Colombia offers tourist visas to citizens of many countries good for 90 days. It is possible to extend a tourist visa by 90 days for a total of 180 days. Follow our guide to extend a tourist visa that is updated for 2023.
Colombia offers instant tourist visas to citizens of many countries that are good for 90 days. These “tourist visas” are really just a stamp in your passport and aren’t really visas. And it is quite easy to extend a Colombian tourist visa to enable staying in Colombia a maximum of 180 days in a year.
There are over 90 countries, whose citizens can enter Colombia without a visa and receive a “tourist visa” stamp. The countries include Australia, Brazil, Canada Chile, Ecuador, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Peru, Russia, South Korea, United Kingdom, United States plus over 80 more countries.
However, if you are a tourist from Canada, you used to have to pay an entry fee of 201,000 pesos. But this entry fee didn’t apply to Canadians over the age of 79 or younger than 14. Also, this entry fee for Canadians was eliminated on May 1, 2019.
When you enter Colombia as a tourist, an immigration official will always stamp your passport and write that it is good for 90 days. The number will be shorter only if you you have consumed the time of stay in Colombia, and the time you have to stay in the country is the remaining days of those 180 maximum days. In this case, you will not be able to request an extension.
I have lived in Medellín for several years with visas. Before this time, I had tourist visa stamps and extended these several times. This article has been updated with the online process to renew a Colombia “tourist visa” stamp. There is no longer the need to go to a Migracion Colombia office to renew a “tourist visa” stamp unless you have problems online.
Many websites incorrectly call this a “tourist visa” but it isn’t really a visa. It is a tourist permit that is just a stamp in your passport. It isn’t a visa and Colombia has many types of visas that require visa applications.
Note the above photo shows two 90-day Colombian tourist permit stamps in a passport.
However, instead of extending your tourist visa stamp, there are over 20 different types of Colombian visas. We have a comprehensive guide to Colombian visas.
How Long Can You Normally Stay as a Tourist in Colombia?
The current tourist rule is that you can stay in Colombia as a tourist for a maximum of 180 days in a calendar year (January 1 to December 31).
In addition, you can’t stay for more than 180 days consecutively, even if this is across two years. This 180 day limit is the time you actually spend in Colombia including arrival and departure days. This count isn’t the time stamped on your passport on the tourist permit stamp, it’s your actual time spent in Colombia.
For example, if you arrive on November 1, 2022 you will have to depart at the end of February 2023, even though you were in Colombia in 2023 for less than six months. But you could leave Colombia for 24 hours and come back with a “tourist visa” stamp for another 90 days in 2023, as this resets the “tourist clock”.
There is no penalty for applying early for a tourist visa/permit extension. And the 90-day visa extension is added to the day your current tourist stamp expires, not the day you apply. But there is a penalty for starting late.
How to Extend a Colombia Tourist Visa
One way to extend your “tourist visa” stamp is to simply leave the country and return with a new tourist visa. Or you can extend a tourist permit online while in Colombia.
In the past you needed to go to a Migracion Colombia office to renew a tourist permit if you are in Colombia. This is no longer the case. You can renew a Colombia tourist permit online with no need to go to a Migracion Colombia office.
Migracion Colombia usually rejects renewals if more than about 10 days before your tourist visa expires, so we recommend submitting your extension in this time range before your tourist visa expires.
However, many Medellin Guru readers have encountered problems applying for a tourist visa online and paying online. So, they had to go a Migracion Colombia office.
Medellin Guru partnered with a visa agency that offers the service of extending the tourist visa stamp.
The visa agency we partnered with previously helped 48 Medellin Guru readers extend tourist visas using our tourist visa extension service.
Medellin Guru Visa Service
The visa agency we partnered with has helped 800 Medellin Guru reader
What to Do If You Overstay Your Tourist Visa?
If you overstay your tourist time limit, you will have to pay a fine before leaving the country. If you overstay, we recommend that you pay the fine at the Migracion office within at least three days before your departure, so you aren’t delayed at the airport. Fines reportedly start at 1,400,000 pesos and go up, depending on how long you overstay.
If you overstay your tourist “visa” by less than six months, you can pay your fine, leave Colombian and will still be able to re-enter Colombia with a new tourist visa in the same year (as long as under the 180-day tourist rule). If you overstay by more than six months, you technically qualify for deportation and will need to leave Colombia immediately.
If you overstay you will need to go to Migracion Colombia less than 15 days before your planned departure and ask for a “salvoconducto“. This is essentially a temporary permit that allows you to be in Colombia even though your tourist visa has expired. In addition, a salvoconducto is only good for 15 days or 30. And you will need to show this to Migracion at the airport when you leave.
When you go to Migracion Colombia for a salvoconducto you need:
- Your passport
- Copy of the page of your current passport with your personal data/photo
- Copy of your most recent Colombia tourist visa stamp
- Credit or debit card to pay the fine and cost of the salvoconducto.
The salvoconducto costs 74,000 pesos and the fine starts at 1,400,000 pesos and can go as high as over 5 million pesos. But if you have overstayed for less than three months I have heard from a few foreigners the fine can be less than 2,000,000 pesos.
How to Extend a Colombia Tourist Visa Online in Medellín or Colombia
To renew a “tourist visa” stamp, you should be able to do this online here but many readers have encountered problems with the online tourist visa extensions.
First select Formulario Único de Trámites (FUT) and then Choose the “Permiso Temporal de Permanencia para Prorrogar Permanencia” option and make sure to use the Spanish version (the English version has problems).
You will be requested the following to upload your attachments in PDF format.
Migracion Colombia in Medellín told me that you need the three items below:
If you don’t have proof of onward travel, you could book a refundable ticket on Expedia that is refundable within 24 hours and print to PDF the confirmation email. Here are steps to get a refundable ticket on Expedia.
And for families there are additional requirements for children:
PDF file sizes are limited to a total of 1 MB for the files. You can compress PDF files using the IlovePDF website. Also, you can combine PDF files into one file using CombinePDF.
If you run into problems with an online tourist visa extension, try another browser. Several readers have reported that Firefox works best.
After submitting the tourist permit renewal application you should get a response in 1 to 2 business days. If approved you will need to pay the 110,000 pesos fee. And this is free if you are from a Schengen country in Europe.
There will be instructions about how to pay in your approval email. You can pay online, at a Banco Occidente bank or at a Migracion Colombia office. Reportedly there may be some “web maintenance” issues if paying online with a credit card.
If there is a problem with your application you may be able to solve this via the phone at via toll free to 01800 0510454. In addition, you can ask for someone speaking English.
After you are approved and have paid you will receive a PDF indicating that your tourist permit has been extended. You will need to print this and keep it with your passport. And there is no need to go to the Migracion Colombia office if you are able to successfully renew online.
Some readers have shared that they submitted their tourist extension application and got an email with a “Número de solicitud”, but then never received any more emails — not a rejection nor an approval — even after a few days. In this case you will need to print off the email with your número de solicitud and go to a Migracion Colombia office.
Medellin Guru Insurance Service
Medellin Guru partnered with an insurance agent to offer Colombian insurance services to foreigners including health insurance, auto insurance, homeowners’ insurance, travel insurance and life insurance.
Making an Appointment with Migracion Colombia
If you have problems renewing a “tourist visa” stamp online and can’t resolve the problem, this requires a trip to a Migracion Colombia office, which are located in every major city in Colombia.
Before going to a Migracion Colombia office, you need to make an appointment. Appointments are now required and can be scheduled online here. You can also schedule a virtual appointment here.
Also, keep in mind that Migracion Colombia is closed on national holidays and on the weekends.
When you confirm your appointment make sure to write it down or take a photo of the confirmation page.
How to Apply for an Colombia Tourist Visa Extension at Migracion Colombia
You used to be able to apply for tourist visa extensions at Migracion Colombia offices but this is no longer an option. This is what was needed when applying at a Migracion Colombia office before the pandemic:
- Your passport
- Copy of the page of your current passport with your personal data
- Copy of your current tourist permit stamp
- Your appointment confirmation number (if you made an appointment), print it out
- Proof of onward travel. This is a copy of a ticket for departure from Colombia. And this can be a copy of a flight confirmation email. It should have your full name, dates and an itinerary showing departure from a Colombian city to a city outside of Colombia.
If you didn’t prepare copies beforehand, there is a small shop near the Migracion Colombia office in Medellín that can make copies for about 500 pesos each.
When you arrived at Migracion Colombia, you presented yourself at the counter with your appointment information, where someone will verify you have the proper documentation to extend your tourist visa. And if so, you will be told to sit and wait to be called by name by an immigration official.
You needed to pay for the tourist permit extension at Migracion Colombia with a credit or debit card. American Express and Diners Club are not accepted. Only Visa or MasterCard are accepted. The cost for extending a tourist visa increased to 110,900 pesos in 2023 or this is free if a citizen from a Schengen country in Europe.
In the past some expats have extended their tourist permits without an appointment. But Migracion now requires appointments.
How to Get to Migracion Colombia in Medellín
Here is a list of the Migracion Colombia offices in the five largest cities in Colombia.
- Bogotá – Calle 100 # 11B-27
- Medellín – Calle 19 # 80A-40, Barrio Belén
- Cali – Avenida 3 norte # 50N-20
- Cartagena – Carrera 20 B # 29-18, Barrio pie de la Popa
- Barranquilla – Carrera 42 # 54-77, Barrio El Recreo
A complete list of Migracion Colombia can be found here. In Medellín, the Migracion Colombia office is located in Belén and is listed on the Migracion Colombia website with the address Calle 19 # 80A-40.
However, this address is the old entrance and the guard there will direct you to the other side of the building. The new entrance location is actually on Calle 19A and is shown in the photo above and with the red marker on the map below.
