Petro plans to request visas from British citizens who want to come to Colombia

President Gustavo Petro is considering asking for a visa for British citizens who want to come to Colombia, after the United Kingdom announced that it will lift the visa exception for Colombians entering that country.

(You may be interested in: The United Kingdom will once again ask Colombians for visas, after two years of exception).

Through his X account, the Colombian president said that he would apply the “principle of reciprocity”, after the decision of the British authorities.

“If the United Kingdom has reestablished the need for visas for the Colombian people, I have to say that due to the principle of reciprocity, the Colombian government will ask for visas from British citizens who want to come to Colombia”wrote Petro.

The United Kingdom announced this Tuesday that it will once again require visas for citizens of Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador and Jordan, among others, for reasons of its internal immigration policy in the face of the irregular increase in foreign visitors.

To do it, enabled a transition period for those Colombians who access the United Kingdom without a visa in the event that they have processed their travel reservations to this country before the introduction of the changes.

(Here: How much does irregular migration cost the United Kingdom for which it will once again require visas?).

The British Home Office indicated on its official website that when having to apply for a visa, the Government will be able to evaluate, before your arrival, “whether those traveling to visit the UK comply with immigration rules”.

In the case of Colombia, as explained by the authorities of the European country, the requirement will be adopted again due to the increase in false asylum applications by Colombians.

“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 requests for these asylums. “said the Colombian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Roy Barreras.

And irregular migration is costing that country between 50 and 100 million pounds sterling a year, only in immigration procedures.

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”.

For more than a year, The United Kingdom authorities have been warning that they have internal pressure due to the arrival of some 700,000 migrants each year..

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