Croatians can expect to be able to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa as of this summer, the Vecernji List (VL) daily reported on Monday.

Croatia has dropped to below three percent of rejected visa applications in the USA  and met the key requirement for their cancellation.

“The final refusal rate for Croatian tourist/business visa applicants fell to 2.69% last year, an essential step forward in joining the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. We look forward to Croatians travelling to the United States visa-free in the near future,” the Charge d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy, Victoria Taylor, has recently stated.

The Zagreb-based daily newspaper on Monday reported that representatives of the US Department of Homeland Security might arrive in Croatia in June to conduct the further evaluation processes.

Officials of the Croatian Ministry of the interior told the newspaper that the Croatian authorities were intensifying their efforts to meet the remaining criteria considering security topics.

Croatia’s ministry is closely cooperating with the US Department of Homeland Security to boost the country’s security capacities concerning the security of the Croatian border, migrations, international protection, collection and analysis of cross-border passengers and travellers.

The final decision on allowing Croatia to join the Visa Waiver Program can be expected until 30 September at the latest, the daily said.