Would Colombians have to get a visa to travel to Germany? The alert launched by authorities

This Wednesday, December 18, 2024, a meeting took place between the governments of Colombia and Germany. In the conversation, there was talk of an early warning due to the increase in asylum applications from Colombians without complete requirements. This would leave the visa exemption at risk.

The meeting was chaired by the Colombian Vice Chancellor Jorge Rojas and the German High Commissioner for Migration Affairs, Joachim Stamp. Both officials They analyzed the behavior of the migration of Colombians to that European country.

According to the German delegate, his country has no problem with the migration of Colombians. However, he made it clear that it is of utmost importance that This practice complies with the rules of the European country and avoids asylum rights.

“We want to receive them in Germany, we need many economic sectors, workforce. And anyone who complies with the laws is cordially welcome to the German labor market. But please, not through the right of asylum, but through the specialized workforce immigration law,” said the German High Commissioner for Migration Affairs, Joachim Stamp.

According to the results obtained at the meeting and cited by the newspaper El Espectador, in 2018 there were 135 asylum applications and now there are 3,500, which reflects exponential growth.

Within those requests, There are 9,000 pending to meet the complete requirements, according to Stamp. Based on this growing number of requests, Germany is studying the possibility of implementing decisions like that of the United Kingdom For the entry of Colombians to those countries: require a visa.

The ambassador of the United Kingdom Roy Barreras, for his part, pointed out that diplomatic talks between the parties continue, in order to prevent this measure from being applied to enter German territory.

“Such determinations will take time because they involved legislative procedures and rank of law in the British Parliament and the new rules affect several countries, not just Colombia,” Barreras noted.

At the end of last November, the Colombian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Roy Barreras Montealegre, announced that a visa would once again be mandatory for all Colombians who wish to enter this island nation. The above, Barreras explained to El Tiempo, It is due to the increase in false asylum applications that some people are managing.

“A minority of compatriots, as we have warned for months, abused the facility of visa-free travel and has harmed the majority with the irregular practice of requesting false asylums, with false documentation that has triggered thousands of applications for these asylums”, the official said.

According to the ambassador, those Colombians who have purchased tickets to this country until December 24 will enter the transition stage, so they will be the last nationals who will be able to travel without this document.

As of that date, families from Colombia who wish to travel to this part of the world will have to complete the respective procedure, which had been eliminated since October 2022.