Thank you for a great news clip site! I have always enjoyed reading the news clips from Romania-insider. It is one of the best on the web. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing with this headline that I got from Google alerts about the Visa Waiver Program! This is one of my greatest pains: that Romanians cannot travel to the US without a visa, like the other EU citizens. To me, that’s a matter of unfairness, differential treatment, “second class citizen” status and inequality. It is outrageous!

I am an US citizen, born in Romania. I came to the US in 1992 for graduate studies, finished my masters and doctoral degrees, met a US man, who after 5 long years convinced me to marry him and stay, and I am now a respected scientist working in the US industry. My family lives in Northern Romania. For them, to go to the US Consulate/Embassy in Bucharest is a whole ordeal: 2 days minimum of travel, pay for getting there and back, pay for hotel, arrange for all the documents required, pay the fee for the interview, go to the interview, be humiliated at the interview and made feel like you are not an appropriate human being or worse yet, like some kind of criminal.

There are serious human rights injustices practiced nonchalantly in that US Consulate. The dignity due a human being is a right that Romanians deserve as they, also, are human beings and deserve to be treated with basic respect and dignity. That is often not how they are treated at the US Consulate.

Thank the Lord, at least my parents came to visit us at our home in North Carolina. After several trips to the US Consulate in Bucharest to get their visas, my parents finally got 10 year visas (my mother, father, stepfather, and stepmother). All but my stepfather passed away in the meantime, God rest their souls. Meanwhile, also, my stepfather’s visa also expired and, with him knowing what a ridiculous process and effort and financial burden (it takes easily at least 600$ just for this trip to the interview), he just refuses to bother. So, the only way we can see each other is if we go to Romania. And, lately, we’ve decided to just change our strategy and travel for vacation to the EU and meet in different countries that we can discover together. So, we spend our tourist money in the EU instead of in the US (many thousands).

We tried to bring my brother and his girlfriend to visit us. We just wanted to spend Thanksgiving or Christmas at our home in North Carolina as a family, as we are very close. The first time he went to the embassy, he was still doing his Master’s degree. The questions were: Do you own a house? Do you own a car? Of course, not even in the US does a student own his own home so young and, if he owns a car, it is likely because the parents gave him one. So, no visa. The second time he went, the question was: Do you have a wife? Of course he did not. So, no visa. The third time he did not even want to go. His girlfriend and I tried to convince him for at least 2 years. So, he went with his girlfriend. Now he owns his own business, he owns a house, 3 cars, land, plenty of money in the bank. She has a stable job with a respected company. The question was: Well, you only established your business for 1 year and half? Come back to us after more years pass… So, no visa.

Now, mind the randomness of the decisions. We are US citizens and fully vouch that they would have come to our home and we would provide everything, offering a solid guarantee, and they would return after 3 weeks over the holidays. Many who do get visas don’t know anyone in the US. I don’t understand how it is possible for relative of US citizens NOT to get the visas when 1) they demonstrate clear links to Romania in terms of no intention whatsoever to emigrate and plenty of material possessions AND 2) have a defined place to come in the US (the home of their US relatives who provide everything necessary for their stay).

Everyone in the Romanian community knows that going to the US consulate is insane: decisions are completely arbitrary and the premise, based on the US law, is to assume that everyone is a potential emigrant unless proven otherwise (what a burden of proof and ridiculous assumption). The point is that the % rejection rate is completely arbitrary, it has no basis, and it is intrinsically subjective and completely unjust. If the consul likes your face, he’ll give you the visa. If not, he will not. The most outrageous part is that the concern is whether people will overstay their visas. That cannot possibly be established at that phase (interview). How can anyone predict with accuracy who will and who will not overstay at that phase? The overstay rates should be established after people come to the US and go back to Romania (that would be a data-based, objective metric to establish realistic and accurate overstay rates).

What I do not get at all is that now Romania is part of the EU. Why, then, only Romania, Bulgaria, and Poland are the only countries that do not have the right to be equal participants to the Visa Waiver Program? I am amazed at this move by the EU! IT IS TIME! Romanian citizens should not be “second class citizens” and not be treated as such. They should have equal rights, especially if they go through the burden of implementing all the EU requirements and are doing their part to be good EU citizens.

I am surprised that the Romanian government does not do more on this. Why so passive? If nobody demands change, change will NOT happen. More should be done from the Romanian end to influence this change! Poland has a strong lobby group and senators representing the Polish from the Chicago area who push for inclusion in the Visa Waver Program. Romania does not seem to have any supporters.

I’ve written at least 100 letters to Obama directly. Unfortunately, I am just a small piece. We need do more on this front to get Romanians the rights that Romanians deserve, especially the basic right that should be free: the right to be treated with dignity and respect, the right to be equal citizens of the EU with equal rights, the right to travel, to explore, and to see family.

I even thought about creating a petition for interested parties to sign. We need to do more, demand, and fight for our people to obtain their due rights. Thanks for the article. It was very informative! And please, keep writing about it!! We need more visibility for the issue!

This comment was sent by a reader from Clemmons, NC, USA, who wished to remain anonymous. The opinions expressed in the material are the author's, and do not necessarily reflect those of Romania-Insider.com.