Something I was totally ignorant of before coming here is that Colombians can’t go very many places in the world without visas, and that those visas are usually difficult, and often impossible, to come by. I’ve seen a couple of different lists of where Colombians can go as tourists without visas, but this one, from the Ministry of Foreign Relations (the Colombian equivalent of the US State Department), says Colombians can go here:
Andorra, Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Dominica, Philippines, Israel, Japan, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis, San Vicente and Grenadines, The Vatican, Singapore, South Korea, Timur, Tuvalu, Trinidad y Tobago, Uruguay, Western Samoa.
Notice that most of these countries are in South America.
What it Takes to Get In, Even if you Don’t Need a Visa
Now, getting to some of these places might be a problem if the Colombian is not allowed to be in a country that he would have to pass through. For example, Colombians without US tourist visas are not allowed to fly through the US to reach other destinations. Also, the Colombian might be asked to prove hotel and transportation arrangements paid for and a certain amount of cash in order to enter a country. When I went to Panama with Jose, we saw a girl who was dressed like a hooker (but probably just thought she looked hot) get pulled aside because she didn’t have the equivalent of $500 US with her.
Getting a Visa if you’re Colombian
It seems naive of me now, but I had no clue that most Colombians are not allowed to visit the US. The US doesn’t want any Colombians visiting unless they’re rich. To apply for a tourist visa to the US, a Colombian probably has to own property free and clear, have a job, have an exhorbitant amount of cash in the bank, have travelled to lots of other countries, and on top of it all just be extremely lucky when going for the interview. I’ve heard more stories than I can count of Colombians who had all the above and anything else they thought might have been required, paid their $100 US non-refundable application fee, only to be rejected in 30 seconds, with none of the paperwork even having been glanced at. This could be because the consular officer is in a bad mood, or wants to get to lunch–no explanation required.
With some other countries it’s a little easier, but in a lot of the world Colombians are just not very welcome, it seems. For most countries, they will need to show a healthy bank account and a return ticket paid for (and then if your visa gets denied for some other reason, the money paid for the ticket is your problem).
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