Cheerfully applauded by the Department of State, last Thursday Hillary Clinton was sworn in as Secretary of State, to become the head of American diplomacy. It will now be mostly up to her to decide about the most important issue for our community: the inclusion of Poland in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).

Ironically, Poland was left out in the last expansion of the visa waiver program, while the Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Latvians, Estonians and Lithuanians were included chiefly thanks to a regulation that originally was supposed to open the gates to the United States for Poles. The new rules raised the threshold for visa denials to 10 percent, up from 3 percent, for U.S. allies. Currently about 13 percent of Polish applicants are sent back without visas; still too many for Poland to qualify for the VWP and for Poles to be allowed to enter the United States, for a limited period of time, without the need to line up in front of the embassy to obtain the visa. The new regulations were passed on to the diplomatic institutions issuing visas in Poland.

Whether Poles now fall below the required threshold mainly depends on the consular officers, employed by the U.S. Department of State, a bit of good will and a more liberal attitude towards the applicants seeking a tourist visa to enter the United States. In the era of open markets in Europe, it is time do away with the stereotype of a Pole – a gastarbeiter [foreign worker] who wants to enter the United States only to work illegally in New York or Chicago. No logical thinking person could believe the myth that Poles will swarm to the United States in search of work when the country is stricken by a recession.

Doing away with the visa requirement for the Poles was one of the campaign promises made by Hillary Clinton, when she was running for president. Paradoxically, now she has a chance to keep her word and deliver on her promise as the Secretary of State, bolstered by President Barack Obama’s own promise to include Poland in the VWP.

Introducing Poles into the program will neither be costly nor politically difficult. On the contrary, it will bring measurable benefits and savings; it would mend Poland’s shattered trust in their transatlantic partner – whom they accompanied into war; and the U.S. administration will be able to save on consular personnel, who will not be needed in big numbers in Poland anymore.

It would be naive to assume that the new administration will make the inclusion of Poland in the VWP program a priority. U.S. diplomacy is facing now far more serious problems. But for that very reason, the time is ripe for the Polish organizations in America to raise their voices and remind the elected officials about the promises they made on the campaign trail.