WASHINGTON – Authorities in the United States issued fresh directivesregarding the citizens of Hungary, tightening the conditions related to thevisa-free facility extended to them.
The restrictions would affect the Hungarians who availed the U.S. VisaWaiver Program which allows passport holders from 40 countries to enter thecountry for business or tourism without a visa for up to 90 days;interestingly, the conditions have been tightened for Hungary only.
In a statement, the U.S. embassy in Budapest said the validity periodoffered to Hungarians under the Electronic System for Travel Authorization(ESTA) will be immediately reduced from two years to one year, and onlysingle visits will be allowed under the system instead of multiple visits.
The decision was made over concerns that the identities of nearly 1 millionforeigners granted Hungarian passports over nine years weren’t sufficientlyverified.
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Sources say the decision was taken as the administration was not surewhether the passports issued to Hungarians ended up in the hands ofcriminals or not.
Hungary’s government under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán began offering asimplified naturalization procedure to those claiming Hungarian ancestry in2011; the interesting aspect of his scheme was that those who didn’t liveor intend to live in Hungary were also given the facility.
