From 2025, Romanian nationals will be able to travel to the United States without a visa. The Romanian Embassy in the U.S. announced this on November 27, 2024, following confirmation from the U.S. State Department that Romania meets the qualification criteria for the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).
According to statistics released by the State Department, Romania’s B1/B2 visa refusal rate for the fiscal year 2024, which runs from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024, was 2.61%. As the rate falls below the 3% threshold requirement, Romania fulfills one of the main criteria for joining the Visa Waiver Program.
Romanian nationals submitted 80,596 B1/B2 visa applications globally during fiscal year 2024, double the number of requests from the previous year. The Romanian Embassy in the U.S. reported that a record 78,000 B1/B2 visas were granted.
Andrei Muraru, Romania’s ambassador to the United States of America said, “Romanians will be able to travel to the United States without visas from 2025, giving this generation the chance to make the friendship with the American people an even stronger one and the opportunity to build an even more prosperous partnership.”
In a press release, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the American authorities will continue the process to include Romania in the Visa Waiver Program. The Ministry affirmed its commitment to cooperating with the U.S. to complete the “implementation of necessary measures in this regard, both before and after the decision to include Romania in the Visa Waiver Program, within a constantly evolving security context”.
Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said, “The dream of Romanians to travel visa-free to the United States is getting closer! The conclusions of the American team to evaluate the fulfillment of the criteria for Romania’s admission to the Visa Waiver Program certify the seriousness of the efforts that we, the Government of Romania, and every Romanian who contributed to this result by successfully applying or renewing their US visa have made. I thank all those who were involved in the fulfillment of this important objective, which will further strengthen Romania’s relationship with our strategic partner overseas.”
He also shared that representatives of the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department had visited Romania in early November to assess the fulfillment of the security criteria for inclusion in the program. The evaluation report of their visit will be sent to the US Secretary of State and the Special Committees of the US Congress so that they can make the official announcement of Romania’s inclusion into the Visa Waiver Program.
According to Muraru, the technical process is almost complete and an official announcement is imminent, hopefully at the start of January. After the technical criteria are met, there will be evaluations by the American authority and a visit by experts. He shared that the actual entry into the program will be in March or April.