Columbians lose non-visa national status

Back in November 2022 we informed you that Columbian nationals had been given non-visa national status. In other words, they were now able to come to the UK as visitors without any visa. A non-visa national can (as the law stands at the moment) just get on an airliner, travel to the UK, and seek entry at the border as a visitor purely on the strength of their passport and nationality. 

No doubt this was cause for celebrations but alas any such celebrations must now be reversed. In its latest Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules the Home Office has re-imposed visa national status on Columbians, and this will take effect later this month, December 2024.

The reasons given for this are as follows:

“… there has been a significant and sustained increase in Colombian nationals who have travelled to the UK for purposes that are not permitted under the Immigration Rules for Visitors, such as to live, work or claim asylum in the UK”.

And, concomitantly:

“There has also been an increase in Colombian passengers refused entry at the border, from 24, 42 and 35 refusals in the first 3 quarters of 2022, to 78 in the 2022 quarter 4.”

These are typical reasons for this kind of decision: where nationals of a particular country are deemed not to be “reliable”, for want of a better word. 

This measure is going to take effect shortly before the imposition of the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) in early 2025 for non-visa nationals, as well as the eVisa scheme, which will come fully into effect for everybody by the end of 2024, and so everything is happening at once.

If you have any issues with any of these matters we at GSN will do our best to assist you.

Oliver Westmoreland

Senior Immigration Lawyer