New York: The United States imposed new travel restrictions on citizens of Hungary. The US authorities took this decision citing security concerns. The restrictions apply to the US Visa Waiver Program. The US Visa Waiver Program allows passport holders from 40 countries to enter the United States for business or tourism without a visa for up to 90 days.
The validity period of travel for Hungarian passport holders under the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation was reduced from 2 years to 1 year. Hungarian passport holders will be limited to a single entry into the United States. They are the only such restrictions among the 40 participating states in the Visa Waiver Program.
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US Embassy informed that it is concerned that nearly 1 million foreigners granted Hungarian passports over 9 years. And these were not sufficiently verified. As per the US, hundreds of thousands of Hungarian passports were issued without stringent identity verification requirements, some of them to criminals who pose a safety threat and have no connection to Hungary.
Hungary’s government began offering a simplified naturalisation procedure to those claiming Hungarian ancestry in 2011, even if they did not live or intend to live in Hungary. Around 2 million ethnic Hungarians living in neighbouring countries — primarily in Romania, Serbia and Ukraine — acquired Hungarian citizenship through the simplified procedure.
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