Romania Added to Visa Waiver Program

Today, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas announced Romania is being added as to the U.S. visa waiver program (VWP). On or around March 31, 2025, Romanian nationals who obtain pre-departure travel authorization through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) will be eligible to visit the United States for business or pleasure for up to 90 days without having to first obtain a visa “stamp”.

Eligibility for VWP

In addition to obtaining travel authorization through ESTA, foreign nationals seeking admission under the VWP must be from a participating country and, among other criteria, must present an electronic or machine-readable passport from a VWP country at the port of departure, possess a valid round-trip ticket, and not represent a threat to the welfare, health, safety, or security of the United States. Once ESTA has been approved, it typically remains valid for two-years. But, if any of the following situations occur before the end of the two-year period, the foreign national must request new travel authorization through ESTA:

• the traveler is issued a new passport;
• the traveler changes his or her name;
• the traveler changes his or her gender;
• the traveler’s country of citizenship changes; or
• the circumstances underlying the traveler’s previous responses to any of the ESTA application questions requiring a “yes” or “no” response have changed.

Conclusion

Including Romania, the current list of VWP-eligible countries now grows to 43. The full list of countries includes: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.

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