Ambassador George H. Walker

Remarks at the "Hungarian-U.S. Visa Relations - Goals and Opportunities" Workshop

Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Budapest
June 6, 2006

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you, Dr. Fekszi and your colleagues at the Ministry, for inviting me to join this event and to show that the subject of travel by the citizens of Hungary to the United States is important to both of our countries. 

The United States is a free and open society. We welcome citizens from around the world who genuinely want to visit, study, and do business in our country. Our visa procedures reflect our concern for ensuring the safety of U.S. residents and visitors alike. They are not intended to make it more difficult for legitimate travelers to enter the United States.

Our Embassy has been working hard to spread the message that our doors are open -- not just in Budapest but throughout Hungary. In addition to my own travel around the country, officers from our Consular and Public Affairs Sections have visited over 100 schools and communities, conducted dozens of media interviews, and mailed information about travel and study in the U.S. to every high school and university in Hungary. 

We have made major changes at the Consulate in terms of how we handle and process visa applications to make the process more humanized, more sensitive, and more oriented to the needs of our customers -- the people of Hungary. 

But we also recognize that what Hungarians really want is to be able to travel to the U.S. for routine business and tourism without a visa. 

President Bush has recognized this concern as well. 

When he hosted Prime Minister Gyurcsány at the White House in October of last year, President Bush acknowledged that we need to have a visa policy that is "fair and reasonable" and that "works for the people of Hungary."

The Government of the United States shares the goal of Hungary, and other new EU Member States, to meet the U.S. Visa Waiver Program legal requirements. 

Because of our mutual commitment to this goal, the United States and Hungary developed and agreed to a Visa Roadmap last year. We have already seen great progress. 

When I arrived in Hungary in October 2003, the Embassy was issuing visas to about 75% of all applicants.

By 2005, two years later, we were able to say that more than 80% of all who apply for a visa in Hungary receive one. 

Now -- and I am proud to announce this publicly for the first time today -- the Embassy is, and in fact has been for several months, issuing more than 85% of all visas. 

85% is a noteworthy rate. It proves that the Bilateral Consular Working Group is a positive initiative. It shows that as Hungary's economy grows, more and more Hungarians are willing and able to travel to the U.S. for business, study and tourism. Most importantly, it demonstrates that by far the great majority of Hungarian citizens are applying for, and receiving, visas and traveling in accordance with U.S. laws.  

As many of you may have read, last month the United States Senate approved a bill that includes an amendment regarding special eligibility circumstances for the Visa Waiver Program. Under the U.S. Constitution, a bill must pass both houses of Congress in identical form prior to being sent to the President for his signature. Only when the President has signed a bill does it become law. So the future of this bill is still uncertain. 

What we do know is that Hungary is already moving in the right direction to meet all the various requirements for the Visa Waiver Program, including the well-known refusal and overstay rates, and also other requirements related to effective border controls. 

Our Consul General Philip Skotte, who has led our Embassy's tremendous team effort, will speak in more detail about what has been achieved with respect to the Roadmap. And Press Attaché Kate Byrnes will tell you more about what we hear from the people of Hungary and how we have responded.

Perhaps even more importantly -- and I congratulate the Ministry of Foreign Affairs especially for this initiative -- we will all have the opportunity to hear from community leaders -- Dr. Brückner of the Fulbright Commission, Mr. Fáth of AmCham and Ms. Molnár representing Hungarian travel agencies on how the travel works in practice.  

I believe you will find that all of us share the same goal, which is to see the ties between Hungary and the United States grow and expand through the regular exchange of our greatest resource, our citizens. 

Thank you again for coming today and for your interest in understanding this important aspect of the U.S.-Hungary relationship.