US Senate agrees visa free travel for Polish tourists

Radio Polonia ^ | 18.05.06 | Michal Kubicki

[lizol]

US Senate agrees visa free travel for Polish tourists

The US Senate has passed an amendment to a bill on immigration reform which paves the way for Polish tourists to travel to the States without visas for a trial period of two years.

Report by Michal Kubicki

18.05.06

Polish officials and men-in-the-street have welcomed the news as a step in the right direction.

The visa issue has long been a point of contention in Polish-American relations with Poles having to apply for visas before traveling to America and having to pay for an application, even if they are eventually refused a visa. A fresh initiative to resolve the problem has come from the US Senate which has proposed that the visa waiver programme should cover the countries which are members of the European Union, have sent contingents of at least 300 troops to support the Americans in Iraq and do not pose a potential terrorist risk.

Even though the amendment does not mention Poland by name, it is clear that Poland is the only country to fulfill the three criteria. If made into law, the new legislation would allow Polish tourists and those traveling on business to stay in the States for up to 60 days without a visa. The scheme is to be introduced for an initial period of two years.

The Polish ambassador in Washington Janusz Reiter says the Senate decision is not yet a cause for celebration but for satisfaction and optimism

‘The Senate amendment has created good prospects for the House of Representatives debate. The House will now have to take a stand on a key document and not just respond to requests from Polish diplomatic circles. This is an entirely new situation, in both political and psychological sense.’

Robert Strybel, the Warsaw-based correspondent of the Polish media in the United States, welcomes the decision of the US Senate

‘This is major step forward; so far we’ve had pressure, petitions, letter-writing campaigns…. However, this is an initial step, because the House of Representatives will have to deal with the law and usually the bill does not end up the way it entered the House, so some aspects of it can be modified.’

The amendment was sponsored by a group of senators which included Barbara Mikulski, who a decade ago was among the staunchest supporters of Poland’s entry to NATO

‘Barbara Mikulski from the State of Maryland pointed out that Poland is not just another communist hold-over or a Third World nation begging for a handout but a member of NATO and the European Union, as well as a major US ally in Iraq’.

What at the moment prevents Poland from qualifying for the visa waiver programme is a very high rejection rate for visa applications, caused by numerous cases of people who take up illegal jobs in the States. According to Robert Strybel, the ball in now in the Polish court.

‘There is still this concept of breaking visa requirements, of posing as tourists and going to work, so the ball is now in the Polish court. If there is a two-year probationary period, it’ll be up to Poles to prove they’re within the law’.

Former Polish president Lech Walesa has welcomed the decision of the US Senate.

It is not known at the moment when the immigration policy will be debated by the House of Representatives.

[Grzegorz 246]

"IF I want to travel to the U.S. I have to have a visa,I have to pay for the visa,"

Well, not everyone was borne to be a winner.

[Lukasz]

First of all, you are a liar and secondary maybe you could advocate a wall somewhere in the New Zealand but in Europe you have nothing to say, understand?

[lizol]

You're definitely right.

This is a great chance for the Poles. If we screw it up - we can blame only ourselves.

But I hope this is not going to happen.

In fact big part of the European job market is opened for the Poles today. With special emphasis on UK.
So - if someone wants to go abroad to work - can do it without problem, and being much closer to home.

You see - it's different to go to UK, when within 2 hours you can be back home, paying relatively small money for travel. If you get a well paid job, it's possible, that you can visit your family even every weekend.

And it's absolutely different with U.S. It's reeeeealy far away.
I remember - when I was there in 1995 (stayed almost 3 months) and was calling my parents and girlfriend (wife now :-) - I could almost hear sound of waves of the ocean :-)))

[antiRepublicrat]

watch out the Polish will steal everything and then try and sell it back to you (used and painted a differant colour )

In California we call them "Tijuana Taxis."

IIRC, a German minister showed up at work with a nice late-model Mercedes, and one day it was gone.

Not what you're thinking though. He'd just bought an expensive Polish recycle car and it was the Polizei who took it away. He complained at the loss, and they said to suck it up -- that's what you get for buying a stolen car.

[jerryem]

Australian government Advise to travelers in Poland .

Street crime such as mugging, CAR JACKING, and theft occurs in Polish CITIES. Criminal gangs often target vehicles with foreign No. plates by posing as police officers etc., etc., www.smartraveller.com /advice Poland /crime
And the web sites of nearly all European countries are the same

[lizol]

I am a New Zealander working in Germany, IF I want to travel to the U.S. I have to have a visa,I have to pay for the visa

Yeah, you're as much a New Zealander, as I am an Eskimo, you petty liar.

Visa Waiver Program - Participating Countries.

Andorra

Iceland

Norway

Australia

Ireland

Portugal

Austria

Italy

San Marino

Belgium

Japan

Singapore

Brunei

Liechtenstein

Slovenia

Denmark

Luxembourg

Spain

Finland

Monaco

Sweden

France

the Netherlands

Switzerland

Germany

New Zealand

United Kingdom

http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html#2

You're a lazy liar too, as you could have done some search before you posted this BS.

[lizol]

What a happy country that Australia must be, if they don't have "Street crime such as mugging" there.

[twinself]

[Ngamatapouri]

I can see by your ignorance that you must have run away from Poland, Police trouble?
New Zealanders like all the other countries on your list are only eligible if they have machine readable passports( electronic ) and even with that you have to pay $6.00
I have not an MRP as it does not work in countries like Poland

[investigateworld]

A number of years ago a number of Polish Gypsies came in a they were a crime wave unlike any other group.

Some of their victims were personal friends of either Boxer or Finestien so the Visa program held it against all Poles.

[lizol]

I can see by your ignorance that you must have run away from Poland,

I can only see, that you probably spend to much time with people from certain groups in Germany

Maybe you can find yourself somewhere on this picture

[lizol]

But he's not a German, hes a New Zealander

[GarySpFc]

A number of years ago a number of Polish Gypsies came in a they were a crime wave unlike any other group.
Some of their victims were personal friends of either Boxer or Finestien so the Visa program held it against all Poles.

Sorry, but I do not buy your fiction. It takes a history of several thousand tourists visa violations to be taken off the list, and a few gypsies couldn't accomplish that. That said, I am happy for the Poles, but their history is dismal, and I fully expect they will be taken off the list in two years.

[twinself]

Time will show. I don't. Not with Ireland and Great Britain welcoming my compatriots with open hands.

[investigateworld]

Believe what you what, but that's what I was told when I tried to help some Poles get visas, by an INS Supervisor when I axed for some professional courtesy.

[GarySpFc]

Somebody at the INS did not know the correct answer, and so the answer they gave you was a rumor or urban myth. I have spent several years studying the immigration issue, and I know the how the visa waiver program works.