Medellin Guru's Comprehensive Visa and Passport Series
Keep in mind a tourist stamp in your passport is not the same as a visa. If you want to stay longer, Colombia has over 20 types of visas that can permit you to stay in Colombia for over 180 days. On the Medellin Guru site, we have a comprehensive series of visa articles that are kept up-to-date and should answer most visa questions. These articles include:
- Colombia Visa Guide: Ultimate Guide How to Get a Colombian Visa
- How to Obtain a Colombian Visa with Up-to-Date Info – an overview of all the Colombian visas
- Popular Colombian Visas for Foreigners: Which Visa is the Most Popular?
- Coronavirus Impacts on Colombian Visas and Tourist Visas
- Visa Agencies: A Guide to Visa Agencies in Medellín and Colombia
- 9 Common Colombian Visa Mistakes: How to Avoid Them
We have looked in detail at the seven most popular Colombian visas used by foreigners:
Also, we have looked in detail at three additional Colombian visas, which are less popular for foreigners:
- Rentista visa (annuity visa) – for foreigners with a fixed income
- Beneficiary visa – for relatives of visa holders
- Expertise visa – for professionals
In addition, we have a guide to Colombia tourist visas and how to extend a tourist visa. Also, we have a guide to renewing U.S. passports in Colombia and a guide to obtaining a Colombian passport.
Furthermore, we provide information about travel insurance that meets the insurance requirement for Colombian visas. And we have a guide to how apply for a cedula extranjeria in Colombia and a guide to using notaries in Medellín and Colombia. Finally, Medellin Guru has partnered with a visa agency to offer Colombia visa services.
All of our Colombia visa articles were updated in 2022 and are being updated again in 2023 to ensure they are up-to-date. In addition, all visa articles on this website will be kept up-to-date as new details are disclosed.
Using a Visa Agency if Needing a Visa for Longer Than 180 DaysIf you are in Colombia and
If you are in Colombia and not located in Bogotá and applying for a Colombia visa plus you don’t want to travel, you can use a visa agency to obtain a Colombian visa.
Medellin Guru has partnered with what we believe is the best visa agency in Medellín to offer Colombia visa services. Features of this service include:
- Online chat – get visa questions answered fast.
- Online quotes – get immediate visa quotes.
- Bilingual team.
- Office in El Poblado in Medellín.
- Competitive price compared to other visa services.
The Medellin Guru visa service partnership was launched in March 2019. And in 47 months, 630 visas have been successfully received by clients.
Also, our visa service renewed 58 American passports in Bogotá using our passport renewal service. In addition, 47 clients extended tourist visas using our tourist visa extension service.
So, in total we had 732 clients of the Medellin Guru visa service in 47 months.
In addition, many more visas are in process – short, medium or longer term, depending on client needs.
We reviewed all the Colombia visa agency services in Medellín and found one agency that offers a more efficient visa service with more features and more comprehensive communications including online chat, WhatsApp, videocall, email and phone plus a low price and a convenient office in El Poblado.
Our visa partnership is an affiliate relationship (like the Amazon affiliate program). If you use our visa partner, Medellin Guru receives a small commission and you support the website. This is at no additional cost to you. The price remains the same, whether you use a button or affiliate link on this website or not.
Furthermore, the visa agency we partnered with offers visa services anywhere in Colombia. So, if you are located in another city in Colombia you can use this service.
The Bottom Line: How to Extend Colombia Tourist Visa (Tourist Stamp)
Colombia makes it relatively easy to stay in the country for up to 180 days each calendar year with just a “tourist visa” stamp, as the “tourist visa” or tourist permit extension, which are even easier to get than in the past as the extension can be done online.
The visa agency we partnered with has helped 47 Medellin Guru readers extended tourist visas using our tourist visa extension service but the visa agency stopped doing this.
The visa processes change frequently in Colombia. If you experience something different than the Colombian tourist visa extension process outlined above, please let us know in the comments below. We intend to keep all of our visa articles up-to-date.
In addition, “How to extend a Colombia tourist visa?” is a common question asked by expats visiting Medellín. So, we included this question in our list of Medellín frequently asked questions (FAQ).
Medellin Guru Visa Service
The visa agency we partnered with has helped 800 Medellin Guru reader
Editors note: updated on February 28, 2023 with updated information to extend the tourist stamp in 2023.
Editors note: updated on June 29, 2023, with new images.
Editors note: updated on August 24, 2023, with new links of Migración Colombia.
475 thoughts on “Tourist Visas: How to Extend a Tourist Visa in Medellín – 2023 Update”
Hi Jeff,
Thank you for your articles!
Please give a hand here:
I’m going to Colombia in October this year,
I’ll use the first 90 days visa stamp.
If I want to extend the stamp for another 90 days, should I leave the country until 2022, or can I just pay for the extension of another 90 days without leaving the country?
Yes, you can extend a tourist visa without leaving the country and this is done online. Follow the steps in our article and make sure to use the Spanish version of the form.
Thank you very much!
hi,im a canadian resident and i want to stay to colombia 1 to 6 months,i dont know how long yet but i know canadians dont need a visa to enter in colombia,so di need a visa ?? im confused
A Canadian can enter Colombia as a tourist, which is just a stamp in your passport good for 90 days and this can be extended while in Colombia to 180 days.
On the situation of overstaying more than six months and being qualified for deportation, is still needed to apply for a salvoconducto or you just leave the country? I mean, you just buy your ticket and leave yourself (including the consequences of not being able to turn back for x period of time)? Will the Migracion Colombia block your departure at the airport?
Can you please give more information what can be happen in this situation?
Thank you Jeff, amazing job and your articles are too much helpful.
I extended my tourist stamp by an additional one 90 days, which expired on May 9th. However, I ended up leaving Colombia on April 20th. Am I able to return to Colombia to finish the remainder of the 180 days?
Yes, only time in Colombia including your arrival and departure days count towards the 180 days.
Hi,
my second 90 day tourist visa is about to expire June 10th making it 180 days. I’m finding some contradictory information on the web. If I fly to Mexico can i come back in in a few days or do i have to wait 6 month before coming back?
I am working on a 2 year visa that i’m supposed to receive on Friday but i am preparing for the worse case scenario. Maybe i can wait a week in Mexico and it can be sent to me there so i can re-enter.
Thank you in advance!
Michael.
Has anyone tried to extend their tourist visa lately and seen that the situation has improved? Did it go through easily?
That’s good to know that it would be possible to extend. I am thinking of taking a trip. I’ll have to consider working with someone to extend my visa if I decide to stay longer.
If I extend my tourist visa another 90-days but leave the country 30 days into my 90 day extension, will I still have 60 days remaining on my visa when I return to the country in the same year? Will the remaining 60-days expire in the same year?
If you return you will have 60 days and will get a new tourist stamp. Only counts time in Colombia for 180 day limit.
Hi, i received my pre-approval visa extension by email but when i try to pay via the link Migracion sent all my credit cards are declined, obviously i use them everywhere in Colombia without problem, just did yesterday. What should i do next my visa expires the 13th in 3 days.
Michael, how did you resolve this? Did you end up paying online or did you go in person? I’m having the same issue.
Two years ago when their website wasn’t processing payments they had an option to transfer at a bank, but not sure if that’s possible anymore.
I’ve never had a glitch-free or hassle-free extension process!
I just kept trying and what i did is a woke up 5am and did at that time when systems were quiet and it worked right away.
Flying from Airport to Airport domestically having overstayed (Being with an irregular status) you have a 78.21% chance that the check in lady says you can not board and that you need to get you stuff fixed.
You have a 50% chance they will let you in the bus station to that same effect
Like many others, I have applied for a tourist visa extension online, received an automated confirmation number via email, but have had no update on the status. Has anyone had any success resolving this in the Belen office in Medellin? If so, what was your experience like?
Ok so it’s been weeks since I filled out the online tourist stamp/permit/visa extension. And still no reply/confirmation email. Based on what I’m reading above I’m starting to think my best option would be to overstay my 90 days by an additional 60 days and just pay the fine on my way out of Colombia.
No here’s the kicker; if I wanted to fly from Medellín to Cartegena after my first 90 days are up, would I be able to do so? I understand it’s a domestic flight so would immigration still be involved?
See the comment from Claire above. Migracion appears to have a problem with sending emails. She went to a Migracion office and found that extension had been approved.
So, if you don’t receive the confirmation email from immigration after filling out the online form, go to your nearest migration office and sort it out in person.
Thanks for the reply Jeff, I appreciate it. Hypothetically speaking if I do not qualify for the visa extension and spend an additional 60 days in Colombia, am I allowed to travel within Colombia? Could I still take a flight from Medellin to Cartegena without immigration noticing I’ve overstayed my first 90 days.
Hi Darren- Yes you can definitely travel on domestic destinations without issue, there is no immigration checks for those. In Bogota and Medellin they have separate terminals for domestic and international flights. For domestic you only need to pass security to access the gate while on international flight, you also need to clear immigration.
That answers my question! Thanks for taking the time to reply Francois. Appreciate it!
Hey all,
I thought I would leave my experience of getting a visa extension (prorroga) here in Colombia. I first went to the migration office in Neiva over a week ago to do the prorroga but I was told that it was now all done online so I headed straight to a nearby internet cafe and filled out the form here: https://www.migracioncolombia.gov.co/prorroga-de-permanencia. I waited 3 days for the confirmation email but after five days and still no email I decided to fill in the form once again thinking that maybe the 1st one had somehow got lost in the system but after one week and STILL no response and only 2 days left on my visa, I decided to travel again to Neiva (a 5 hour drive from where I live..) to the migration office. Oh, I also tried calling about 50 times but that was pointless as nobody answers! Once I got to the migration office I explain my situation, the lady was very helpful, I was seen to straight away and told that my solitude had already been approved (no explanation to why I never received the email though) and within 5 minutes I was out of the building again with the confirmation of my solicitude and a slip of paper that I needed to take to Banco Occidente to pay the cost of the prorroga.
