Starting in March, Romanians will be able to travel visa-free to the U.S., with just a notification required in the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu said on Wednesday.The Romanian top diplomat explained that after an official event to be held in Washington on Friday, Romania will become the 43rd country in the world to join the Visa Waiver Program. Up until now, obtaining a U.S. travel visa for Romanians included an interview at the U.S. Consulate and the payment of a fee."One of the most important criteria for the grant of this privilege was the decrease in the visa application refusal rate. As for the concrete foreseeable calendar - the official ceremony takes place on January 10, the Secretary of the Department of the Interior and the head of the Romanian diplomatic mission in Washington make the official announcement; the decision will then be published in the Federal Register of the United States and this won't happen immediately, but I assume that it will be before January 20, the inauguration day of the new Trump administration," Hurezeanu pointed out.He added that a technical "adaptation period" of the ESTA for the Romanians' visa-free travel to the U.S. will follow. "ESTA is a system for transmitting electronic authorization applications for a trip to the United States, which is not a visa request," the minister mentioned.According to Hurezeanu, starting in spring, Romanians will be able to travel to the U.S. without a visa."This authorization is simply the operation all other citizens of the world who travel visa-free to the United States do. But in order to get to this point, so for an electronic advance notification of travel to the United States, we'll have to wait another two and a half months, that is until March 1. It's about an adjustment of the technical systems, an adaptation. Starting in March, Romanians will be able to travel like everyone else, certainly not without this application for authorization, an electronic travel notification," said Emil Hurezeanu, adding that the stay cannot exceed 90 days.The foreign minister credited several state institutions with contributing to Romania's inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program, including the Foreign Affairs Ministry led by Luminita Odobescu, the Ministry of the Interior headed by Catalin Predoiu, as well as the government of Romania.He also mentioned that the visa application refusal rate of less than 3% was checked and attained between October 2023 and the fall of last year."We reached 2.6%. There were strategic discussions last year, in March 2024, in Bucharest and on other occasions in the U.S. on security, migration, terrorism issues, on law enforcement issues. This is the reason why several ministries were involved and progress was achieved there, because it is not only a facility for the Romanian traveler to the United States. It is already a very big accomplishment, a well-deserved and long-awaited reward," Emil Hurezeanu pointed out.He also highlighted the economic advantages of Romania's inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program."It's an upgrade, if you want, an additional measure, a reinforcement of the Strategic Partnership, because everything I told you in terms of security, migration, border defense are part of the Strategic Partnership agreement. Next, beyond the improvement of the tourist stats, there will be more business trips. There will also be economic benefits - American investors in Romania traveling more easily, also Romanian investors in the United States," the foreign minister pointed out.U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and the Romanian ambassador to the U.S. Andrei Muraru will meet on Friday to officially mark Romania's admission to the American Visa Waiver Program. The meeting will take place at the headquarters of the Department of Homeland Security in Washington D.C., the Romanian Embassy in the U.S. announced on Wednesday. (Photo:https://www.facebook.com/romanian.embassy.us/?locale=ro_RO)
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