Visa FAQs

You must process the Colombian visa that corresponds to the activity that you will carry out in the country. InterCol can represent and advise you during this process.

Visas are the authorization granted to a foreigner to legally enter and stay in Colombia, and are required to obtain the foreigner ID card. The visa process is carried out in Bogotá at the Ministry of Foreign Relations, through our management.

These are issued by Migración Colombia (at the checkpoints in every city in the country) and are the identification document for foreigners within Colombia.

The process could take between four (4) and eight (8) business days from the date of application.

Type V Visa (Temporary service provider): Visa granted to foreigners who wish to enter the country in order to provide specialized technical assistance to public or private organizations, with or without a work contract.

Migrant Visa or Type “M” Visa:
For foreigners that wish to enter and/or remain in the country with the intention of settling, and do not meet the conditions to apply for the type “R” visa.

To apply for the type “M” visa, you must satisfy one of the following conditions:

Be the spouse or permanent companion of a Colombian national.
Be the parent or child of a Colombian national by adoption.
Be a national of one of the States Parties to the “Agreement on Residency for the States Parties of Mercosur, Bolivia and Chile”.
Be recognized as a refugee in Colombia, according to current regulations.
Have employment or long-term employment in Colombia, through a labor relationship or provision of services with a legal or natural person that resides in Colombia.
Having formed a business company, or invested in the capital stock of a business company for the minimum amounts laid out in the requirements chapter.
Have the qualifications or expertise required to exercise an independent profession, and meet the financial conditions (listed in the requirements chapter) to do so.
Visit the country as a member of a religious order (or in training to be one), or a missionary from a church or religious denomination that is duly recognized by the Colombian state.
Be admitted or enrolled in elementary, secondary or middle school studies, or an undergraduate higher education program of an educational institution in Colombia.
Have made direct foreign investment in property in Colombia, for the amounts listed in the requirements chapter.
Receive a pension due to retirement, or receive periodical income from a provable legal source, for the amounts detailed in the requirements chapter.

RE Visa: Authorization to enter and stay in the country that is granted to foreigners who meet one or more of the following conditions:

Being the parent of a Colombian national.
When both parents of a Colombian national are foreign nationals.
When a foreigner who has been a Colombian citizen has renounced said citizenship.
Foreigners who have held a type “M” visa for a minimum continuous and uninterrupted period of five (5) years.
Foreigners who have held a type “M” spouse visa for a minimum continuous and uninterrupted period of three (3) years.
Foreigners who have held a type “M” Mercosur visa for a minimum continuous and uninterrupted period of two (2) years.
Foreigners of legal age who been the beneficiary of a type “RE” visa holder for a continuous and uninterrupted period of five (5) years.
Having made foreign investment with the Colombian Central Bank.

If you are staying irregularly, ask us how to resolve your immigration status through compliance with regulatory requirements in order to obtain a special permit to stay in the country and apply for a new visa.

When holders of a type “M” temporary visa are outside Colombia for a period exceeding one hundred and eighty (180) continuous days. For residency “RE” visas, the right is lost if you are outside the country for a period of two (2) continuous years.

Visas must be registered at Migration Colombia within fifteen (15) calendar days following their issue..

Holders of the type “M” work visa, type “M” spouse Visa, type “M” Mercosur visa, Refugee visa and “RE” residency visa are authorized to exercise any legal occupation in the country, including those that are carried out through an employment relationship or contract.