Does visiting Colombia hurts one's travel history?

1/15/2020 6:16:42 PM

Yes it can, in combination with other factors.

I’m Canadian and I crossed from the US into Mexico by motorcycle about five years ago. I was in Mexico for about four months and during that time, I took a flight to Bogota, Colombia to attend a tech conference.

When I crossed back from Mexico to the US at El Paso, I was handcuffed, detained, searched, and questioned. According to the agent, there were a combination of factors that caused them detain me… Mexico, Colombia, my mode of travel, etc. that added up to a red flag. I had no contraband was was admitted to the US after a couple of hours.

Since this event, when flying to the USA, I am always pulled in for secondary screening and in one case they searched all of my luggage carefully and questioned me about Colombia and narcotics for about 30 minutes.

I’ve heard of others in my extended network who’ve experienced similar.

I’d say that while you likely won’t suffer any problems just for visiting Colombia, you may run into problems if there is anything else about your profile that attracts attention.

It’s a shame, since as others have pointed out, Colombia is a great destination.

1/14/2020 10:59:12 AM

No, this is absolutely false!

I’m British, and my wife is Colombian. We go to Colombia quite a bit and we’ve both travelled (separately and together) to all these countries.

A few specific examples:

  • I’ve flown to the US directly from Colombia several times
  • We lived in Germany for two years, flying several times directly to and from Colombia. Colombians themselves get a 90 day visa waiver on entry to the Shengen area
  • My wife flew to Canada last year

By the way, enjoy Colombia, it’s incredible!

1/13/2020 11:37:14 PM

Not at all. It’s not on a list of banned countries either.

Source: I’ve travelled to at least 80 countries, including Colombia, Cuba, Iran, Uzbekistan, Zambia and other odd countries.

Post-Colombia, I actually flew directly into the US. I got a lot of questions as I’d only been in Bogota for 3 days, but once I passed those, it was all good.

The only one that’s caused me problems is Iran, the law change after I went by Obama’s administration meant that I now can’t get an ESTA for the USA for 5 years, and would need to apply for a proper visa and have an interview.

My last job in Australia required me to have background checks done, as I needed permission to be on an airport tarmac. That was also unaffected by my travels.

Regarding the ones you’ve mentioned, since Colombia I’ve been to the US, Canada and several European countries without problem.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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