The United States will impose tougher visa requirements on Colombians who want to visit the North American country, according to Blu Radio.
According to the Colombian radio station, the US embassy in Bogota is set to announce tougher requirements that would make traveling to the United States for Colombians more difficult than it already is.
While the radio station did not say which requirements would be made more difficult, Blu Radio implied that it could affect the automatic extension of visas, meaning that Colombians who already have a visa could be obligated to undergo renewed scrutiny and repeated interviews by embassy officials.
According to the radio station, citizens from other Latin American countries would also be submitted to similar increased scrutiny.
The new visa regulations are a consequence of an executive order on immigration signed on January 27 by President Donald Trump.
This controversial executive order bans all travel from a number of Muslim countries, and a revision of all visa procedures of foreigners wanting to travel to the United States either for business or holiday.
In the executive order “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorists Entry Into The United States,” the hard-right US president announced numerous measures to tighten control on the issuing on visas.
The United States must be vigilant during the visa-issuance process to ensure that those approved for admission do not intend to harm Americans and that they have no ties to terrorism.
January 27 executive order
Trump’s xenophobic remarks targeting Mexicans during his campaign has made him in Colombia almost as unpopular as Nicolas Maduro, the authoritarian leader of the Colombia’s neighbor Venezuela.