So my advice to those of you who need to do the visa extension, don’t wait until your 90 days are up, if you don’t receive the confirmation email from immigration after filling out the online form, go to your nearest migration office and sort it out in person.
Did you check the junk mail box in your email? It’s possible Migracion Colombia did in fact send an email, but it ended up unfound in your junk mailbox.
Trying to extend my 90-day tourist visa, What do we click/check here?
Kind of Procedure
Procedure :
Foreigner ID
Registration of Foreigner under 7 years
Temporary Permit of Permanence to Extend Permanence
Temporary Permit of Permanence to Change Permit
Migratory Movement Certificate
Certificate of Migratory Movement and Nationality
Safe passage
Recommend using the Spanish version as it says in the article due to some readers reporting problems with the English version.
Choose the “Permiso Temporal de Permanencia para Prorrogar Permanencia” option.
Trying to extend my 90-day tourist visa, What do we click/check here?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ydfo5ciqso6c8gq/2021-02-02_11-08-12.jpg?dl=0
It would be “Temporary Permit of Permanence to Extend Permanence”
However, recommend using the Spanish version as it says in the article due to some readers reporting problems with the English version.
Choose the “Permiso Temporal de Permanencia para Prorrogar Permanencia” option
I applied for my visa extension on Jan 7th. I went to migracion here in bogota on the 25th. they said it was processed, and I should get an email for payment sometime during the week. Didn’t receive anything, but on friday the status finally changed to “REGISTRADO EN FUT” I’m not sure what that means – registered and okay?
Anyways, they told me to come back on monday and pay if i didn’t get an email. was curious on anyone else’s experience.
You must make an appointment for Procesos Administrativos extranjeros BEFORE you can have an appoint for Salvo Conducto in Cali. Also, you need a good excuse as to way you overstayed your tourist stamp. I am delinquent for just 1 week and they are threatening Deportation level fines 900,000. I have to return with a doctors note on why i didnt leave on the 22nd of Jan. If they accept my Dr note my fine will be 500,000. Also, i would like to point out they acted like assholes.
So here it the process:
1) Proceso Adminstrativo Extranjeros
2) 1st interview for Salvo Conducto
3) 2nd interview and payment of fee. It takes 3 days to process. Afterwards, they are giving out 30 days for Salvo Conductos to leave the country, not the 15 days like in the past.
Im not sure what the steps are after that since i did 1 & 2 and will return for step 3 to pay my fine.
SANDRA: “She told me that if I would never receive an email from Migracion regarding my solicitud (which happens a lot lately) I just go to the airport, check in and pay the fine at Migracion at the airport.”
Keep in mind this strategy is fool proof if you are in Bogota, and your flight does not take off at 6AM, because no one will let you in the airport at 3AM, I think,
Secondly, you may get blocked at the Medellin/Cali/Baranquilla etc Airports if they see you do not have a salvo conducto. I know for a fact that in Cucuta they MIGHT not even let you in the terminal now if you are in the country Irregular.
Thanks for your advice Pete! I called the Visa Agency (partner of Medellin Guru) several times and they have a lot experience with these situations.
In case someone overstays his first 90 days “Tourist Visa” here with LESS than 90 days (so leaving the country within 180 days) + you have proof of the date of your solicitud (17 digits solicitud number) you should be fine.
In this case a Salvoconducto is NOT necesarry. You just go to the airport in Rionegro, check in and go to Migracion. Most probably you don’t have to pay a fine (see story of Edward above here) but if you do have to it should be max. 700.000 pesos.
This is a Migracion problem, not our problem. As long as you have proof of the fact that you filled in the online form before the expiry date of your first 90 days.
After reading these reports (including my own experience) I’m surprised just how crazy the process has become for extending a Tourist Visa in Colombia, especially in places like Medellin. The process is so much simpler and quicker in Brazil (at least outside of Rio), a country notorious for its red tape and overwhelming bureaucracy. Heck, even Paraguay was more difficult than Brazil, and the customs agents at the airport were surprised and confused by my legally acquired 90-day extension when I went to take my flight to Medellin. They were like, “You should have just overstayed and payed the fine, it would have cost you less than paying for the extension” LOL!!!
I wish you all more smooth and expedient extension experiences, and that you enjoy the Valley of Aburra more than I was able to. I never got to see places like Parque Arvi and other major sites due to lockdown, and how it killed my motivation to explore after it lifted. Have fun everyone!
For all you poor folks in Medellin trying to extend your tourist visa.
I tried to renew online on January 14. The application went through and I got an application number but there was no email confirmation or reply of any sort. I just went to the migracion office in Belen on January 25. The moderator outside just asked for and collected my print-outs of application number page screenshot, passport, visa stamp, and proof-of-return-travel. He also made me write down my phone number and email (I noted “WhatsApp” next to the number). We all want some sort of confirmation but you are not going to get any.
An hour later, the guy messages me on WhatsApp. Tells me I have until the next day to come into the office again to pay. I go in next day and it’s a complete shit-show; there was like an insane amount of people, trying to get answers or what not. Furthermore, there was a different moderator or lady outside the door. She barely lets me in after I explain the situation. I was probably inside for like an hour or so. The lady at the desk already have my paperwork from the day before. I paid with my credit card and they were trying to send me the extension email but the email system in general anywhere doesn’t seem to be working so they just literally printed out a copy of what I would need to take to the airport.
Hope that helps. They close for 1-2 hours for lunch. They open back up at 1pm. I wish I knew about that before heading in. In total, it probably took like 3 hours.
So in short, they want people now to extend their Turist Visa online (no option to make an appointment in Belen, which I can understand because of the pandemic), but in fact their system fails completely to extend Turist Visas online and you will never receive an email with a conformation of the extension? How rude is that?
I will definately not go to their office in Belen without an official appointment. Then I prefer to be illegal here the last 2,5 months and pay a fine of about 700,000 pesos at the airport.
Hi Jeff, thanks for your article. It is very helpful. I have been in Colombia since 4th November and want to extend my tourist visa for an further 90 day. I filled out the online form with the documents they required on Monday 24th but I have not heard anything back from them. Do you have any information on what is happening regarding the visa extentions? Is it normal for them not to respond for so many days?
Clare, I am in the same situation. I am here since 7th November and filled in the online form last Friday, as my first 90 days will expire in 8 days on the 5th of February. I did not receive anything yet after 6 days. Already called the Visa Agency (which is a partner of Medellin Guru) twice about this, but they can’t help. Even offered them 100 dollars if they could fix it for me but we just have to wait. It’s impossible to make an appointment at the Migracion office in Belen, they won’t let you in.
Possibly we will overstay the first 90 days without receiving a confirmacion email from Migracion about the extension. This happens a lot lately according the Visa Agency which I called. Worst case scenario would be that we will never receive a confirmation email and have to pay a fine at the airport of about 700.000 pesos.
Canada just shut travel down. I had this experience at December 8 2020 with Colombia and they told me to leave the country and come back at first, that they are no longer renewing. Thing have gotten much worse since 25 December, so I dont think anyone is going to be getting these tourism extentions unless there is a real reason to be staying in this country on the cusp of CEPA 2.0 or 3.0 or I don’t what is going on with these rulers
Hey guys! I’m in Brazil now but wanted to give my input based on the experience I had leaving Colombia at the Rio Negro airport after having to stay with an “irregular Status” for about 4 weeks due to financial constraints in buying a plane ticket out, in hopes that this will help some of you.
I went to the Migracion Colombia office in Medellin a few days before my flight was scheduled (bought the ticket about a week before departure). I informed them that I was there to obtain a Salvoconducto and pay any multa (fine) required, and they told me that I had to have an appointment for any “administrative” activities such as that. They then told me to walk down to the end of the block to the little internet cafe, and I could schedule an appointment there. This was 3 days before Christmas, and they had absolutely NO appointments available until January 8th, and my flight left on December 28th.
When I returned, I was told to come back at 2pm to talk to the person that handles all fine paying, and when I did, she told me that I couldn’t resolve this at the office, because when an overstay fine is paid there, it takes at least 3 business days to process, and the act of paying a fine is an administrative function that requires an appointment.
She then told me that my option was to go to the Rio Negro airport at least 5 hours before my flight and go to the Migracion Colombia office there, explain my situation, and it would be resolved with no problems and without appointments being required there. She estimated that the fine would be approximately 500,000 pesos, but there would be no penalty on returning and I could return as early as January 1st even though I had been there over a year because of the lockdowns.
My flight was at 7am, so I arrived there at about midnight and had a tough time getting in, because the key thing in being allowed entrance to the airport at this hour is that you have to have checked in with the airline already and have your boarding pass and ticket for your checked baggage. After about 15 minutes of negotiating with the security agent in the BOTTOM section of the terminal (arrivals) and explaining what the Migracion Colombia agent had told me about the office at the airport being 24 hours open, I was allowed to come in by showing my confirmed ticket purchase, even though I hadn’t checked in yet.
Once I got in, and got to the office, they told me that I had to check in first, and present my boarding pass and baggage ticket before they would resolve my status to legally stamp out of the country, and that it would be about 480,000 pesos as a fine based on my situation. Payable ONLY by debit or credit card. When I got checked in, I was informed that I MUST have a filled out “Check-MIG” form which Colombia now requires to leave the country. I got confused talking to the agent because it sounded exactly like “Check-in” lol!
