The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) permits citizens of designated countries to travel to the United States for business or tourism for stays of up to 90 days without a visa. In return, those countries must permit U.S. citizens and nationals to travel to their countries for a similar length of time without a visa for business or tourism purposes. The VWP utilizes a risk-based, multi-layered approach to detect and prevent terrorists, serious criminals, and other mala fide actors from traveling to the United States.
On May 2, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in consultation with the Department of State, rescinded Romania's VWP designation.
DHS had paused implementation of the VWP in order to conduct a review of Romania's designation on March 25, 2025. The review has concluded, and given the Trump administration's focus on increased border and immigration security, DHS decided that Romania's designation should be rescinded to protect the integrity of the VWP and to enhance border and immigration security.
However, Romania may be reconsidered for VWP designation in the future should they meet the statutory eligibility criteria. The eligibility requirements are defined in Section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act as amended by the Secure Travel and Counterterrorism Partnership Act of 2007 and the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015. Pursuant to the statute, a country may be designated into the VWP if the following requirements are met:
- Has an annual temporary visitor visa (i.e., B visa) refusal rate of less than 3%;
- Accepts the repatriation of its citizens, former citizens, and nationals ordered removed from the United States within three weeks of the final order of removal;
- Enters into an agreement to report lost and stolen passport information to the United States via INTERPOL or other means designated by the secretary of Homeland Security;
- Enters into an agreement with the United States to share terrorism and serious criminal information;
- Issues electronic, machine-readable passports with biometric identifiers;
- Undergoes a DHS-led evaluation of the effects of the country's VWP designation on the security, law enforcement, and immigration enforcement interests of the United States; and
- Undergoes, in conjunction with the DHS-led evaluation, an independent intelligence assessment produced by the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis (on behalf of the director of National Intelligence).
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