Belize Pursues Schengen Visa Waiver with European Union

During Prime Minister John Briceno’s recent trip abroad, he was in Belgium meeting with the European Union to discuss the possibility of a Schengen visa waiver for Belizeans. The waiver would allow Belizeans to travel to countries within the EU without having a travel visa. Today, PM Briceno explained that EU member states are considering the waiver given that Belize meets the EU’s criteria for granting Schengen Visa Waiver. He says the move will greatly benefit Belizeans and allow for maximum economic relations with the EU. 

Hon. John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize: “The meeting went well as planned but for us we have been campaigning very vigorously to get visa waivers to enter into the Schengen visas. We have made the point that we have modernized our passports, it’s now digitized and it has your biometrics, it has all the security features that they have required. But also probably just as important we have made the point that Belizeans there’s very little risk of Belizeans wanting to go to live in European countries. In our discussions with the different countries, one on one basis, pretty much they’re very sympathetic because again we tell them if we need to go to Mexico or we have to go to in El Salvador, Guatemala to get a visa it’s becoming very expensive to be able to go. They believe, most of the countries have agreed that they’re going to be supporting Belize. They’re going to meet in November to make a decision. And we’re hopeful that it can come up in November and from all indications, if that were to happen, it seems that it’s very likely that we are going to get the visa waiver.”