(CNN Spain) — The Colombian government has been working on getting the country to become part of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) and thereby eliminating visa requirements for Colombians traveling to the United States. How close are you to that possibility?

President Gustavo Petro’s government in Colombia has an agenda on the possible elimination of US visas for Colombian citizens. Despite the fact that this task requires effort and in-depth study by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Colombian ambassador to the United States, Luis Gilberto Murillo, has initiated talks to explore the possibility of visa waiver and that Colombia could become part of the Visa Waiver. Program (VWP).

What is Visa Exemption Program?

The visa waiver program, known as “Visa Free Program” (VWP), gives citizens of certain countries the ability to travel to the United States for tourism or business for a maximum period of 90 days, without having to apply for a visa.

Currently, only 40 countries are part of this program, and of the Latin American countries, only Chile has benefited from this.

Individuals traveling under the visa waiver program must apply for and receive an approved travel authorization through the system THIS (Electronic System for Travel Authorization, in English) to be able to travel to the United States.

However, it’s important to note that this authorization and being part of the VWP program do not guarantee entry into the country: travelers must demonstrate their eligibility to enter US territory.

How are the negotiations going?

March 6th of this year they met Deputy Secretary of State, Francisco Coy, and Colombian Ambassador to the United States, Luis Gilberto Murillo, to discuss requirements for entry into the visa-free program.

Present at the meeting were Colombia’s director of migration, Carlos Fernando García, as well as representatives from the National Police, the Attorney General’s Office, Civil Aviation and other dependencies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is in order to create a strategy to meet the requirements put forward by the Department of Homeland Security to be eligible for the program.

According to DHSthe five bases for accessing visa exemption are: counter-terrorism, law enforcement, travel screening, immigration enforcement, and travel/identity documents.

In addition, to participate in the program, Colombia must reduce its annual visa refusal rate to less than 3%.

“If we are a (US) strategic partner, Colombians are entitled to access to the visa-free program and we are proposing that to the US,” Luis Alberto Murillo said in an interview for the Caracol TV network The last week.

added Fortunately, Alejandro Mayorkas, US Secretary of Homeland Security, is open to exploring the possibility.

On the other hand, on April 27, the Colombian embassy in the United States reported in a Tweet from their official account that they are continuing to make efforts with DHS to bring about the visa waiver.

So far, there has been no talk of specific negotiations or a date for deliberations by the United States for Colombia to become part of the Visa Waiver Program list.

Instead, from 9 November 2022, the UK removed visa requirements for visitors to Colombia. Allowing them to be inside the UK for a maximum of 90 days.

Since 2015, Colombians do not need a visa to enter European countries that are included in the Schengen area.