The EU wants Americans to apply for visas and Arabs have comments

Currently, citizens from Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Croatia are required to obtain a visa before traveling to the us, although the nation does not require travelers from the rest of the 28-nation bloc to get one.

In response to the European Union vote, a State Department official told Telegraph Travel: “The objective of the U.S. Visa Waiver Program is to facilitate travel to the United States while maintaining the highest standards of screening to protect national security”. It could be a costly decision too – more than 12.6 million US citizens traveled to the European Union in 2016, a number which could drop significantly if people have to start filling out time-consuming visa applications for every trip.

The visa requirement will surely have a negative affect on tourism dollars, but as for how it will affect travelers, experts say that any real inconveniences may just be a flash in the political pan.

According to The Independent, the European Commission is legally obligated to move to suspend Americans’ visa-free travel, but that doesn’t mean Americans will lose their visa privileges quite yet. “What we’re trying to convey to them is we are more than wiling to work proactively with these countries to help them address some of the issues that are preventing them from obtaining visa-free travel to the United States”.

Over 12 million American tourists went to Europe in 2016, according to the US International Trade Administration, making it the leading international destination for American tourists.

But a change in rules for USA citizens was unlikely to happen because of the importance of Americans to the tourism industry in Europe.

The reason for the requirements is visa reciprocity, the Journal said.

Canada also has visa requirements for Bulgarian and Romanian citizens, the statement said, but it has announced that these will be shelved in December.