Cyprus’ effort to join US Visa Waiver Program ‘on a very good path’

Discussions and consultations between the Republic of Cyprus and the USA are continuing at an intensive pace, with the aim of Cyprus joining the Visa Waiver Program, through which Cypriot nationals will be able to travel to the United States for business or tourism and reside in the country without a visa for up to 90 days.

In fact, speaking to InBusinessNews, an informed source expressed optimism that the goal that has been set, after Parliament’s passing of the relevant agreement between Cyprus and the USA to abolish visas at the beginning of 2025, is achievable.

As he explained, the discussions between the two countries are currently continuing and recently there have been very regular meetings and teleconferences, noting that "we are on a very good path".

"It is expected that there will be a conclusion to the matter very soon," he estimated, underlining, at the same time, that "it should be noted that the inclusion of Cyprus in the program will depend, among other things, on the rejection rate of visa applications."

"The percentage is made public by the US authorities annually and refers to the number of applications of Cypriot citizens that were rejected from any country they are in," he pointed out, noting that for 2024 the percentage will be announced in January 2025.

According to the same source, in order to achieve the inclusion of Cyprus in the US Visa Waiver Program, the rejection rate of visa applications should be below 3%.

"Based on unofficial data, of which we are aware, the percentage so far is below 3% and therefore, we estimate that the goal of abolishing visas at the beginning of 2025 is achievable," he concluded.

It is noted that Cyprus is one of the only three countries of the European Union, along with Romania and Bulgaria, that do not yet participate in the program, with the Government ranking the country’s participation in the VWP high on the agenda of its priorities, as this will provide multi-layered socio-economic as well as political benefits.

What does the Cyprus-USA agreement provide for?

It is recalled that on 11 July the Plenary of the Parliament, with 22 votes in favor, one against and nine abstentions, voted in favour of the ratification of the agreement between the Republic of Cyprus and the United States of America for cooperation on the use of travel information, which was signed in Washington on 17 June.

As InBusinessNews had written in a previous article, this agreement establishes the cooperation framework between Cyprus and the US for the evaluation, review and exchange of travel information, as well as for the development of risk assessments for the identification of specific persons traveling internationally and the which may pose a risk to the security of the country of any of the contracting parties.

Also, the Cyprus-US agreement includes the transfer of travel information between them to the extent permitted by existing treaties and applicable policies.

Such information shall be confidential and may only be used for specific purposes, namely to assist in the identification of unknown security risks or threats, to detect/trace transnational criminal networks and activities and other threats to border security and/or to identify persons who may pose a threat to the security of the two states.

It is noted that as part of the agreement, the US will provide the Republic of Cyprus with the ATSG software system/platform for the collection and analysis of passenger data, free of charge.

(Source: InBusinessNews)