Belize Left Off Spain’s Visa-Free List? Foreign Affairs Ministry “Clarifies”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (MFAFT) says that Spain’s July 14 visa-free travel list does not reflect a new decision but a restatement of existing European Union rules under which Belize remains excluded.

MFAFT said the list, which included nine CARICOM states, simply consolidates the countries already exempt from Schengen visa requirements under EU Regulation 2018/1806. “Determinations of this kind are made collectively by EU Member States,” the ministry said in a press release issued today. Belize remains among the countries whose nationals still require “a formal legislative amendment at the EU level, a process that is separate from any single Member State’s domestic announcement.”

According to the ministry, it has spent years lobbying with Spain and the EU in pursuit of a full Schengen waiver for Belizean nationals. That effort produced a breakthrough in November 2025, when the EU agreed that Belizeans holding biometric passports would qualify 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,” the ministry said.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade continues to press Belize’s case through the appropriate diplomatic channels,” the ministry added.

Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago were the CARICOM countries named on Spain’s visa-free list.

The Schengen area includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.