Belizeans required to acquire Schengen visa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirm

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade has noted recent media reports concerning a list published by the Kingdom of Spain on July 14, 2026, confirming visa-free access to Spain for citizens of sixty countries, including nine member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The Ministry wishes to clarify the basis of this list and to update the Belizean public on the status of its own engagement with the European Union (EU) on this matter. The Ministry emphasises that the recently published list is a consolidated restatement of the list of third countries whose nationals are already not required to hold a visa when crossing the external borders of the Schengen Area, as set out under European Union Regulation (EU) 2018/1806. Determinations of this kind are made collectively by EU Member States. Belize, alongside several other CARICOM Member States, currently remains listed among the countries whose nationals require a visa to enter the Schengen Area. A full waiver would require a formal legislative amendment at the EU level, a process that is separate from any single Member State’s domestic announcement. The Foreign Ministry wishes to reaffirm that it has, for a number of years, been actively engaged with both Spain and the EU in pursuit of a full Schengen visa waiver for Belizean nationals. This engagement produced a significant milestone in November 2025, when the European Union agreed that Belizean nationals holding biometric passports would become eligible for multiple-entry Schengen visas valid for up to five years. This measure has meaningfully simplified travel to Spain and the wider Schengen Area for business, tourism, education, and family visits, and represented a substantial improvement over the prior visa regime. A comprehensive visa waiver agreement between Belize and the European Union remains under active discussion, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade continues to press Belize’s case through the appropriate diplomatic channels. The Ministry considers full visa-free access to the Schengen Area, on par with regional partners, to be an important priority given the country’s longstanding relationship with the EU. The post Belizeans required to acquire Schengen visa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirm appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.