Colombian Immigration - Colombia in the last 10 years has changed from a
political instable county to one of the most visited by foreign
tourist. This has been possible due to the better conditions in security
and economic measures took by past governments.
In order to migrate to Colombia as permanent, you should consider the following
1) What’s your status in your home country and what are the plans you want to do in Colombia? As tourist you are allowed to stay 180 days per year in Colombia but you wont be able to buy house, open a bank account, get medical care, etc, as a normally citizens would do.
In order to get a good life/permanent in Colombia, you should obtain a visa and then an ID called cedula de extranjeria. These documents are the government authorization for you to stay in Colombia.
2) There are several types of visas, the most common are
- Student visa: requires you to be admitted and registered at an official school recognized by the ministry of Education.
- Pension visa: you should receive a private or public pension for not less that 800 dollars.
- Investor visa: this visa gives you complete residence and is permanent; you are required to invest 200.000 US dollars in real state or other business.
- There other types of visa, all depends on your project and qualifications.
- Do I need a lawyer?
As a tourist, you don’t need a visa to come to Colombia, only some countries are not exempt of this measure, but USA, SPAIN, ENGLAND, CANADA, GERMANY or other European nationals can come easily only using their passports.
To get a visa, YES, the best option is to hire a lawyer. Despite some petitioners look for paralegals, translator, or believe or not even taxi drivers to get a visa in order to save some cash, the petition for a visa is a tricky procedure and you put yourself in risk for not going directly to professionals. I have represented clients who had been required by government to pay full taxes as if they were Colombians only because the “paralegal” who did their application filed the wrong form or they had received fake visas.
Especially in the case of the investor visa, my recommendation is always do it through a lawyer and don’t expect support by the Notary (this office will only check the deed and title but WONT DO ANY INMIGRATION OR BANK PROCEDURES).
The omission of any paper has a sanction of 200% over the amount invested and the loose of the qualification to get the investor visa.
If you have any doubt, don’t hesitate to contact me
Esteban Rada Colombian lawyer
Email:
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Tel: +57-4-3133612 - +57-4-3133046
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