WASHINGTON – Authorities in the United States issued fresh directives regarding the citizens of Hungary, tightening the conditions related to the visa-free facility extended to them.
The restrictions would affect the Hungarians who availed the U.S. Visa Waiver Program which allows passport holders from 40 countries to enter the country 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 period offered to Hungarians under the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) will be immediately reduced from two years to one year, and only single visits will be allowed under the system instead of multiple visits.
The decision was made over concerns that the identities of nearly 1 million foreigners granted Hungarian passports over nine years weren’t sufficiently verified.
Sources say the decision was taken as the administration was not sure whether the passports issued to Hungarians ended up in the hands of criminals or not.
Hungary’s government under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán began offering a simplified naturalization procedure to those claiming Hungarian ancestry in 2011; the interesting aspect of his scheme was that those who didn’t live or intend to live in Hungary were also given the facility.
The scheme allowed hundreds of thousands of ethnic Hungarians living in neighboring countries to acquire Hungarian citizenship through the simplified procedure.
The officials in Washington took up the case with Hungary and even recategorized it as a provisional member of the Visa Waiver Program citing the same concerns; however, the fresh regulation seems to be stern in spirit.
Hungary’s government responded to the restrictions in a statement from the Interior Ministry.
The statement, issued on Tuesday, said the United States had demanded the personal data of ethnic Hungarians abroad with dual citizenship, and that Hungary’s government was unwilling to provide that information in order to protect those citizens’ security.
“This is why President Joe Biden’s administration is now taking revenge on Hungarians,” the statement said.
