Romania has formally met all technical requirements to be part of the Visa Waiver program, which allows visa-free travel to the US for period up to 90 days. This is what the Ambassador of Romania to the USA Andrey Muraru wrote on Facebook today, Agerpress agency reports, quoted by BTA.
„Yesterday (on Monday) the financial year ended in the USA, and the last condition before Romania was fulfilled. Of course, we expect confirmation from the American partners in the next period, but our assessment, based on the number of visa applications this year, as well as the strong upward trend of recent years, is that Romania has fallen below three percent of visa refusals” , the ambassador points out.
He predicts that probably in the first half of next year, Romanians will be able to travel to the US without visas. “Traveling without a visa to America is not only a privileged status for a country. There will be important benefits for us as well. Traveling more easily, Romanians will build more bridges and thus be able to boost trade and investment. We also expect to soon have direct flights between Romania and America”, the Romanian ambassador to the US wrote in his post.
Under US law, the Secretary of Homeland Security - after consultation with the Secretary of State - designates a country to be included in the Visa Waiver Program if it meets certain technical criteria. A mandatory condition is that the refusal rate of visas (type B) is below 3 percent in the year prior to entering the program.
At the end of August, citing government sources, Digi24 TV reported that the authorities in the United States will announce on October 15 a decision to abolish visas for Romanian citizens.
Recently, the Romanian government launched a campaign that aims to help include the country in the "Visa Waiver" program. Authorities have urged Romanians who hold any type of valid U.S. visa or have had a visa that expired no more than four years ago to apply for a B1 or B2 visa renewal in order to reduce the rate of U.S. visa denials .
Agerpress agency also reports that today the Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Cholaku will have a meeting with the US Ambassador in Bucharest Kathleen Kavalek.