The United States is considering adding four countries to its visa waiver program that allows citizens to come to America without a visa for a stay of up to 90 days, US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.
Mayorkas noted at a travel industry event the four candidates that are in the pipeline- Israel, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania- pointing that they’re very focused on the program that provides significant economic and security benefits since the travel just booms each time the US adds one of these countries.
US Travel Association Chief Executive Roger Dow stressed on Tuesday that since Washington added Croatia to the visa waiver program in September, it added a $100 million boost to the US economy though Croatian citizens will be able to travel to the US without visas as of December 1.
While US citizens don’t need a visa to visit any EU country, Cyprus, Romania, and Bulgaria are the only EU countries at present whose nationals still need a visa to enter the US and the European Commission has been trying to achieve “visa reciprocity” with the States.
Mayorkas spoke with the EC’s Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson in February, when they agreed to maintaining the US-EU Passenger Name Record Agreement and working the Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, and Romania to meet the Visa Waiver Program’s qualifications.
Israel’s inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program was previously discussed in August during President Biden’s meeting with the Israeli PM Naftali Bennett, as well as during Mayorkas’ meeting with Israel’s US ambassador.
The White House said after Biden-Bennett’s meeting that Biden administration would strengthen bilateral cooperation with Israel in ways that would benefit both US citizens and Israeli citizens.
Visa Waiver Program’s list currently contains 40 countries that had to meet requirements related to counterterrorism, law enforcement, immigration enforcement, document security, and border management to participate in the program.
DHS noted last month that among those requirements is having a nonimmigrant visa refusals rate below 3%, issuance of secure travel documents, and “working closely with US law enforcement and counterterrorism authorities”.
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