Colombians who want to travel to Europe can do without visa sometime in the second half of 2015, said Spain’s Primer Minister on Wednesday.
The visa requirements for Colombian and Peruvian citizens was abolished in February. However, no date has been set for when the visa abolishment will come into force, leading to speculation among citizens and government officials alike.
“The suppression of the short-term Schengen visas will take effect in the second half of 2015,” said Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, at a meeting with the Latin America Business Council (CEAL).
Colombia’s ambassador to Spain said early this year that the visa waiver would take effect past April.
When that didn’t happen, President Juan Manuel Santos said last month the visa waiver would take effect in the first half of 2015.
The insecurity about when this visa waiver will come into force is due to the fact that individual member states of the Schengen countries within the European Union have to ratify the decision made by the European Parliament before taking effect.
Additionally, while having already approved the removal of visa requirements for Colombians and Peruvian nationals, the European parliament still has to ratify related regulations.