Citizens of Colombia, Peru and Guyana will not need a visa to visit the United Kingdom for up to six months anymore.
The president of Colombia Gustavo Petro announced the news first on his Twitter account on Monday, thanking the United Kingdom for its decision to remove tourist visa requirements for Colombian visitors.
On October 18, the U.K. officially said that starting November 9, citizens of Colombia, Peru and Guyana will not need to apply for a visa to travel and visit the country for periods of up to six months. The visa will still be required for those who want to undertake long-term studies, work in or settle permanently in the UK.
This move is expected to bring more tourists visiting the Kingdom, and “opens the doors for new business opportunities in various sectors,” the British embassy in Colombia stated.
Similarly, 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 4 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.”
Removing the need for a visa for temporary stays will facilitate a number of short-term academic exchanges, business meetings and participation in conferences or also visiting family members living in the U.K.
British ambassador to Colombia George Hodson, declared that with the end of “tourist visas, a procedure we have been working on for a long time, marks a great step in our relation” between the United Kingdom and Colombia. The process was indeed almost finalized when the former president Iván Duque was still president of Colombia.
However, Colombia, Peru and Guyana still need a visa to travel to the United States. Chile is the only South American country that doesn’t need one.
