Finally, 28 years after Croatia declared independence, the United States is on the verge of waiving travel visas for Croatian citizens. The Croatian government and their US partners have been working together closely since Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic’s visit to the US at the beginning of last year.
Extremely important security criteria and agreements should be finalized this month according to Sandra Veljković/Večernji List on December 3, 2019. And visa denials, which is the main obstacle to abolishing the visa requirement, have been reduced from 5.96 to a record 4.02 percent, which is close to the 3 percent threshold that will guarantee entry into the visa-free program.
Croatia Encouraged to Follow Poland’s Path
To further this goal, the US encouraged Croatia to follow Poland’s path, which reduced the number of refusals this year, and entered a visa-free program with a collective application from officials, businessmen and citizens who will certainly be granted visas. In Croatia, this action has already been initiated at various levels, especially among businessmen.
– Croatia is close to meeting the criteria and we will continue to work with the relevant authorities to help Croatia meet the requirements. We urge the Croatian Government to take a proactive role and review the successful steps the Polish government has taken in its bid for admission to the visa waiver program, the US Embassy in Zagreb said.
Three Percent Rejection Rate Goal
So, what steps has Poland taken? And what is the background story regarding the sharp decline in visa refusal rates from nearly six percent in 2017 to below three percent? That country, in agreement with the US, initiated a process of encouraging its citizens to obtain US tourist visas. In addition, Polish officials also applied for visas, thereby reducing the rate of visa refusals. They concentrated, of course on those groups of people who have the best chance of obtaining visas. This method, which has been discussed with Americans for a long time, could theoretically function in Croatia, since the real numbers of rejections are rather small: around 300 to 400.
US Ambassador to Croatia Robert Kohorst also spoke with Croatian Chamber of Commerce President Luka Burilović about the Polish model for reducing visa rejections. The CCC confirmed this meeting and discussion regarding visas.
Croatia Among Four EU Countries Needing Visas for US
– Croatia is one of four EU member states, along with Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus, whose passport holders still need visas to arrive and stay in the US. They stressed the need to reduce the rejection rate to at least three percent, and both sides agreed that they could achieve this goal by this time next year. This will require a concerted effort to encourage members of the business community to apply for visas within the next ten months, the CCC reported. In addition, another cause for optimism is the large number of valid visas, which are issued every 10 years, so that their renewals could positively impact the balance between approved and rejected visas.
Secure Source of Income Required
Although Americans have the discretion to refuse requests without giving a reason, according to diplomatic sources, most of the rejected requests are being filed by Croatian nationals in Serbia and Bosnia. Most of the visa rejections were for people who could not prove that they had a secure source of income. And applicants have often contacted family members living in the US who have businesses or trades, which was another indicator that the applicant was going to the US to get a job with a relative.
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