Romania’s acceptance into Visa Waiver program depends on Trump admin, interim foreign minister says

Romania’s interim foreign minister, Oana Țoiu, announced on Monday, July 20, that the Visa Waiver program remains a priority in Romania's relationship with the United States, but the timing of its acceptance depends on political discussions, reducing the visa refusal rate, and the Trump administration.

"Visa Waiver is a priority in the bilateral relationship. As you know, in the relationship between the United States and Romania, we had already managed to reach the threshold of under 3% for visa refusals, a threshold necessary for us to enter the Visa Waiver program," Oana Țoiu said on Monday evening on TVR Info.

Romania was formally designated the 43rd country to join the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) in 2025 by the Biden administration. However, just days before the official entry date, the US announced that it had temporarily suspended the implementation of the Electronic System for Travel Authorization for Romanian citizens. Weeks later, in early May, it officially rescinded Romania's Visa Waiver Program (VWP) designation.

In October 2025, Romanian president Nicușor Dan stressed that the move should be seen as a domestic policy signal in the United States, where migration remains a contentious issue.

Romania’s Visa Waiver application is currently handled by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"When it moves forward depends on the political discussion, certainly, on reducing the refusal rate again to that threshold, but also on president Trump's administration in terms of the paradigm it has regarding travel and the opening of the border,” according to the acting foreign minister.

She mentioned that the first criterion for resolving the situation is the percentage of visa application refusals.

"When we received approval to enter the Visa Waiver program, we met this 3% criterion. Now, because, of course, many people obtained visas during that period and did not renew them because it was not necessary, the number of refusals is higher,” Țoiu said. 

radu@romania-insider.com

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