Dear Government of Belize: Please get your shit together

Ah Belize..waves crashing on the beach..soft trade winds cooling your skin.

Ahh Belize…The tropical sun nourishing body and soul.

Ahhh Belize…where everyone smiles and says welcome. Except the first person you meet and the last: Immigration.

Tourism is the lifeblood of the Belizian economy. More people come to Belize to visit than live here. And it is not surprising to anyone who has been here. For such a small country it is packed with things to do and see. You can hang with the crowds in San Pedro and Placencia, or visit places where you are the only one around. The people are warm and friendly, and eager to share their unique knowledge of their beloved homeland.

In a country that relies so heavily on tourism, you would expect that the people who greet you would make you feel welcome, not eye you suspiciously like they suspect you are smuggling drugs or t-shirts.

One month, less a day: that is how long you are welcome in Belize. As a tourist, you can renew your visa up to five times, losing a day each month, for a maximum stay of 5 moths, three weeks. That is, of you renew on the exact day your visa ends. If it ends on a weekend, you can go in Monday, but they will back-date it so you get no advantage. If you go in a couple of days early, because you might be busy touring around, or on some island where there is no immigration office, you will get one month, less a day, from the day you renew. In other words you lose a couple of days. By the way, each time you renew, you pay $50bz.

When your lovely trip is over, and I do mean lovely – Belize is a wonderful place to visit – you had better get out before your visa expires. If you are one day late, they just might threaten you with a little jail time until you can see a magistrate and pay a $1000bz fine and be deported. Because that is why we travel: to be treated like criminals by petty bureaucrats.

Thank you Belize. Thank you for being such a great place to visit. Thank you for protecting your natural areas. Thank you for your people, who are friendly and caring. But to the Government of Belize, I beg you: get your shit together and train your immigration officers to be welcoming to the visitors who come and support your economy. And please train them to distinguish between a tardy traveller and an illegal immigrant.