EU Visa Waiver for Belizeans Not Happening Anytime Soon, Says Ambassador

For travelers who were hoping for a waiver of the Schengen visa, the wait will continue indefinitely. The European Union’s Ambassador to Belize, Dr. Erja Askola, announced that Belize’s inclusion on the Schengen Visa Waiver List is unlikely to materialize in the near future. It was just eighteen months ago that the former Foreign Affairs Minister, Eamon Courtenay, reported that the waiver was coming, and that it was just a matter of time.  As it stands, Belizean nationals are required to undergo a lengthy visa application process before traveling to EU member states.  Through its diplomatic ties with the European Union, current Foreign Affairs Minister, Francis Fonseca continued the discussion of a waiver, as recent as this week when a high-level meeting was held with officials from the EU.  The discussion focused on shared values and global cooperation, but the visa waiver was a key item on the agenda.  According to Ambassador Askola, there are several factors to take into consideration.

Dr. Erja Askola, EU Ambassador to Belize: “This was also one of the topics that we discussed and we are looking into that issue. It hasn’t been easy and we consider that, yes indeed, Belize does not pose many risks of security or illegal migration as such but the process is always it’s a political process that needs to be passed in the European Union and it depends on the political landscape, depends on the appetite of EU member states to move forward on those kind of requests and for the time being the visa free treatment it is not realistic, at least for the next couple of years I would say, but there may be progress, some other progress that would facilitate the travelling of Belizeans in Europe. So we are still working on those options and we hope to make progress in the months to come.”

The Schengen visa is for a zone of 27 European countries.  The non-EU countries that also require a Schengen visa are Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Lichtenstein