The United Kingdom will lift tourist visa requirements for Colombians starting from November 9.
The announcement has been confirmed through a press conference at the Bogota residence of the United Kingdom Ambassador, George Hodgson, made on Tuesday, VisaGuide.World reports.
“The UK will open up its doors to tourism and other sectors for Colombians. This is a great step forward in our bilateral relations with #UKCOL,” the Ambassador pointed out in this regard.
The abolishment of tourist visa requirements for citizens of Colombia is expected to boost the number of Colombians waiting to visit the United Kingdom and also connect to countries in the Schengen Zone that do not oblige Colombians to have a visa in order to visit the borderless area.
According to a report provided by the City Paper Bogota, figures provided by Migracion Colombia, the country’s migration entity for a period between January and September this year, a total of 45,788 Colombians traveled to the United Kingdom, of the total, 14,457 went as tourists while 24,932 as residents.
In this regard, President Gustavo Petro posted on Twitter: “I thank the United Kingdom for its decision to eliminate the tourism visa requirement for Colombians.”
At the same time, Former President Iván Duque also welcomed the decision following “many months of hard work,” stressing that his government signed with former United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson the post-Brexit Free Trade Agreement.
President Petro also urged the government of the United States to lift tourism requirements for all Colombians waiting to travel stateside.
The same report has stressed that the waiting time for applicants for B1 as well as B2 visas and renewals is more than two years, following the reception of paperwork by the US Embassy in Bogota.
In this regard, the British Ambassador to Peru, Gavin Cook, said that “many more opportunities are opening up today, from tourism and commerce to cultural, academic and sports exchange in any of the four countries of the United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This is just the beginning of another great chapter in our fantastic bilateral relationship.”
According to the Ambassador, abolishing the need for a temporary stay will also ease a number of short-term academic exchanges as well as business meetings as well as participation in conferences, or also visiting family members living in the United Kingdom.
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