Washington - US authorities are considering removing six states from a list of 29 whose citizens can enter the US for 90 days without a visa, a State Department spokesman, Mr Richard Boucher, said yesterday.
He denied the move was related to fears of international terrorism after the September 11th attacks which have sparked calls for tighter immigration rules.
Mr Boucher told a news briefing that Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Uruguay were under review.
This was a result of a rule set by Congress that each country on the list had to be reviewed for eligibility at least once every five years - meaning it would be logical for six to be reviewed at a time.
A US official speaking on condition of anonymity stressed that the countries were not being singled out.
"The selection of countries had nothing to do with September 11th and they had been designated in late August," he said.