How the Visa Waiver Affects the U.S. Government

Earlier this year, Congress opened the door for a solution to the visa waiver problem between the U.S. and several of its allies. Then, in March, the Hungarian, Slovakian, and Lithuanian governments signed MOUs (memoranda of understand) committing the U.S. government to help them qualify for the waiver program. In exchange, the U.S. would receive increased security assistance. These countries follow in the footsteps of the Czech Republic, Latvia and Estonia, who have done the same in the past. These agreements are very

Hungarian Ambassador Ferenc Somogyi put it this way at the signing of the agreement: “Liberty manifests itself in the freedom to travel….Equality means equal access to each other’s countries as well as not to be considered second-class members of the European Union.”

The visa-waver program represents a strong alliance-building effort on the part of the United States, but it has not been without its critics. In Congress, the waiver issue got mixed up in discussions about immigration, which caused some Congress members to shrink away from supporting anything that would allow more foreigners into the country. They wanted to be able to better track who was coming into the United States. To that end, a requirement was added to the law that would require

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