Still planning my Sonoma trip for March.
Today I had the great idea to ask in the Italian Consulate if they knew about any problem for entering the US through the Visa Waiver Program with a passport issued in 2001 (i.e. before Oct 26th 2005) but renewed now (i.e. after Oct 26th 2005). They say that they asked to the US Embassy in Rome and that the answer was "WE DON'T KNOW".....
What I read in the US Department of State webpage is: All Visa Waiver Program (VWP) travelers, reglardless of age or type of passport used, must present machine-readable passports...In addition, depending on when VWP travelers' passports were issued, other passport requirements will apply:
- Machine-readable passports issued before 10/26/05 - no further requirements.
..... well, my machine-readable passport WAS issued before 10/26/05 so I assume that there's no problem (nowere I read about passports' renewal date being a problem) but apparently the US Embassy in Rome is not sure...... or at least this is the opinion of the man at the Italian Consulate in Madrid!!!
I could ask for a visa but it takes 6 to 8 weeks to get one and my trip is due on March 1st.
Does anybody know what I should do or who I can ask? Thank you soooo much!

The US Embassy in Rome website states that if I renew my passport after oct 26th 2005 (which is my case) I DO need a visa.... so..... apparently I will not be at the Sonoma GTG in March....
Gosh, this is unbelivable.... I'm being punished for reading the information directly on the State Department website instead of on the Embassy's......
btw, I checked the information about the Visa Waiver Program on the SD site in november for the first time so I was SURE that everything was ok with my passport.

Sorry if I keep replying to myself but I just checked the US Embassy in Madrid website and they do not mention anything about renewals being a very bad thing.... they just say that I need a machine-readable passport issued before 10/26/05, nothing more!!!
This is NONSENSE!

Giulia I was outside gathering wood... let me read through this quickly... giulia, jump on skpe so we can chat...

Stick to the AMerican embassies and don't start listening to the Italian embassy in Madrid... they have have nothing to do with it. YOu have to consult only the destination country. I can call the Milan COnsulate for you or Rome and try to get a straight answer. But I want to chat first so I can make sure that I understand the problem first myself.