The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced changes to the ESTA program for Hungary. The US government has made changes to the ESTA program for Hungarian citizens due to Hungary’s inability to meet the Visa Waiver Program security requirements.
According to the U.S. Department of State, the Government of Hungary applied a simplified naturalization process for persons of Hungarian descent who live in other countries. Under this simplified process, Hungary granted citizenship to nearly one million people between 2011 and 2020. This was done without sufficient security measures in place to verify the identities of the new naturalized citizens. As of the date of this article, the Hungarian government has not fully addressed the security vulnerabilities created by the simplified naturalization process. That has necessitated modifications to the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) for all holders of Hungarian passports.
On August 1, 2023 the US Department of State notified the Hungarian government that it is making the following changes to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) which facilitates the Visa Waiver Program (VWP):
- ESTA validity period is reduced from 2 years to 1 year.
- ESTA validity is limited to a single use, one trip to the US for 90 days or less for leisure and/or business.
Before the new policy, Hungarian citizens could travel to the US with an ESTA multiple times for 90 days or less within 2 years of the issuance of their ESTA. Now under the current policy, Hungarian citizens will be able to enter only 1 time in the US for a period of 90 days or less within 1 year of the issuance of their ESTA. If a Hungarian citizen wishes to travel multiple times to the US, they must obtain a new ESTA before each travel. ESTA is obtained from the official CBP website (https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/) and the cost is $21.
This new US policy will only affect Hungarian citizens who apply for ESTA after August 1, 2023, and is not retroactive. All ESTA approvals for Hungarians granted prior to August 1, 2023 remain valid for 2 years and can be used for multiple entries.
Contact our experienced immigration lawyers in Miami, Florida, USA for more information or to schedule an appointment.
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