It’s official. The British government has already notified Colombia that it will once again require a visa for Colombians visiting the United Kingdom, a requirement that had been eliminated in October 2022.
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This was confirmed by Ambassador Roy Barreras, who also explained what the transition process will be like regarding the change that the immigration process of entry of Colombians into that country will have.
Despite President Gustavo Petro’s requests to the British Government not to reestablish this requirement, The United Kingdom stood firm due to the increase in false asylum applications by Colombians.
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“A minority of compatriots, as we have warned for months, abused the ease of traveling without a visa and has harmed the majority with the irregular practice of requesting false asylums, with false documentation that has triggered thousands of applications for those asylums. “said Roy Barreras in an interview with EL TIEMPO.
The Colombian ambassador explained that people who have trips purchased until December 24 enter a transition stage and will not need a visa.
On the other hand, those who from this moment wish to travel to that destination will have to process this document, as it will be required after that date.
For about a year now, The United Kingdom has been warning that they have internal pressure due to the arrival of some 700,000 migrants each year.
As they have explained, each of the asylum seekers generates a cost of 50,000 pounds a year for the British Government.
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According to Ambassador Roy Barreras, it is estimated that almost 100,000 Colombians traveled legally and happily enjoyed their stay in the United Kingdom. “But a minority, one percent, abused that exemption and generated these extra costs, which can be calculated between 50 and 100 million pounds a year”.
“Nearly 2,000 asylum applications are accumulating, most of them generated with false causes, even by pirate travel agencies that, we will insist before the Prosecutor’s Office, so that they be dismantled. They deceive their compatriots by offering them non-existent jobs, non-existent asylums, abusing of good faith so that women are subjected to human trafficking networks. These agencies must continue to be dismantled. But this minority has caused this discomfort to the majority. concluded Barreras.
