Visa rules offer hope

The EU isn't happy that some of its members are being locked out of the U.S.'s visa-waiver program. Czech Amb. to the U.S. Petr Kolář echoed this on Czech Radio, saying that the U.S.'s new security bill is a Pyrrhic victory, because Poland and other countries that had lobbied together with the CR for visa-free travel wouldn't qualify for it under the bill. In talks with Washington, though, the Czech embassy prefers to avoid critical remarks, according to Právo. The CR would perhaps do better to put its efforts into lobbying now for a low maximum "visa overstay rate" to be set. The security bill, as we read it, requires that countries meet either the max. 10% visa-refusal rate OR the max. visa overstay rate to qualify for a visa waiver. If the EU fully cooperates on the security aspects of the bill, the U.S. might be willing to set a low enough overstay rate so that Poland and others can qualify for a visa waiver. [Czech Republic United States of America USA European Union]