Once I got that all sorted, and had downloaded/screenshotted my completed Check-MIG form on my phone, I went back and presented all of the info to the agents at the Migracion Colombia office. They proceeded to ask me a crap ton of questions about why I was there illegally, do I have a girlfriend there (because I’ve stayed there for more than 2 cumulative years in the last few years), etc trying to make me nervous.
They saw that I was in fact a bit nervous and shaken up at this point, and then they proceeded to pick on me a little bit about it, then resolved my status with no fine required!! xD They were just having a bit of fun with me and said that me not having to pay a multa was their Christmas present to me jajajajaja.
Once I went to stamp out, the agent had to text and verify that my status was resolved since I still appeared irregular on the customs computers, and then stamped me out no problem and off I went.
I hope this info helps you guys. Make an appointment if possible, but if you can’t get one in time, explain to the agents at the airport why you overstayed and why you couldn’t get the issue taken care of at the main Medellin office, and be already checked in if possible when you get there. Arrive at least 5 hours early, have your Check-MIG form completed and the confirmation document printed or loaded onto your phone to display, and be ready with a credit or debit card in case they do charge you a multa.
Good luck everyone!
Thanks for sharing your story Edward, what a ride!
If this is the way Migracion is heading it will be no more Colombia for me and I will advise any foreigner the same.
It is impossible at the moment to make appointments online, so how can you ever get a Salvo Conducto or an extension of your Tourist Visa if Migracion does not do their job right?!
Thanks Edward for sharing your story!
It’s funny I just came back from the immigration office in Medellin empty handed too, to discover that you NEED to have an appointment for “Procesos Administrativo” BEFORE making an appointment for the Salvoconducto. I had all documents ready to show for the process of the Salvoconducto in hand, read very attentively the process on their website and was ready for it… But you know: this is Colombia!
Jeff, I would think it should be clearly stated in your article that the correct process for the Salvoconducto is:
Step 1. Book appointment for “Procesos administrativos extranjeros para deportación o expulsión” (there are 2 options for “Procesos administrativos” so I think this is the one, or at least that’s what I booked!)
Step 2. Go to that appointment and pay the fine for overstaying
Step 3. Book an appointment for “Salvoconducto”
Step 4. Go to that appointment and complete the Salvoconducto process
I’ve now booked those two appointments on the same day next Friday (“Processo Administrativo” in the morning and Salvoconducto in the afternoon). I have little confidence that it will work but I have no choice as I’m leaving the country 2 days later. I’m expecting that they will tell me it takes 3-days for the payment to clear (like Edward mentioned) and therefore not be able to go through…
I did ask the “counter guy” for option B if that didn’t work, he told me the same as Edward: go to the airport 5 hours earlier and pay the fine there.
I’m thinking: wouldn’t it be much simpler than going to two separate appointments? Why not having this option be option A, duh Colombia?
Edward, approximately how long did it take at the airport to fill out the Check-MIG form and pay the fine to regularize your situation?
Thanks!
Francois, may I ask what kind of visa you have? You surely don’t have a “Turist Visa”, right?
I am asking this as I called the Visa Agency (partner of Medellin Guru) and they assured me that a Salvoconducto is NOT necessary if you overstay a Tourist Visa. A Salvoconducto is only necessary if you overstay any other types of visas.
Hello Sandra,
Actually I did overstay my tourist visa. I came to Colombia last year January 12th (passport stamp). Then the pandemic happened. I applied for the tourist visa extension in October as soon as they re-opened their online service and got it approved until January 20th 2021 (until 9 days ago). Now that my wife and I are ready to leave the country, I was under the impression from reading every “good” source possible (including this article and comments) that I have to pay a fine for overstaying my tourist visa to regularize my situation and get the salvoconducto. It is fair that the Colombian authorities are asking to show good faith that one is not trying to conduct shady business and trick their immigration system.
So I don’t know why would the visa agency said what they told you. That would make me super confused on the actual process because… there is no alternate way other than getting the salvoconducto. Or at least that I’m aware of…
Hi Francois!
The Check-MIG form took about 10 minutes or so to fill out, the check-in agent helped me with it due to my big “man fingers” that didn’t let me fill in certain parts of the form where you have to select dates on my phone, small interface and all. I had gotten there around midnight but had to wait until 2:30 am to start the process because the check-in for Copa was closed until then, and Migracion wouldn’t sort me out without completed check-in documentation.
As I mentioned, I fortunately had to pay no fine, they only messed with me a bit and then told me I was good to go without paying as their Christmas present hehe.
I think it’s important to at least try to go to the office in Medellin (or whatever city you’re in/near) because that shows that you tried to sort things out the right way and didn’t just show up at the airport expecting them to let you leave with no problems because you’re a “tourist”. Gives you a leg up in the process I think.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
Edward
Hi Edward,
Thanks for your quick answer!
That’s right, most airlines don’t check you in with luggages 5 hours in advance, for instance AirCanada says “If you’re using an airport kiosk and you have bags to check, you can check-in: (…) Beginning 3 hours before your international flight”.
So the best my wife and I can do is showing up at the airport 3 hours in advance, check-in for us and our luggages then go to the immigration office or kiosk to pay my fine.
I definitely intend to go to my appointments (at least the first one in the morning to see what’s up) next Friday. Whatever happens, happens 🙂
If it is not conclusive, I may try to do the Check-MIG process the day before our flight out of the country because the first leg of our trip is Medellin-Bogota (overnight stay in Bogota).
But for that, I have no faith it will actually work jaja
I may remind them about Chinese New Year, maybe they’ll do me the same favor of skipping the fine XD
Francois
Francois, I strongly advice you to call the Visa Agency: +57 350 211 2552
The lady I spoke twice assured me that you don’t have to apply a Salvoconducto if you overstay a Turist Visa. This would only be the matter if you overstay any other type of visa. I even double checked this so I am very curious now what they will tell you!
She told me that if I would never receive an email from Migracion regarding my solicitud (which happens a lot lately) I just go to the airport, check in and pay the fine at Migracion at the airport.
Quick update on my side, I am not going to those appointments tomorrow as my wife and I left Colombia on Monday instead, to avoid the coming Canadian travel restrictions.
I came to airport 4 hours in advance (Rio Negro/Medellin), waited 30min or so that the check-in counter opened (Copa Airlines). While waiting I went to the migracion office to explain my situation, she seemed to acknowledge my story (we were waiting for my wife’s passport to come back from the Canadian visa office in Bogota, it took forever…). She said I would need to have my physical flight ticket printed before processing my exit and paying the fine and that it takes about 15 min, but there could be a line later on and I would have to wait. We did our check-in, which took 20-25 min because we were immigrating to Canada with a lot of papers to check and luggages to register. In the check-in process, we also had to fill out the Check-MIG form which is apparently required for everybody leaving the country, even my Colombian wife had to fill it out (she wasn’t aware, and last time we left the country a year ago we did not fill it out, could be something new). When I came back to the migracion office, there were 2 people in front of me filling a form. I got the form from the same migracion lady, filled it out and then waited until she called me. She seemed like she had prepared the documents for me already because it was pretty quick. I paid my fine (500.000 pesos) with my credit card and she mentioned that each 30 days of overstaying, the fine increases by 500.000 pesos. I only had 10 days of overstay so I was in the first 1-30 days slot. She gave me 6 different papers to sign and add my email on, 4 of them were the exact same copy (not sure what they do with those). She gave me a copy to have with me to go through migracion check, with the card payment receipt attached. At the migracion check, they didn’t need that paper, the person told me he showed up on his screen.
With that done, we still had 1 hour and 30min before our flight departure, enough time to eat something before boarding.
As Edward and Sandra mentioned, it does not look like mandatory to have a salvoconducto before leaving the country but definitely be prepared to sit around at the airport if there is a long line at the migracion office, therefore be sure to get there early and ready to check-in as soon as the counter opens.
Good luck to all!
Is anyone else having trouble scheduling an appointment online for a Salvo conducto? Unable to select a date in the drop down menu. All dates are blocked out for the calendar year 2021.
I have tried the link below:
https://www.migracioncolombia.gov.co/tramites-y-servicios/58-servicios/agendar-su-cita
Yes, I am unable to schedule a safe conduct appointment (in Medellín). However, I am able to schedule appointments in the following cities (listed below). Feel free to draw your own conclusions.
Cartagena de Indias
Inirida
Leticia
Maicao
Manizales
Montería
Neiva
Pasto
Pereira
Popayán
Providencia
Puerto Carreño
Puerto de Buenaventura
Puerto Leguízamo
Quibdó
Riohacha
Rumichaca
San Andrés Isla
Santa Marta
Sincelejo
Tumaco
Tunja
Valledupar
Yopal
Shawn, that is effectively what I was forced to do. I took a 6 hour bus ride to one of these places that offer appointments and with some pleading and crying they did it for me.
Something is going on with immigration and the Venezuelans, I started seeing this problem in Cucuta in December… Impossible to grab an appointment
So the conclusion I have is that they no longer want to give Venezuelansa the SC1-Salvoconducto, but that leaves us yanks out in the wind too.
It is getting tuff here, and i heard rumours that this jazz can be sorted out in the airport but no one has given a full confirmation that this is so. Migrations officer actually DENIED that was an option. Colombia, very consfusing and they are going through a rough patch with Venezuela and the TROCHA, so surely they are looking for ways to save the immigration problem
Question: My first 90 days will expire in 15 days on the 5th of February,
How many days before the 5th of February could I fill in the online form for extension (+ 90 days)? Could I do this now already? I would like to know what the policy of Migracion is nowadays.
Saludos!
You can ask the visa agency we partnered with what they recommend based on their experience – click on this link – https://expatgroup.co/english/visasincolombia/
Hi thanks for the info. The additional documents was a good save, nothing asking for anything but a passport on the site. One warning on the online form, there is a glitch in the English version that won’t allow you to select a place of birth. No selection available. Then the form won’t finish. The Spanish version was just fine.
