Colombians in the United Kingdom

The first migrants consisted of Chilean and Argentine refugees, these were followed by Colombians and many other Latin American groups in the early 1970s.

Colombians in the UK tend to originate from the country's urban areas such as Bogota, Cali, Medellin and Palmira, although some come from the smaller towns and countryside.

There are roughly three stages of Colombian migration to the UK,[5] between 1975 and 1979 many came under the work permit system to take up jobs in low pay domestic services predominantly.

Applications for asylum from Colombians in the UK started to rise in 1996, peaked in 1997 and has been falling since then (with the exception of 1999 which saw a sharp increase).

A similarity between Colombia and the United Kingdom is that football is an extremely popular sport in both countries; this easily helps link communities and today many Colombians play in the Latin American leagues of London as well as for local teams.

Colombian students who are studying in the UK often organise events that mainly involve debates and conferences about the situation back home in their native Colombia.

[7][29] Many new Colombian immigrants including asylum seekers and refugees in the UK find finding work extremely difficult, it has become increasingly complicated over time to gain visas and working permits in the UK and there is also the likely chance of a claim for asylum being denied.

Despite this, there are hundreds if not thousands of new Colombian immigrants to the UK per annum, with the vast majority of these having little knowledge of the English language at all.

As stated earlier many new immigrants work in minimum wage jobs such as in domestic service and catering industries.

Lack of English skills is also a negative aspect for Colombians in the UK outside of the world of work, for example it may be hard to gain required information from local councils as well as legal advice.

As a response to this many new Latin American set up groups have been founded in London to help Colombians and other Hispanics to improve their language skills and/or find work.

Jorge Castano is a Cali born professional wrestler who has made a new life and career for himself in the UK,[34] Fernando Montano is the first Colombian to dance with the Royal Ballet and has been a member of the company since 2006, Phil Manzanera a musician and record producer who was the lead guitarist with Roxy Music was born in London to a Colombian mother and English father.

[37] Another notable expatriate in the UK of Colombian origin is Australian actor Adam Garcia who has found fame in many US and British films.