US Ambassador to Romania Kathleen Kavalec, after talks with Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu at the Victoria Governmental Palace on Tuesday, said that in the coming months a number of important steps still need to be completed to establish whether Romania is in fact eligible to join the Visa Waiver Program.She voiced gratitude for the close partnership with the Romanian government in the joint efforts of bringing Romania into the Visa Waiver Program, which would facilitate tourist and business travels of Romanians in the US without a visa.Kavalec anticipated that additional consultations would take place between the two governments this autumn."To participate in the program, we anticipate that further consultations will be taking place between our two governments this fall to review a number of previously agreed upon security measures. In event of a favorable decision being taken by the US government to include Romania in its US Visa waiver program, we anticipate that there will be a period of careful preparation and public information sharing before any changes in the current visa requirements can be implemented. Visa refusal rate data for all Visa waiver country aspirants is usually published no later than January. Should all the conditions and preparations proceed successfully, the program could take effect sometime in 2025," Kathleen Kavalec also said.Asked about those steps that Romania needs to make, the ambassador pointed out: "There are a number of steps regarding security and information sharing and we have signed a couple of agreements on those that will need to be implemented."At the same time, Kathleen Kavalec showed that this program concerns only tourist and business visas, when asked if new negotiations were scheduled between the two sides to eliminate the visa requirement for Romanians wanting to study or work in the US."This program is for business and tourist visas only, it does not apply to student visas or other types of work visas," the US ambassador also pointed out. (Photo:https://gov.ro/)
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