Hi Steven (or anyone else who filled in the online form the last couple of months),
How many days before the expiring date of your first 90 days did you fill in the online form? And after how many working days did you receive an email with the confirmation of your extension for another 90 days permission?
I filled out the online form on January 4th with the documentation specified here on MedellínGuru which was 5 days before the expiration of my first 90 days. I physically went to Migracíon on January 8th and told them about my situation and they simply said “you have to wait for a response” in Spanish obviously. They further said that “I should be fine as long as I have a solicitud” while I wait for a response. As of today…….crickets.
@ Shawn: So 19 days went by now and still no answer, what a horrible service. Please let us know here when you received the email.
Did you receive a confirmation email of your “solicitud”? I did not, I only made picture of the date and confirmation number which you see after filling in the form….
@ Sandra. Yes, I did receive a fairly lengthy solicitud number. The response email started like this:
Su solicitud en línea del trámite Permiso Temporal de Permanencia para Prorrogar Permanencia ha sido registrara con el Código Único de Trámites: (Solicitud number was here).
Note: You have to make sure that you fill all (!!) the required fields with no errors or the request won’t process. I had to correct several errors before it was accepted (thinking in translated Spanish helps if you do your form in English).
Shawn, thanks for your reply!
I did not receive an email but did see a screen after filling in the form with the date and a 17-digits solicitud number. I made a picture of this. Will the fact that I saw that 17-digits number mean that my solicitud went well you think?
@ Sandra. I think that the fact the your request generated a solicitud number is definitely a good start but it’s up to the folks at Migration to do their part now. I’m having some doubts as to their efficiency.
I did the solicitud second week of December 2020, weeks after nothing was happening I went to Migration, they said to leave the conutry and come back. I did not believe them. Then I took a 6 hour bus ride to a different jurisdiction who were STILL making administrative apointments and they gave me a few excuses. However, I pleaded pretty harsh and some other stuff was going on with my friend so they made an exception and issued my extention.
I will never do that but respect the fact that you took the effort to travel that far Pete!
If i hear nothing from Migracion about my solicitud I will overstay my first 90 days with 2,5 months (flight back home 21st of April) and will pay the fine at the airport.
Does anyone have an idea how many pesos this fine will be for 2,5 months? I thought I read somewhere here about 700.000 COP?
I am trying to contact Migracion by phone to make an appointment here in Belen.
“You can also call 24 hours a day to schedule to a land line (fijo) at 6-055454 ”
Which numbers do I have to add before this Fijo number with my Colombian cellphone number?
You need to make appointments online using the links in the above article. It appears that phone number has been removed from the Migracion website so we have removed it from the article.
How is currently the best way to pay an overstay penalty? At the airport, or at the migration office. If at the migration office before flying how do you get an appointment and how long should the appointment take?
We recommend asking the visa agency we partnered with for their advice – click on this link – https://expatgroup.co/english/visasincolombia/
You can book an appointment easily enough yourself to pay the fine and get a salvoconductos (the document you need to legalize your stay here until you leave – normally it lasts for 15 days) using the following link: http://www.migracioncolombia.gov.co/salvoconductos. Expect a bit of a telling off.
I have been trying to research the tourist visa requirements and I’m still very unclear. I am spending two continuous months in Medellin. I’ll be heading back to the US for at least the month of March. I intend on coming in and out during 2021. I am just trying to clarify. Do I need any specific visa or extension as long as I don’t intend on spending more than 3 months consecutively here in Colombia and don’t intend on spending more than 180 days in total in Colombia in 2021. Am I just fine to come in and out with my passport getting stamped or do I need to do anything else. Thank you all so much
Yes you come come in and out as many times as you want with just your passport getting stamped each time. If you stay over 90 days continuously, you will need to go and come back or get an extension. You cannot stay for more than a total 180 days in a year (1st Jan to 31st Dec).
I came in October 2020 and this is my first 🙂
I would just let you know that I applied for an extension of 90 days for my tourist permit 3 days ago via the webside of the immigration – http://www.migracioncolombia.gov.co- it was straight forward and only a little problem with oplaoding one of the files. But after 3 or 4 times trying all was accepted and altough they say in the mail i recieved afterwards that it will only take 1 day to process and give answer on my demand, it was only after 4 days that I got the extension…
I did not have to pay anything to recieve this extension. I am from Belgium and it can be that other rules aplly if you are not from Europe… Succes to all of you who need this 🙂
Hello Fabrice- Did you come in the country in 2021 or last year? Was it your first extension request?
Hi Jeff,
I am in Colombia on my V (visitor type) visa which will expire in June 2021. Once it expires am I allowed to stay for a further 180 days in 2021 as a tourist? I’m not sure If we are entitled to the full 180 days as a tourist if we have already stayed for some of that same year on an actual visa?
Hi all, arrived on 6th Jan 2020 on a 1st 3-month tourist visa. Stayed quarantine. Got 2nd 3-month tourist visa after quarantine. The new visa runs until Jan.
As Jan 2021 is a new calendar year can I get another tourist visa in Jan 2021, for another 3-months?
You have to leave the country for the clock to reset in 2021.
Has anyone post-quarantine overstayed and gone through the process of paying their fines before leaving? I have read about what this process looked like pre-covid, but want to know people’s real experiences with it now that everything is messier. Can people share how they paid (office or airport?), how much they paid, and what the experience was like?
Hey Sam. Any updates? I came in March and since then I didn’t leave Colombia. Still here.. what is best thing to do?
Hi Mike. Had to go to Migración and pay for a salvoconducto to leave the country. The process was similar (as were the fees) to what I’ve read online pre-covid times. Expect the process to take at least 2 trips to the office. You have to make an appointment online for both visits.
yes I went to the office and received my right away.
The visa agency told us to go to the Migracion office in Medellín to get the document for our FINALIZADO status.
Has anyone had experience doing this? Any advice?
We have a young child and covid risk, and have not been going out at all.
Had really fast&easy experience with migracion in Bogota. Very few people in the line. A lady from Migration came outside, took my passport and I’ve got the paper in 5 mins, didnt even need to enter the buiding.
Same here ..what is going on ? I paid on the 23rd of October and said finalized since the 26th.
Contact the visa agency we partnered with and ask how long it is taking, click here: https://expatgroup.co/english/visasincolombia/ and there is a chat at the bottom right of the page where you can ask questions.
Is anyone still waiting for their stamp? I paid and have been in “FINALIZADO” status online for about 2 weeks.
Contact the visa agency we partnered with, click here: https://expatgroup.co/english/visasincolombia/ and there is a chat at the bottom right of the page where you can ask questions.
HI Jeff! I just filled out my PTP followed all instructions but I never received a PDF for finalization. However, when I sign in to the site with my password and account number it states that the process has been finalized. I am a bit confused as its been over a week now. I have saved all of the receipts of payment and the page from migration saying that my process is finalized. Just no more emails. Is this common? There is so much differing information online. Thank you!
Recommend you ask the visa agency we partnered with. They have recent experience with tourist visa extensions for clients, use this link – https://expatgroup.co/english/visasincolombia/ and there is a chat at the bottom right of the page where you can chat with the visa agency during business hours.
Thank you for your assistance Jeff! Your website has been a blessing throughout the years visiting Colombia. Cheers Sr!
Angela,
Vibes…
A similar series of events has occured for me as well. I have a finalized PTP and no PDF, the same as you. My only variation in the sequence may have been going to the Migration office in person to make the payment. Going on the 5th day of no PDF, after I was told it would be 3 business days upon payment last friday. At least the payment processed.
Have you received any direction on what the next steps in this circumstance may be?
Down to the wire…
,Eric
Ooof, my bad. Angelo.
Apologies about the spelling
I’m in the same boat. I paid the fee to process my application and it was accepted. I received an email of confirmation that the application process was a success, however, I never received my digital stamp. I have called immigration and they told me 5 business days after the payment I would receive another email. I still haven’t and assume the office is just unprepared to handle all the requests in a timely manner.
The head of Migracion had to apologize as they have been overwhelmed with extensions and the system broke down. They have extended until Nov. 30.
Hi Mike, we got the confirmation email with the exit date about 3,5 hours after the payment.
Ok. Here is how it worked for us applying for another 90 day extension (PTP):
1. Open the correct application form link (needs https://) Here is the correct link:
https://apps.migracioncolombia.gov.co/registro/public/formularioRegistro.jsf
2. Migracion will send you an email to confirm your application request. This includes a CLAVE under the Número de Solicitud. This CLAVE is important for your payment, if you need to pay!
3. If you need to pay, you’ll receive another email with the payment link. Again the link is wrong. Use the following: https://apps.migracioncolombia.gov.co/registro/public/numeroGenerado.jsf
4. In the payment email they send you a Contraseña which we thought is the clave for the payment. Wrong again!! Use the clave from the first email!!!! Then it works!!!
Hope this helps all of you guys. It couldn’t be any more complicated and took us 2 days and lots of phone calls but in the end we worked it out ourselves.
Once you paid and received an email claiming everything a success when did you receive your digital stamp? I have not received my stamp after payment.
Seems at this point that a lot of us are just going to have to overstay and pay the fine when we leave since Migracion can’t get their crap together and has thrown us all under the bus. Tempted to fly to Leticia once Brasil opens their land border and just cross over and see if they’ll let me in with no exit stamp from Colombia. We’re trying to do the right thing and getting screwed anyway, so why not? Doubt I’ll be coming back here any time soon after all this BS.
I’ve been in Colombia long enough to know that breaking the rules make more sense than trying to jump through all their ridiculous hoops. I’ve all but convinced myself that I’m gonna overstay and pay in Jan.
