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December
17, 2002
U.S. EMBASSY INAUGURATES NEW VISA FORMAT
The
American Embassy in Bucharest has begun issuing tourist and visitor
visas in a new and more secure format. Familiarly known as the
"Lincoln Visa" because of the portrayal of the well-known
Washington monument to the 16th President on its face, the new
visa also features images of the United States flag and the U.S.
Capitol Building. The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution is interspersed
into the background design.
The
new visas are printed on security paper and feature significant
improvements that inhibit alteration or counterfeiting. Field
testing on this new document began in the United Kingdom earlier
this year and, as the testing yielded positive results, its use
has now been authorized world-wide, according to Foreign Service
posts' ability to install equipment needed to make the conversion.
The U.S. Embassy in Bucharest is among the first posts in Europe
to begin using the new visa. The first Romanian recipient of the
Lincoln Visa is Mrs. Natalia Elena Coslovschi, who had submitted
an expired visa for revalidation. In recognition of Mrs. Coslovschi's
unexpected good fortune, the Embassy awarded her a basket of cultural
and friendship items, including books on U.S. history and literature,
maps, a flag, and lapel pin.
Readers
should note that there is no requirement for Romanians who hold
visas in the old format to have them replaced. These visas will
remain valid until their indicated expiration date.
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