Croatia meets refusal rate criteria, visa-free travel to the United States near
- by croatiaweek
- in News
Croatians soon to travel visa-free to the US
Croatians will soon be able to travel to the United States without the need for a visa.
“It’s official! The final refusal rate for Croatian tourist/business visa applicants fell to 2.69% last year, an essential step forward in joining the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. We look forward to Croatians travelling to the United States visa-free in the near future,” Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Zagreb, Victoria J. Taylor, said on Twitter on Tuesday.
Taylor thanked the Croatian government and Ministry of Interior for substantive progress on meeting the key Visa Waiver Program (VWP) requirements, from data sharing to border security.
“We will continue to cooperate closely with Croatia and complete all remaining VWP requirements,” she said.
It’s official! The final refusal rate for Croatian tourist/business visa applicants fell to 2.69% last year, an essential step forward in joining the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. We look forward to Croatians travelling to the United States visa-free in the near future.
— Chargé d’Affaires Taylor (@USAmbCroatia) February 16, 2021
Late last year, US Ambassador Robert Kohorst said that apart from this crucial requirement, some technical conditions also needed to be met for the implementation of the Visa Waiver Program, and US services need to be convinced on the ground that all the procedures in Croatia have been conducted.
Now that the final refusal rate has officially dropped below 3%, an announcement of Croatia joining the Visa Waiver Program should not be far away.
During his visit to the Ministry of the Interior’s “Ivan Vucetic” Forensic Science Centre in October, Kohorst praised the institution for the implementation of a new fingerprint identification system, which was also conducive to the abolishment of visas.
The new system also facilitates the exchange of dactyloscopic data between the Croatian ministry and the US Homeland Security Department and FBI. The purpose of the system is to enable the timely and accurate identification of persons deemed to be a security risk.
Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Cyprus are the only European Union member states whose citizens cannot enter the United States without a visa.
