel papers are an enormous pain in the ass and the petty travel agents and bureaucrats who count them as the coin in their little realms do not seem to be enhancing anything but their own pitiful selves. Anyone who has begged, cajoled, or bribed her way across a foreign border knows this. Ours is no exception: Ask an Icelandic woman who was actually, physically shackled after it emerged that she had overstayed her visa on a visit a decade ago. So credit where it is so rarely due: The U.S. has done something to make it easier for people to travel freely within and without its borders and given a boost to national security to boot.

Photo of the Kennedy Center’s Hall of Nations borrowed with permission under a Creative Commons license from Flickr user kimberlyfaye.