Croatia officially nominated to join U.S. Visa Waiver Program   

ZAGREB, 2 August 2021 – Visa-free travel to the United States is near for Croatians as Croatia is officially nominated to join the Visa Waiver Program.   

On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that Croatia is a step closer to visa-free travel to the US. 

“Today I nominated Croatia to join the Visa Waiver Program. This step towards visa-free travel recognizes Croatia’s tremendous progress to meet the rigorous standards for participant countries. We look forward to an even stronger U.S.-Croatia relationship,” the Secretary of State wrote on Twitter.  

To recap, the final refusal rate for Croatian tourist/business visa applicants fell to 2.69% last year, which was an essential step forward in joining the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. 

Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Cyprus are the only European Union member states whose citizens cannot enter the United States without a visa.

Today I nominated Croatia to join the Visa Waiver Program. This step towards visa-free travel recognizes Croatia’s tremendous progress to meet the rigorous standards for participant countries. We look forward to an even stronger U.S.-Croatia relationship. — Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) August 2, 2021

“I thank the Secretary of State for the invitation to the Visa Waiver Program, which is one of the last steps to abolish visas for citizens. With intensive work of the Government, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Internal Affairs on fulfilling the conditions, we will realize one of the foreign policy priorities,” said Croatian prime minister Andrej Plenković, before adding. 

“We are establishing a partnership between Croatia and the US. Croatian citizens will benefit the most from the abolition of visas by being able to travel to the US without hindrance. We look forward to further developing economic cooperation and business ties.”