Is U.S. visa waiver program in near future for Poland? Posted by Kasia on Sep 24, 2019 in Current News, Regulations
The fact that Poland, a major ally of the US, still does not enjoy visa-free travel to the US has been an irritation to the Polish side for some years. However, the number of visa applications refused has fallen sharply over the past few years.
The American embassy in Warsaw launched a campaign in April to help Poland join the US Visa Waiver Program. The US ambassador to Poland, Georgette Mosbacher vowed to help lift visas for Poles travelling to America by the end of 2020.
So is Poland close to being included in visa waiver program? Yesterday U.S. President Donald Trump told Poland’s president he expected to announce Polish entry into the U.S. Visa Waiver Program in coming weeks as the two held talks on defense, security, energy and other issues, the White House said on Monday.
Poland has long sought access to the State Department’s Visa Waiver Program under which most citizens of participating countries can travel to the United States for tourism or business for up to 90 days without obtaining a U.S. visa. The threshold for a country to enter the US Visa Waiver Program is a three percent refusal rate. And that refusal rate has fallen below 3% in Poland…Now it is time for administrative and procedural tasks, which may take several months.
We will see what future brings!
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Comments:
Gary:
What does the term “3% refusal rate” mean? I hear it numerous times, but it is never explained.
Kasia:
@Gary It is a percentage of visa type B ( visitor) applications that have been refused during one year