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Is U.S. visa waiver program in near future for Poland? Posted by 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.

Image by cytis from Pixabay

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.

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

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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About the Author: Kasia

My name is Kasia Scontsas. I grew near Lublin, Poland and moved to Warsaw to study International Business. I have passion for languages: any languages! Currently I live in New Hampshire. I enjoy skiing, kayaking, biking and paddle boarding. My husband speaks a little Polish, but our daughters are fluent in it! I wanted to make sure that they can communicate with their Polish relatives in our native language. Teaching them Polish since they were born was the best thing I could have given them! I have been writing about learning Polish language and culture for Transparent Language’s Polish Blog since 2010.


Comments:

  1. 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