Cyprus aims to complete its entry into the United States Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) before September, as U.S. government personnel continue their security evaluations at the island, a government source told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA).
The programme would allow Cypriots to travel to the United States for tourism or business purposes for up to 90 days without a visa.
American specialists, who began their assessment on Monday, are evaluating Cyprus’s security standards across various sectors. Through Tuesday, the experts had visited airports, ports, the Deputy Ministry of Migration, the Ministry of Interior, and the Police, with discussions set to continue on Wednesday.
Following the completion of the mission, any additional questions will be addressed, as the current focus remains on site visits to verify how Cyprus controls various security issues.
The U.S. government will subsequently prepare a report for Congress and, if the recommendation is positive.
A period of two to three months would then be needed to update U.S. systems, enabling Cypriot travellers to complete the required procedures online.
While no specific timeline exists for completing the process, the government seeks to finalise it by September to capitalise on this year’s low visa rejection rate, according to the same source.
A key requirement for programme entry is maintaining a visa rejection rate below 3%. This rate is published annually with data collected from September to September. “Ideally, we would like the procedures to be completed by September at the latest, because until then this year’s low percentage remains valid,” the source stated.
Cyprus’s current rejection rate stands at just 2.16%, the third lowest worldwide, according to published data on the U.S. State Department website.
According to the published statistics, six countries have a 0% rejection rate, which the U.S. State Department notes may occur either because all applications from these countries were approved that year or because no applications were submitted. These countries are the Vatican, North Korea, Liechtenstein, Monaco, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Nauru.
The United Arab Emirates has a rejection rate of 1.46%, followed by Cyprus with 2.16%, Romania with 2.61%, and Uruguay with 2.63%.
The highest rejection rates come from residents of Laos at 82.84%, Liberia at 79.38%, and Somalia at 77.02%.
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