Bulgaria is one of the EU regions which needs a visa to travel to the US. Romania and Bulgaria became full members of the schengen zone together on January 1, 2025. However, Romania will be able to enjoy visa free travel to the US starting from March 31, 2025.
But, Bulgaria is still educating its citizens about the various US visa programmes, so it could meet the necessary requirements to meet the visa waiver programme. According to the US State Department data shared from last year, the number of tourist visas denied in 2024 was 6.02%, the lowest level in 18 years. The number of denied visas in 2023 were almost double of it, i.e. 11.61%. If the number of denied visas is less than 3%, then Bulgaria will be included in the visa waiver programme with the US.
To enjoy the benefits of visa free travel to the US, Bulgaria launched an awareness programme last year, aiming to inform its residents about various travel visas along with the requirements and specifics of the application process. The face of the programme is Bulgarian born Hollywood star Maria Bakalova and the slogan is “You don’t need an Oscar to get a visa for the US.”
The idea of this awareness campaign is to give applicants information whether they are going to get a successful visa or refusal, by trying to achieve the target of less than 3%.
However, EU institutions regularly emphasize on the fact that the US can enjoy visa free travel to all 27 EU states, so Europeans should also enjoy the same leverage.
