Today (Wednesday, December 2) marked a historic day for Colombians all around the world, as President Juan Manuel Santos signed into agreement an exemption which allows Colombians to travel visa-free and unrestricted to 26 European ‘Schengen’ nations, bringing the total number of countries which Colombians can travel to ‘visa-free’ to 88. The exemption will come into force tomorrow: Thursday, December 3, 2015.
President Santos was quoted as saying that “Colombia is celebrating today.” He added that “today’s event is a very important step to recover, in a certain way, our dignity, which we have lost or at least has been mistreated with the process of having to request a visa for each country in Europe every time we visited.” The agreement marks a massive step forward for Colombian travelers trying to move away from the negative stereotypes still associated with Colombians traveling to other countries. Watch what Santos had to say below:
The usual restrictions still apply: Colombian travelers will still have to provide proof of a return ticket and financial security for their stay in one of the 26 countries, but the arduous process of visa application just went away in one simple act from Colombia’s president. See the map below for a complete list of all 26 countries included in the Schengen area (countries in purple and green):
From all of us here at the See Colombia Travel Blog, which has been trying to show the world the true beauty of Colombia and it’s people and challenge negative stereotypes for over 5 years now: congratulations Colombia! It’s not perfect, but today marks a massive step forward for Colombia!
Chris
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