This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Colombians may not need visa to enter USA

Michael:  The above is the front page of a Bogotá, Colombia newspaper. Yes, I know it is in Spanish and some readers may not understand what it says. But don't worry I'll explain it farther down.

Visas are interesting things. One sometimes needs it to get into a country. The country decides whether the citizens of another place must get one or not in order to enter. Usually these are required from residents of developing nations. However, a person who has a United Kingdom passport, for instnace, does not have to go to the American embassy first and get a visa. We automatically allow them to visit for 90 days.

Americans frequently do not think of visas. To begin with, compared to many other countries we do not travel outside our borders. The other reason is we can venture into 172 countries in the world with just our passport.

Graciela:  Colombians are not as lucky. We can only get into 36% of the countries that Americans can without a visa. And many of those places nobody really wants to visit. Then in other countries our stay is limited compared to Americans. For example Colombians get one month in Singapore while U.S. citizens get three months. In places like Malaysia even though we have a visa we must enter only through specific ports.

And getting a visa is not always easy for us. Though the average income of our citizens is about one-tenth that of Americans we have to usually spend about $150 USD to apply for the visa. Even then there is no guarantee that we will receive permission.

Michael:  I am American. We are believed the greatest country in the world. It makes sense to me that with our passport we should be able to enter more countries than anyone else. However, according to the 2014 Henley and Partners report citizens from three other countries can enter more places than we can. The United Kingdom is one of them. But they are followed by two countries which score low on both violence and aid to other countries. People from Sweden and Finland can enter 173 countries without the need for a Visa.

Graciela:  The newspaper headline in the above photo literally states "Visa for USA in six years disappears." The article explains that the U.S. has started research into no longer requiring Colombians to first get a visa to enter the USA. The American government has authorized the Colombian president, Juan Manual Santos, to make the announcement to citizens of the country.

Michael:  I could find no American news about the process. But it does seem to be something Americans should be notified about and given a chance to comment on, especially in light of all the complaints about illegal immigrants.

Why Colombia, is the question in my mind. Though I must admit it would be very nice for my wife to not have to go and apply for her visa. And I know of many honest Colombians who have been denied a visa even though I am positive they will return. Not to mention that a report has shown that the USA looses millions of dollars each year in airfares because people can't get the visa to fly through the USA to Europe or Asia.

Citizens from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Serbia, Bolivia, Botswana, Tanzania, Venezuela and 110 other countries get entry into more countries than Colombia just on their passport. So why Colombia now?

Graciela:  Like my husband said I would welcome not having to go through the process and wait in long lines at the American embassy. And yes, I think that elimination of the visa would increase tourism in the States. But there is no mention in the newspaper article as to why Colombia is being considered.

Michael:  In my opinion the American people should be aware of what is happening, be given the correct information as to why it is being considered and be allowed to voice their opinion.

Michael is an American. Graciela is Colombian. They are married and freelance writers living in Bogotá, Colombia. They write in English and Spanish about where they live on their blogsite of MichaelandGraceila.com


We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?