U.S. lifts travel restrictions on Hungarian citizens

Source: CBS News

Updated on: September 16, 2025 / 12:46 PM EDT


Washington — The Trump administration announced Tuesday it would lift travel restrictions on Hungarian citizens after the country took steps to address security vulnerabilities, in the latest sign of warming ties between Washington and Budapest.

The Biden administration in 2021 imposed restrictions on Hungarian passport holders born outside of Hungary and reduced the timeframe of authorized travel permitted under the Visa Waiver Program, citing a simplified naturalization policy backed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban that extended citizenship to people born abroad who claimed Hungarian ancestry. Officials said at the time that nearly 1 million people were granted citizenship between 2011 and 2020 without adequate vetting.

Under the Visa Waiver Program, most citizens of participating countries are allowed to visit the United States for 90 days or fewer, if they obtain approval within the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). Citizens from more than 40 countries are eligible to travel to the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program, according to the State Department's website.

While ESTA approvals typically allow travel over a span of two years, restrictions added by the U.S. in 2023 had reduced that validity period for the Hungarian travelers born outside the country from two years to one, and limited the authorization to only one entry into the U.S. Beginning Sept. 30, the Trump administration is restoring the validity period back to two years and allowing Hungarians to make multiple entries into the U.S. within that time.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-lifts-travel-restrictions-hungarian-citizens/