Romania’s ambassador to the United States of America, Dan-Andrei Murau, said Wednesday night on Digi 24 that he is confident Romania will join the visa-free program from December 1, 2025.

“In the case of Romania, the announcement should be sometime in February 2025 and the recording should be done within this year. I think December 1, 2025, a symbolic moment for us, is also the moment when the first Romanians will be able to enter the US without a visa,” Muraru told Digi 24.

U.S. Ambassador to Bucharest Kathleen Kavalek said Monday in Oradea that Romania will join the Visa Waiver Program, a program that will allow Romanians to travel to the United States without a visa until early 2025.

“This is my goal in this mandate. It can’t be before 2025 because we have to measure the failure rate every year, from October 1 to October 1. If all goes well, maybe early 2025. We hope. This is not guaranteed. It depends on a lot of things that can happen, but I think we’re on the right track,” the US ambassador said.

In March of this year, American senators introduced a bill recommending the inclusion of Romania in the visa-free program, which was an important first step.

The United States has offered Romania “technical support” to meet the conditions that allow the country to be included in the visa-free program, which was announced in Bucharest on March 15 by Derek Hogan, the US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State. Anthony Blinken, who chaired the eighth round of dialogue within the framework of the Romania-US strategic partnership.