No visa-free travel to EU-Shengen area for Belize yet

By William Ysaguirre (Freelance Writer)

BELIZE CITY, Mon. July 20, 2026

   Belize remains in active discussions with the European Union about the possibility of a comprehensive visa waiver agreement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade declared in an official statement on Monday, July 20.

   The Ministry clarified that it “considers full visa-free access to the Schengen area, on par with regional partners, to be an important priority given the country’s long-standing relationship with the EU”, and … it “continues to press Belize’s case through the appropriate diplomatic channels.”

   The statement was issued in response to citizens’ queries, after Belize was excluded from a list of 9 member-states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) listed by the Kingdom of Spain last Tuesday, July 14, in a group of 60 countries who are being granted visa-free access for their citizens to visit Spain on short visits of up to 3 months. This was not Spain’s new immigration policy, however, as the visa exemption has been in place for the past 8 years under European Union regulation (EU) 2018/1806.

   The 9 CARICOM territories which have enjoyed visa-free access to the European Union without a Schengen visa are Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.

   The Ministry emphasizes that EU member states determine such visa waivers collectively. Meanwhile, “Belize remains listed among the countries whose nationals require a visa to enter the Schengen Area,” as are several other CARICOM Member States. The EU would have to enact a formal legislative amendment collectively for Belize to be granted a full visa waiver.

   Belize’s Foreign Ministry reaffirmed that it “has been actively engaged with both Spain and the EU in pursuit of a full Schengen visa waiver for Belizean nationals for a number of years”. In November 2025, the EU agreed that Belizeans holding biometric passports would be eligible for multiple-entry Schengen visas valid for up to 5 years, which represented a substantial improvement over the prior visa regime, and considerably simplified travel to Spain and the wider Schengen area for business, tourism, education, and family visits.