Visa Policy and the Regulation of Global Mobility A Comparison of Three OECD Countries

This article deals with the historical development of visa waiver policies in three selected OECD countries, the USA, Austria, and Finland, since 1960. Its point of departure is the question whether, in the context of globalization, mobility has become easier, or whether, in contrast, borders have become more selective. This issue is taken up by looking at short term mobility and the development of policies with the aim of waiving visa requirements. Our findings indicate that political and economic factors have become increasingly important when it comes to choosing who is allowed and who is denied access without a visa. Citizens from "rich democracies" are granted enhanced mobility rights while citizens from the "Global South" have to undergo lengthy visa application processes. The article also documents the fact that visa waiver policies are increasingly converging in the OECD world and that we find an asymmetry of visa waiver policies in relations to non-OECD countries. Globalization, evidently, is not just a matter of mobility. Rather, it produces mobility and immobility at the same time. This is established though rules of selective access and control as manifested in visa waiver policies.