Agreed. Thailand offered year long visas for existing tourist. Why is colombia kicking out tourist that contribute to their weak economy is beyond me.
So you need proof of onward travel? Doesnt make sense so they expect people to spend money on a ticket then if they get rejected they lose their money. Its funny because tourism is down and economy is hurting. Some people apps are being rejected? You would think the country would want them to stay.
Nothing against colombia i love it here but some of these things they do here dont make any sense.
In gym must wear mask. Even if you are only person in gym or 2 people spaced apart. Now…. Go to resturant groups without mask at their own table. Where is the logic??
I have submitted my application for the tourist visa extension. I have heard nothing from Migracion. I do not want to overstay and pay the fines. Do I need to leave before November 1st?
Use this number: 031 605 5454
The number will ring and hang up so you have to call 50 – 100 times to get someone. You will have to try again on Monday.
Hi, what numbers are people using to call migración? Ive tried three i think and none of them lead to an actual person, someone picked up this morning but hung up in the middle of the call. I have called about 50 times and am desperate!
It came from calling the Bogota office. I think it is suspect, but my first submission on the 18th has been frozen on REALIZADO status and no emails have arrived. I was told to resubmit my application by attaching all files together…….. This has been a frustrating experience.
Quick question so I paid for my extension and received my receipt but haven’t gotten anything else, what’s the next step ?
Has anyone yet sorted out their prorroga that was completed, approved, and paid for at the beginning of march before the lockdown?
Is there any point in sending Migracion another email asking about the extension document I still never received after paying?
Thanks guys.
Just an update for everyone that you must compress the 3 PDF files into 1 document or they will not process your application and they will not tell you they stopped processing the application.
Not in my successful experience, I have attached 3 different PDF files. Where did that information come from? Which office?
Laura, have you learned anything? We had the same situation – we are a family applying, and everyone was approved except one. They said in the rejection that she was already approved for an extension this spring, but we never received anything about this, we didn’t pay, etc.
In addition to applying again I got in touch with a visa agency that said we would do an appeal or something. I’m not too optimistic as November is right around the corner. If push comes to shove I’ll have to overstay since I can’t afford the expensive flights out.
We tried the appeals process online (https://apps.migracioncolombia.gov.co/centrovirtual/interna/formularioPQRSPEP.php) with a lawyer here and it’s essentially a dead link – it gave us a code proving we submitted, but the automatic email received a minute later said (paraphrasing) we received your case and solved it, the answer is attached – and it’s a PDF of very general FAQs.
Would love to know what you end up doing for an appeal.
Wow, I’m not surprised that is what you ended up with. The agency I was using dragged it’s feet with their answers and now that I have 3 days left I’m not trying to go over the top in resolving this. It just seems pointless. Overstaying just seems like a better option for me.
My second request was also denied for the same reason. I submitted an appeals and it says that I will receive a response in 25-30 business days.
Where did you submit an appeal? https://apps.migracioncolombia.gov.co/centrovirtual/interna/formularioPQRSPEP.php?
Did you get the automatic email response that said:
Su solicitud No. XXXXX ha sido contestada. Adjunto hemos enviado la respuesta.
Si desea consultar el estado de su trámite por favor ingrese a http://www.migracioncolombia.gov.co
Dando cumplimiento al Decreto No. 417 de 2020 que declara el Estado de Emergencia Económica, Social y Ecológica en todo el territorio colombiano debido a la pandemia del Coronavirus COVID-19, y a los lineamientos establecidos en el artículo 5 del Decreto Legislativo No. 491 de 2020, su petición será atendida en un término de treinta y cinco (35) días hábiles, contados a partir del día hábil siguiente a la recepción.
And attached just a PDF of FAQS?
I also can’t find anywhere on the Migracion website where I can use the ID number or password to check a status…so if you have, I’d love to hear!
That’s the same response I got. We’re going to overstay either way since they’ve given us only until November to sort out our legal statuses. We tried.
hi, I’m in the same situation,
I’m waiting the answer of my appeal
anyone has received new information from immigration?
Hi Richard,
So I believe they are only asking now for your proof of onward travel, that is why the small size of the document. What I personally did was buy a refundable ticket from Expedia. Once I got the confirmation email I took a screenshot of the itinerary, this showed my departure city, where I was flying to, date, times etc. I used the app camscanner and I was able to import my screenshot and also compress the file. I received my extension yesterday.
Hope this helps you.
Thanks Vanessa, done!
Anyone have their forms showing as ‘DONE’ on the migration site, but have not received an email requesting payment yet?:
Estado de Trámite: REALIZADO
Also, I am unable to call the immigration office’s three numbers: (571) 605 54 54 & 01 8000 51 04 54 & 031 605 5454 the phone rings once and disconnects. The 31st is coming soon and I’m starting to worry a bit.
Hi Mike,
I got my signed form for the extension yesterday. I logged in to see what it says on the migration website and it says FINALIZADO. As for calling you may try adding a +5716055454. I called a few weeks ago and got an automated messaged that led me to believe I was in a queue, I never did get to talk to anybody though.
Did your immigration status update to FINALIZADO after you paid the extension fee?
After I paid it said PENDIENTE PARA FIRMAR. It took two days from my payment to get the email that it was approved.
After I paid it said PENDIENTE PARA FIRMAR. It took two days from my making the payment to get the prorroga approved.
And after it was approved did they email you your documents?
Hi Michael,
My status said FINALIZADO but I haven’t received any document yet detailing my extension. Do you know how long until I receive the paper?
After my my application was finalized i received an email claiming my extension was a success and to keep my digital copy of my stamp with me at all times. However, I have not received a digital stamp yet. This process has been painful.
Hi Jeff,
I followed your directions in this article and registered online on Oct. 17th. I took the time to compress and attach all of the following in PDF format:
1. Copy of the page of your current passport with your personal data/photo
2. Copy of your current valid Colombia tourist visa stamp
3. Proof of onward travel.
Now the Migración office finally sent me an email today stating the following.
“Su solicitud se encuentra siendo atendida. Para continuar solicitamos sean ingresados los siguientes soportes:
Buenas tardes,Documentación incompleta, adicionalmente debe adjuntar su tiquete de salida de Colombia con lugar de origen y lugar de destino o hacia una ciudad fronteriza, (NO RESERVAS-NO VENCIDOS) dentro de los 90 días siguientes, el documento debe ser ESCANEADOS, NO FOTOS Y COMPLETOS. Por favor envié los documentos de forma inmediata con él mismo número de solicitud.”
I ran the above the Google translate and I believe they’re requesting a ‘scanned’ document of my onward ticket. So how do I provide that? Also this time, the size of the attachment is limited to only 200 KB. I don’t know what’s going on with this. Has anybody else run into this problem?
It says you need to attach your exit ticket from Colombia with place of origin and destination or to a border city, (NOT RESERVATIONS and NOT EXPIRED). Yes attachments are limited in size – use a PDF shrink found on the Internet.
Thanks Jeff, everything has been completed and approved now. 🙂
Hi, leaving my not positive news.
I have recieved an email to say my application to extend my tourist visa has been denied.
I entered Colombia in the 9th of January, applied for a visa extension on the 23rd of March but didnt recieve anything in reply. I emailed and called several times and was told to wait and the situation with the pandemia etc.
Then i applied again on the 18th of October. The message attached to my email says that i was approved in March and therefore cannot be approved again. I have absolutely no emails saying i was approved or anything. I have no idea what to do other than call migración tomorrow. Has this happened to anyone? Does anybody have any advice? It would be greatly appreciated!
Laura
You can try asking the visa agency we partnered with, click on – https://expatgroup.co/english/visasincolombia/ and there is a chat at the bottom right where you can ask questions.
Sorry to hear Laura 🙁
I processed an extension on March 24th and it was cancelled, you can see the status online will show “Cancelado”, at least it is the case for my application. Which migracion office did you apply to? I hope they can fix it over the phone.
I would go in person first. If that doesn’t work it’s up to you if you want to stay until the new year.
You can’t go in-person unless you have an appointment. Migracion offices turn people away without an appointment.
Laura, have you learned anything? We had the same situation – we are a family applying, and everyone was approved except one. They said in the rejection that she was already approved for an extension this spring, but we never received anything about that extension, we didn’t pay for it, etc. The visa agency said many people have gotten this problem.
I spoke to the visa agency linked to this page and they said the only thing i can do is send the trámite again and attach a card and my emails stating that my trámite from March was suspended fue to the pandemia etc. So i sent that yesterday and then i am trying to call migración and speak to someone but so far no luck. I obviously can’t wait very long before i’ll have to buy my ticket home. Good luck to you too! It is an incredibly unfair situation.
Hi Laura, yes it’s a very odd situation. It seems like a technical glitch since none of us actually received any information or paid for an extension this spring/summer. Let’s hope that they see that and resolve it!
I got through to Migracion today but all they did was take my information down and said they would look into it.
So I finally got a response after over a week and they’re saying my extension had been granted way back in April? I had applied back then but never got an approval email and obviously bc of the lockdown. They’re saying my “extension” expired yesterday so either way I’m staying till the new year. Please update us on any progress you make. In the meantime I’m applying again for the trámite.
Laura and Forhad: we submitted the application again on 10/21 and were rejected again today 10/27, with the same explanation that our family member had an extension already this year until July 2020. We’re going to try and apply again.
This is my own update concerning the tourist visa extension, which I just got!
Nationality: French
Migracion Office: Medellin
Submitted date: October 18th 2020
Visa stamp date: January 12th 2020
Proof of exit: Expedia confirmation for flight on December 31st 2020 (cancelled in the next 24 hours after booking)
Extension valid until: January 20th 2021
Other information:
– As French national, we don’t have to pay any fee and the complete process is done online
– I did submit an extension request back in March but it was cancelled (due to immigration offices closing)
Hope this is help and that you get the same positive result, I’m really glad Migracion re-opened the visa extension process in-time!
