US to expand visa waiver program to Eastern Europe

American president George W. Bush remarked during his visit in Estonia that the United States should make some changes in its visa waiver program, one of the changes being the adding of several new countries to the program.

The U.S. Visa Waiver Program (VWP) currently is an agreement with 27 countries that allow citizens of those countries to travel to the United States without the need for a visa, with visits up to 90 days.

Under current law, the United States may waive visas only when a country meets requirements such as a low rate of visa over-stayers and a visa refusal rate below 3%.

Western media suggests that the place chosen for the remarks is a prove that the Baltic countries would be the first to be included in the VWP, while others say the Czech Republic will enter the program in less than two years. Eastern countries that joined the EU could also have visas waived.

HotNews.ro, Nov 30, 2006