The abolition of US visas for Romanian citizens will be officially announced today at parallel events in Washington and Bucharest, reports the Agerpres agency, quoted by BTA.
At the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, the event will be attended by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Romanian Ambassador to Washington Andrei Muraru. At the ceremony, the US representative will officially inform the Romanian representative of the decision of the US authorities to accept Romania into the visa-free travel program and will announce the technical details and the date of entry into force of the new regime.
An event will also be organized in Bucharest to officially announce the abolition of visas. The event will take place at 3:00 p.m. Romanian (and Bulgarian) time at the Victoria Palace (Council of Ministers) and will be attended by the President of the Senate Ilie Bologian and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.
As a result of the decision of the US federal government, Romania becomes the 43rd country included in the visa-free travel program.
This will leave Bulgaria and the Republic of Cyprus as the only EU member states whose citizens will need US visas. Croatia was admitted to the program in October 2021.
Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezianu said earlier this week that Romanians will be able to travel to the US without visas from March. He recalled that one of the requirements for entering the US visa-free travel program is that the visa refusal rate be below 3 percent. Romania met this requirement last fall, when the rate dropped to 2.6 percent.
Citizens of countries included in the visa-free program who wish to travel to the United States must register with the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). With Romania's inclusion in the program, citizens of our northern neighbor will not have to appear for interviews at American diplomatic missions. The travel authorization, which replaces the current visas, is valid for two years and can be used multiple times for visits of up to 90 days. The travel authorization costs $21.