Hey Francios,
When you completed your application and paid and it became finalized when did you receive an attachment showing your ‘stamp’ that informed you about your Extension valid unit date? My application was finalized and I got an email but no attachment showing how long I can stay in the country.
A copy of your visa stamp is required when you submit your application. After submitting, you will get a confirmation email that your application is being processed/reviewed, this email does not have any attachment. And only after your extension is approved, you will receive a PDF attached to the confirmation email, the title is “PERMISO TEMPORAL DE PERMANENCIA” and it has all the information regarding your extension period. This is the document you’ll need to present upon departure from Colombia.
does anyone know if your 90 day visa expired, can you return in 2020 to Colombia?
So based on the recent comments, am I correct in assuming that my 90-day extension, which I completed on March 2nd 3 weeks before the lockdown/health emergency, will in fact be honored for the remainder starting October 1st?
Hello Jeff,
Thank you very much for that insightful post. I have a question regarding this section:
“In other words, if you have a 90-day tourist visa that expired during the health emergency, you will have one month from October 1 to renew the tourist visa or obtain another visa. Or you can leave Colombia during this time (until the end of October) without generating any immigration offense or fines.”
My 90 day tourist visa did expire during the health emergency. However, I left the country on a humanitarian flight at the end of July and as you correctly stated, I did not receive any fine. However, the person at migracion did mention that I couldn’t come back until 2021 (I’m assuming because my 90 day tourist visa had expired and at that time (july), the Migracion office was not open yet. Do you think I can still renew the tourist visa online for the extra 90 days at this point or is it too late since I have already left the country. I would like to return to Colombia for Thanksgiving break. I don’t mind paying the 100,000 COP to renew. I just don’t want to show up in Colombia and get sent back. 🙂 Thank you for your time and consideration on this matter.
Hello,
I am wondering if anyone has been successful in opening the link to pay for the prorroga? I tried both last night and this morning and the page won’t load. Should we be able to pay in person at any migration office?
Thank you!
Use the Spanish language version. Readers are reporting problems with the English language version.
Hi Vanessa, what worked for me was, once I click the link in the email I had to add ‘https://’ for it to work in my browser. Then I had issues with the new password they provided so I used the password in the ORIGINAL email (pre-approval) that allowed me to pay. It was like a game of Clue. I was able to pay and I just received my extension date this morning. Good luck! 🙂
Hi Michelle and Vanessa. How long did it take for you guys to get the approval? I applied for the extension early on the 17th and have not heard anything back from Migracion yet. I am just wondering how long I should wait before I try and contact Migracion about it.
Hi Amalia, I applied on the night of the 16th, received the confirmation email right away, the payment link arrived yesterday (paid right away), and today I received my PTP extension. If you have received the first confirmation email, they’re working on it.
Hi Amalia,
I applied Saturday morning and got an email last night that I was pre-approved. Still haven’t been able to open the link but I will keep trying, and if all else fails I will go to the office in Tunja.
Hope you hear back soon!
Ok thanks guys! I still haven’t gotten anything since the confirmation email but hopefully I will soon. I hope you can figure out how to pay!
I got an initial confirmation email as well saying that they are working on it. I checked the status on their website and it just says Registrado en FUT. It’s been nearly 5 business days with no update. I suppose I gotta keep waiting.
Hey Forhad I am still waiting. I talked to Migracion over the phone this morning and they said they are really busy and to just keep waiting. Hopefully we don’t have to wait too much longer.
Great, thank you Michelle,
Yes, the s was left off the hyperlink. I just got a message that the password is wrong, how did you get a new password? I used the password from the pre-approved email.
@Vanessa what I had to do was use the password from the first email I received from them. The confirmation email that states they received my request are an working on it.
Hi Michelle,
Congrats!
Did you receive 90 days extension or just the remaining of this year?
I just filled the form this morning.
Thank you.
Hello Retsin, they gave me until January 17, 2021. 🙂
Hi Michele, Did you have proof of a departing flight?
Great! Thank you.
Vanessa and OTHERS, I needed to follow your exact payment instructions, so thank you so much! Add the “s” to “http” and then use the original password on the first email that says they received the application and will process it in one day!
I tried to contact the visa agency suggested here but have only been getting automated replies. Is there a way to speak with a person who works there? The quote I got looks fine but I’d like to ask a human a few questions first.
Click on – https://expatgroup.co/english/visasincolombia/ and there is a chat at the bottom right of that page that shows they are online now and can answer questions.
Someone has to update us on the attachment issue. Im not getting any verification that things are being attached. PDF under 1meg. Any updates would be cool.
UPDATE: I had to do the application in spanish in order for the files to load.
LOL Someone has to? I legit did.. 1 comment up.
I had issues when trying to fill out the form in English with a couple things. Maybe try it in Spanish… no guarantee.
Thanks. I got it done now. It was in Spanish and the first time I didn’t push the ‘Cargar’ button after attaching my documents. Got an email confirmation stating that they would contact me within 1 business day to confirm my request.
I keep getting a document attachment error “Documento Adjunto: Error de Validación: Valor es necesario”. And yes, I compressed the total PDF size to below 1mb using ilovepdf, so not sure what the problem is. Is anyone else having this issue?
Well to make it even more confusing, Migracion just added (I checked at mid-day and it was not there) the “Permiso Temporal de Permanencia para Prorrogar Permanencia” to their list of online options: https://apps.migracioncolombia.gov.co/registro/public/formularioRegistro.jsf
So, extension or no extension? At your keyboards, 3, 2, 1… go!
Yes, the option wasn’t there earlier today but now appeared tonight, our article is updated.
Thanks Jeff, sorry I only saw the earlier messages pop-up after I submitted mine 🙂
I was editing the article with information that tourist visa extensions are now available online, when comments started being posted and were pending approval.
Hi Jeff, quick question I was on a 90 day tourist visa but with the pandemic I freaked out and I applied for a 180 days on March 14, 2020. It was accepted but then everything was frozen on March 19th. I’m schedule to leave Colombia on the 22nd of October and I was wondering if I can still come back in this year?
Ask the visa agency we partnered with, click on https://expatgroup.co/english/visasincolombia/ and there is a chat at the bottom right of this page.
Hey y’all – After all that – The website is back up and offering a section to complete an extension request… GOOD LUCK!!!
Yes, finally available online, our article is updated.
The permit extension is available online now.
Yes, finally available online, our article is updated.
Jason, Like Jeff say there are a lot of different visas so Best to contact the agency.
in my case , it took less than 6 weeks
My Colombian boyfriend chatted with Migracion in Spanish to find out what is going on with tourist visa extensions. The chat agent gave him information that conflicts with people have been saying here. Below is as translation of what the chat agent said about the visa extension.
Mr Peluca, in this case at the moment it (the online tourist visa extension) is not enabled because there are technical failures in the official page of Migration Colombia in which during the days of October it will be enabled in the platform.
He did not give him any specifics about when it would be activated and he also asked him if I would need to leave Colombia if was not able to extend my visa by October 30th. He did not answer that question but responded by saying I can apply for a visa.
The jest of the chat was there are not making anyone leave if they can extend their visa. But the only way to extend your visa is on the website. The tourist visa extension part of the website is not working at the moment but they are working to fix and activate it before the end of the month.
I’m not waiting around for this to happen or not happen. We have tickets to leave if I can’t get a visa extension.
Very interesting… thanks for sharing.
“Also, we confirmed with the visa agency we partnered with on October 14 that Migracion is not extending tourist visas online or in offices. Since Migracion is currently not extending tourist visas, if you have an expired 90-day tourist visa you need to leave Colombia by the end of October or you will be liable for paying a fine.”
@Jeff: How trustful is that original information from the agency you are partnering with?
It is still unclear to me why Migracion has not communicated about this officially, or I can’t find any official information yet.
The visa agency we partnered with has a service to extend tourist visas and they have not been able to extend tourist visa even with their contacts at Migracion.
Can you clarify? I’ve talked to the same visa agency and they said they have no official information, and their advice was to wait.
There is no official answer. Migracion is giving conflicting answers. Nobody has been able to extend a tourist visa includin g over 20 readers who went to Migracion offices and they are either told leave by the end of the October or wait for the online system (been saying about online for weeks now and still online is not working). Also, the visa agency has been unable to extend tourist visas.
On October 5, the clerk at the migration office in Tunja pointed to the days around October 20 on the calendar, like an approximation for the prorroga option to appear on the website. That is as official as it gets.
Other readers have received different answers from clerks at Migracion in Medellín and Bogotá. Several readers were told they had to leave by the end of the month.
Knowing that people are scared, the more costly Salvoconducto is available. Pay if want to avoid the virus, tourist.
I hope you are joking Josie, you can not be serious… Only a Karen would go that far but If you did all you said you did, I will tell you that you are WAY out of line. I entered Colombia on January 1st 2020 with a 90 days tourist visa, Immigration was closed when it was the time to ask for a 90 days extension. I tried to contacted them and like EVERYBODY else I got no answer So I patiently wait until I was told to not worry about my 90 days extension. Today we are October 15th, which means that I was ALLOWED to stay 10 FULL MONTHS instead of 6 months that are granted for tourists. IT is 4 EXTRA FULL MONTHS So excuse my french but it is not very cool to bitch about the Colombian GVT that allowed us to overstay our welcome without having to pay a fine of any kind ! That being said I don’t think that you can Karen your way out of it. It is clear that by the end of October, anybody that do not have a visa and stay more than 180 days NEEDS to leave and Should say THANK YOU to Colombia. Now like me, if you do not wish to leave the country you can overstay for 2 months pay the fine which is not much leave for few days in January and come back OR contact the visa agency Jeff is working with and ask them if they can get you a visa ( which I have done and Got granted 1 year)
Je suis d’accord 🙂
Have you done the salvoconducto before? Is it a long and painful process? Or is it as easy as it looks?
