Romanians Knocking at America's Door

Did you know that the U.S. refuses British entry visa applications at a higher rate than it refuses Romanian applications? We’re up to [a refusal rate of] 17 percent since last year’s historic decline of 5 percent; the English are up to 20.6 percent. Even so, we’re the ones knocking and knocking at the visa waiver gates to no avail. “The fact that we’re still standing at the door, asking for a visa is unfair,” states Minister of Foreign Affairs Titus Corlăţean.

Each time, all we get are whispered promises from behind the door, along with a great deal of optimism. If you ask a Romanian or an American official about the visa issue, they serve you optimism, just like immigration reform.

The Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, also known as Bill S.744, represents the third historical reform that Obama had promised and for which he is still president — after health care reform, which was adopted, and gun control reform, which failed.

Two weeks ago, when S.744 received the Senate’s approval, I noticed the same optimism all around — from Hispanics in the U.S. to Romanians living here in Romania, who usually quietly swear each time a soldier comes back from Afghanistan, each time we talk about defense contracts with the Americans or about the anti-rocket shield. Optimism is long gone in the United States, because there are serious signs that the bill will not pass the House of Representatives, which is controlled by the Republicans.

Bill S.744 is an 850-page-long legislative giant mainly intended to solve the issue of South American illegal immigrants in the U.S. This is not the Reagan method, which tried but failed to resolve the immigration problem through a generous amnesty. The present bill lays out steps for the regularization of approximately 11 million immigrants in the U.S. and, after a period of 13 years, for their naturalization; in addition, fences will be built along the southern border.

Near the end of the bill (Subtitle E, page 739, Section 6) lurks a project I had difficulty finding because it is no longer talked about in the United States. It is a project we Romanians have been very hopeful about since last year and which was finally included in the main immigration law: Jobs Originated through Launching Travel Act.

This project is a reform of the Visa Waiver Program (Section 4.506, page 747, Visa Waiver Program Enhanced Security and Reform) that would work in our favor. In short, it would adjust the visa rejection rate — the program’s admission requirement is three percent — for countries that have a low percentage of people who don’t respect the duration of the visa. The rejection rate would then decrease; further, it would be calculated according to the number of applicants rather than the number of applications filed (the problem here is that Romanians repeatedly apply for U.S. visas, even if they’re rejected every time and nothing changes in their file).

In addition, the new legislation regarding the visa waiver refers to setting a maximum overstay rate of three percent — exceeding the permitted residence time of 90 days. According to data collected in Bucharest, this change would allow us to crack the visa door, because Romanians have a low overstay rate. However, the changes in the law do not grant admittance into the visa waiver program on the basis of this criterion. In other words, you may satisfy the new conditions, but the final decision is still a political one.

What I noticed even last year, from the time the JOLT Act was enforced up to now, when we speak about the entire reform package there is no discussion in the U.S. about Romanians. Or about Bulgarians. The only ones who seem to have a real chance of escaping U.S. visas in the near future due to laws debated in Congress are the Polish. The senators who initiated the JOLT Act have a great number of Polish people in their divisions. Apart from the fact that they have a lower visa refusal rate — 9.3 percent in fiscal year 2012 — they’ve had a very powerful lobby for years. Moreover, for a few months, the Polish went to another level of lobbying and, according to The New York Times, hired top lobbyists to make sure they get rid of the visa. Apparently they will.

As for we Romanians, we stare at the door. Every so often, we remind the Americans that we’re still here. Even if immigration reform passes the House of Representatives complete with the visa waiver program, I am convinced that we will still be required to have visas in order to enter the United States in the coming years. We will continue to feed ourselves on optimism. We will pity ourselves and say that we’re not even that interested, just as we do with Schengen.