Post
by tt » Tue Jun 09, 2009 1:37 pm
Interesting, this action brings the Schengen visafree regime closer to the UK one.
And along with the UK actions recently, which make (from 1 July, 2009) South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Bolivia (and earlier, Jamaica and Zimbabwe) citizens all need a visa in advance to visit the UK, it looks like we are beginning to see a merger of ideas between the UK and the Schengen countries.
Differences still outstanding between the visa regime of the UK and of Schengen are the following:-
1. visiting UK no visa needed/visiting Schengen visa needed - citizens of:-
Asia: Taiwan, Maldives.
West Indies: Belize, Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent, Trinidad.
Pacific Islands: Kiribati, Nauru, PapuaNG, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Marshall Isl, Micronesia, Palau.
Africa: Botswana, Namibia.
2. visiting UK visa needed/visiting Schengen no visa needed - citizens of:-
Vatican City.
(Apologies in advance if you see any inaccuracies).
Actually, as a side point, does anyone know why the Ireland and UK visa regimes are different given the Common Free Area?
South Africans, for example, can still travel to Ireland without a visa. Doesn't that lead to complications?