Columbia, Guyana and Peru get non-visa national status

There is good news for South America from the Home Office: from 9 November 2022 nationals of Columbia, Guyana and Peru will be non-visa nationals. This means that nationals of those countries will be able to come to the UK as visitors without a visa – well, that’s the basic idea but sometimes complexities emerge (see below).

It is important to understand that this only applies to visitors. Those coming for other types of visa, eg family, work, study etc, will still have to apply for visas as normal. It is also important to understand that proving your nationality of a non-visa national country at the UK border does not constitute a “fait accompli” or, to use a fashionable expression, a “slam dunk”. You can still be refused leave to enter the UK if immigration control is not convinced you are a genuine visitor, or perhaps if some other problem emerges from your history. 

If that happened you would be in a very unfortunate situation: the Home Office might remove you from the UK and send you back home and you would have a nasty black mark on your immigration record. Another important fact to know is that a non-visa national can apply for a visitor visa if they want to, if perhaps they are worried about not being admitted to the UK. If the visa is granted they must stand a better chance of being admitted to the UK and. if not, well at least they know where they stand.

So there are dangers which you may need to be aware of.

Anyway, all you Columbian, Guyanese and Peruvian readers out there – of whom we are sure there are many – now is your chance to visit the UK with less hassle then previously. There are no English language tests for visitors and all the scientists (well, most them at any rate) tell us that winters in the UK are getting milder and milder.

But, as outlined above, it might be a good idea to get some professional immigration advice before you travel. We at GSN Immigration are here to help.