EUROPEAN COMMISSION PROPOSES SUSPENSION OF VISA WAIVERS FOR FIVE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES FOR U.S. AND CANADIAN CITIZENS
May 11, 2016
The European Commission has proposed the suspension of visa waivers for U.S. and Canadian citizens visiting Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania. The five countries are part of the “Schengen Area” – an area consisting of twenty-six European countries that have abolished all passport and other immigration controls at mutual borders to allow the area to function as a single country for international travel purposes. The proposal would exclude the five nations because citizens of those countries do not enjoy the same reciprocal visa waivers when visiting Canada or the U.S. According to the European Commission, the suspension proposal is a result of multiple ignored requests to the Obama Administration and the U.S. State Department to waive the visa requirement over a span of twenty-one months.
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