Guyana Ambassador to EU calls for Schengen Visa exemption

(Schengen News) – The Ambassador of Guyana to Belgium and the EU, Sasnarine Singh, has advocated for visa-free travel for Guyanese nationals to the Schengen Area.

Singh’s appeal to lift the visa requirements for nationals of Guyana was made during a meeting of the Central and South American ambassadors at the European Union Parliament, Schengen.News reports.

The meeting was hosted by the President of the EU Parliament, Roberta Metsola, with the aim of strengthening the EU-Latin America relations.

While Ambassador Singh addressed the visa matter during this meeting and asked for a visa-free travel agreement to be reached between the EU and Guyana, it has not been revealed whether the EU authorities touched upon this topic.

This is not the first time that the authorities of Guyana have been pushing to reach a visa-free agreement or at least a facilitation with the EU.

The President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, previously said that the current visa rules that citizens of his country need to meet are very strict and asked for some of the requirements to be facilitated.

To be able to reach a visa-free travel agreement, Guyana and all other countries whose citizens need a visa to enter the bloc need to meet a set of criteria.

The Guyanese authorities just recently said that the country is working in this direction, with the Ministry of Interior launching a ten-year e-passport.

Since October 2024, passport holders of Guyana have been able to apply for Schengen visas without having to leave the country – in Georgetown.

Before October of last year, Guyanese nationals needed to travel to Suriname in order to be able to apply for a Schengen visa adding to the total cost.

France is one of the Schengen member states that opened an embassy in Guyana. Almost a year ago, the French authorities announced that the country would open an embassy in Guyana in 2025.

Given the desire to forge closer links as neighbouring countries and friends, Guyana and France have decided to write a new chapter in their history by opening a French Embassy in Georgetown in 2025.

By opening the embassy, the French Ministry for European and Foreign Affairs said back then that this move would help both countries to strengthen their relationship and build closer ties.

Moreover, the authorities acknowledged that the opening of the embassy would make the visa application process for Guyanese more hassle-free.