President Bush Announces the Addition of Seven New Countries to the Visa Waiver Program

17 Oct 2008

President Bush today announced that seven nations have met the requirements to be admitted to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. Citizens of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and South Korea will soon be able to travel to the U.S. for business or tourism without a visa. All of these countries currently allow U.S. citizens to travel to their countries without visas. In roughly one month, Bush said, the U.S. will extend the same courtesy to their citizens.

“For years the leaders of these nations have explained to me how frustrating it is for their citizens to wait in lines and pay visa fees to take a vacation or make a business trip or visit their families here in the United States,” said President Bush. “These close friends of America told me that it was unfair that their people had to jump through bureaucratic hoops that other allies can walk around.”