President Gustavo Petro announced on his Twitter account, on the night of this festive Monday, that the United Kingdom has abolished the tourist visa requirement for Colombians.

(You can read: These are the countries that put the most “buts” for Colombians for the visa)

“I thank the United Kingdom for its decision to remove the tourist visa requirement for Colombian visitors,” wrote the head of state.

The exact details of the scope of the measure announced by the Head of State, who would benefit from it and from when it would come into force, are not yet known.

Although the British Embassy in the country did not comment on the case, it had already called a press conference for this Tuesday, October 18 at 7 a.m.

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The British Ambassador to Colombia, George Hodgson, should broaden the information from his residence in Bogotá to know these details and, for example, if the parliament has already given the green light, which is necessary for this type of decision.

They had previously indicated that Hodgson would make an “important announcement regarding bilateral relations between Colombia and the United Kingdom”.

(Also: Visa for USA: Does Colombia have what it takes to eliminate the requirement?)

What do you need today to obtain a visa to travel to the United Kingdom?

The estimated time to apply for a UK tourist visa is around three months. Then, the deadline for issuing the visa is fifteen working days. Among the requirements are:

– Passport in good standing with at least two blank pages and the period of validity of the document covers the entire stay in the United Kingdom.
– Documents that are not in English must be translated into that language.
– Specify the dates of the round trips.
– Argue the reasons for the stay and indicate the city and the hotel where they will go.
– Prepare all personal and family information if you are traveling with a companion.
– Have a file that indicates the amount of the person’s monthly income to demonstrate the funds available.

(Also read: ‘The UK is in Colombia to support the search for peace’)

How many Colombians travel to the UK?

According to data from Migración Colombia, a total of 45,788 people traveled to the UK between January and September 2022: 14,457 of them for tourism and 24,932 for residence.

The same must be done with the United States.

The Colombian ambassador to the United States, Luis Gilberto Murillo, announced a few days ago that the government’s plan is to ask the United States to remove the visa requirement for Colombians who wish to travel to this country.

He assured that although he has already expressed it verbally to the American authorities, they plan to do so officially in the coming days.

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He pointed out that “the Colombian population should have the possibility of being able to travel as a tourist to the United States without a visa (…) It does not look good and generates problems the fact that it takes about 850 days for a person to meet once you apply. On top of that, we have information that (the United States) is the country in the world where this process takes the longest. We are strategic allies, This situation must be corrected. There is no logic.”

Reactions to Chairman Petro’s announcement

On social networks, some reactions to this new advance by the Head of State have already been known.

“Extraordinary news for Colombians. Undeniable success of the government of Gustavo Petro,” tweeted former minister Juan Fernando Cristo.

“We must congratulate the government for this good news. Thank you, @petrogustavo”, published the senator Humberto de la Calle.

“Colombia is changing. Great news for our country,” said Medellín Mayor Daniel Quintero.

Businessman Mario Hernández said “thank you to the UK for abolishing the tourist visa for Colombians”.

The Colombian Deputy Minister for Multilateral Affairs, Laura Gil, launched on this subject “It is with facts, they said.”

POLITICS