I’m seriously thinking about it now, cheaper than last minute flights… especially in those pandemic times.
Hi Gregory. How much time did it take to be granted the 1 year visa? I have an expired 90 day tourist visa too.
Contact the visa agency we partnered with to obtain a visa quote – https://expatgroup.co/english/visasincolombia/
Colombia has over 20 different visa types – https://medellinguru.com/colombia-visa-guide/
Salut Francois,
Like Jeff Say, It is best to contact the agency he recommended . They are good at what they do and they speak English perfectly. I contacted them for a simple question regarding the extension of my 90 days and I was not even thinking about getting a visa , did not think It was doable because of my personal situation . They answer to my question then they told me if you like to stay longer in Colombia we may be able to get you a visa ( which I thought was very unlikely as my Colombia Girlfriend is a lawyer and we thought already investigated all the options) The whole process was smooth, easy ,not very expensive I thought and took less than 6 weeks. I dont know anything about the salvoconducto, I basically just paid the visa agency their fees , gave them all the documents they asked for and waited for their email to follow the next step
We had 6 months of one of the Worlds strictest quarantines which did little to help based on current statistics, other than crash the economy and put 50 million people under house arrest. Migration throughout the country specifically stated that we could extend/renew the visa once quarantine ends and enjoy Beautiful Colombia if we stay. Now we are told we need to leave. Of course, thank you Colombia! So glad we waited it out.
Welcome to Colombia. There is a reason why Colombians don’t typical care about anything regarding government decrees or mandates of any kind. It’s because either there is always a way to bend the rules, or because the government has a habit of changing their mind every 5 minutes. It’s always been this way and it has a lot to do with cultural norms here. The laid back-ness, being late to everything, go with the flow attitude towards everything, and finding a way to always bend or disregard rules is a part of the culture here that I have had to get used to over the years of being back and forth between here and the USA, and that tends to bleed into higher positions here as well. Not sure where you are from but I’m assuming if you are from the USA, Canada, Australia, Europe, etc, you are probably used to firm clarity and straight forwardness. They won’t ever do that here which is why even when the US Embassy send out notices it reminds people that things can change at a moment’s notice without warning. And it does quite often in a lot of respects, though not usually as severe at this instance.
I’ve contacted my embassy, the colombian embassy in my home country, the colombian ambassador, my mother, another lawyer, who is pursuing this with Colombia via government in my home country,
Similar to Edward’s comment I applied and paid for the prorroga back at the end of March. I got an email that I had been pre-approved but nothing else. Then Migracion Colombia closed and I was told that none of the time in quarantine would be counted against me for overstaying the 90 day tourist visa I entered with.
Fast forward to yesterday when I see the updates that you all have written, how frustrating!
Does anyone know if we leave the country, say go to Ecuador and fly back would we get a new tourist visa stamp?
My guess is that they won’t process or take into account tourist visa extension this year, basically relying upon the fact all tourists who were in Colombia in March got a free 7-month extension (March to end of October). So if you were here in March, leave the country now and return before December 31st they’ll probably deny entry saying that your 6-months period has already expired.
I thought about this myself, I think our best chance is to come back January 1st 2021, which hopefully by then the process is back to normal (who knows).
Sorry, but the border officials just follow rules. They don’t know nor care about your corona situation.
I don’t “guess”or rely on a “best chance” Where would I go in order to follow your recommendation to return in January??
On January 1st of every year, everyone’s time gets reset, and you get another 90 days. New years come with new, fresh time here. Which is probably why they are not processing tourist extensions because there isn’t even 90 days left in the year, at least not after October 31. You will be able to come back after January 1st no matter what. I’ve had this happen twice with me over the past few years before I got my visa.
Thanks Broc, Done it three times. Appreciate your intent. BUT WHERE WOULD I GO now to return in January?
As far as where you would go, you can go to any other country that doesn’t have Covid travel restrictions. As far as here in Latin America, Brazil has been open since July and Mexico never imposed any restrictions on flights or tourism. I’m not sure what country you are from so it’s hard to tell you which ones would accept you, but as long as you aren’t actually in Colombia past October 31 on a tourist visa you’ll be fine. They aren’t requiring that you go back to your country of origin, they just don’t want you staying there in particular. I know it sucks but Colombia isn’t exactly known for straight forward answers and clarity.
If the Migracion office confirms that, I am contacting my embassy and government departments and news. That is not acceptable.
My country is closed and I cannot get there without spending about 10 grand, First I am going to the office. If they say no, let me go over the border to Ecuador.
Hi,
just read that you need a debit-card to pay the fine at the migration office.
What if I dont have one? Can I not pay with cash?
The obvios answer would be ofcourse you can pay with cash,
but sometimes they have these stupid rules…
Anyone who knows?
I am thinking about taking the fine because it seems like I will not
be able to extend my tourist-visa as I read your comments here. ;(
Hey Jeff, what about those of us who already completed and paid for our 90-day extension at the beginning of March, a couple weeks before the lockdown hit? I thank you as well for the constant updates.
Hey Jeff – Thanks for the constant updates. Are you able to confirm they have in fact said that they will not be processing the extension? I can’t find anything online about. This has been an extremely frustrating time, I don’t understand why they are being so secretive about it.
Confirmed yesterday from the visa agency we partnered with and also confirmed from many readers over the past week that have been unable to extend even going to Migracion offices in Medellín and Bogotá.
Seriously… They couldn’t even add a post on their news feed: https://www.migracioncolombia.gov.co/noticias
Agree – very poor communications.
Hi Jeff,
“October 14, 2020 with information that Migracion is not extending tourist visas and if you have a 90-day expired tourist visa, you need to leave Colombia by the end of October or you will be liable for paying a fine.”
I just wanted to confirm with you that Migracion said that they will not be processing tourist visas at all this year and that we have no choice but to leave the country?
So no tourist visa extension allowed anymore? Buuu Colombian immigration 😉
I keep on checking their website and still no ““Permiso Temporal de Permanencia para Prorrogar Permanencia” option…
Do we know how much is that fine? What are the other consequences of overstaying?
Our article above has information about the fines – see the section – “What to Do If You Overstay Your Tourist Visa?”
Thanks Jeff! Looks like it is preferable for many to leave… Such a short notice!
Has anyone been able to make an appointment for an Extension of Stay/PTP on the Migracion online system? It shows up on the menu as an option but does not provide the date of request line to schedule the appointment. Anyone have a work around or success?
They aren’t. I asked for another friend of mine who was also stuck here on a tourist visa and could not book an appointment, and they said that they are not processing any tourist extensions this year. Anyone who was stuck here on an expired tourist visa has until the end of October to either get a visa or leave the country. That’s why it’s not available, they aren’t accepting extensions and basically want everyone who was stuck here during quarantine out of the country.
Not yet Charlie, I’m still trying. A few days ago a friend was told by Migration Colombia, that they are in the process of reactivating the system, so that process Is handed virtually through the “Tramites y servicios” section on the website (the same way it used to do the process pre covid). But who knows for sure.
A few readers were told this by Migracion staff and several other readers were told by Migracion staff they have to leave by the end of the month with no extensions being done in October. Also, the visa agency we partnered with has heard from their contacts in Migracion no extensions in October.
Hi all!
I had just completed my 90-day extension at the beginning of march before the lockdown hit. Was approved, got the slip to go make the payment at the bank, and completed the transaction. I have a couple of quick questions —
First, I never received an email with the extension document after making the payment. About a week later I sent an email to migracion asking about it but never got a reply. I assume at this point now that migracion is open, I will need to go in person to get my extension document?
Secondly, did Migracion open back up officially on the 21st of September, and our tourist days started counting down again? For example, If my 2nd 90 days began on March 5th, and the days stopped counting down when lockdown hit on March 19th, that was only 14 days counted towards my 2nd 90 days right? And then if the days started counting again on the 21st of September, that’s another 19 days out of my 2nd 90 days through today Oct. 9th, so a total of 33 days counted now and I have 57 days left to stay here?
Appreciate any help or insight you can give me with this. Thank you so much!
Hey all. I have also been trying to fill out the application online and no luck. I’m currently in Cali, Colombia and I’m thinking it might be worth the trip to the actual office. Sure is frustrating the amount of misinformation or lack of organisation regarding extensions of visas.
Hey Nick. I’m also in Cali and yes it’s very frustrating and stressful. I was informed this morning from a visa processing company that the process to extend the tourist permit is frozen at this time. They are awaiting an interview with the chief of migración that will hopefully clear things up. Let me know if you head to the Migration office. Good luck.
Same situation! In Cali, no response to my emails, it’s not possible via online form, and not possible to make an appointment. Please post here if you, Michelle or Nick find out anything more! I will too. Thanks!
Well, they’ve only responded to my queries by sending me a CVAC document which sets out that we should make an appointment and fill out the form and NOT to go to the office without an appointment, so it’s not helpful at all. Still not possible to make an appointment for PTP in Cali (but there are appointments for other visa types, so there must be someone working there.) PTP is still not available on the form either. Anyone else have any positive news?
Since end of September we went already 3 times to Migracion de Bogota to ask about PTP. I’m waiting for my new passport, and I can’t apply for a visa with my old one. So first time they said wait for October 1st, then until October 5th. Today they answered on our question «when is going to work, we have time until october 30» – « next week, don’t worry, it’s just october 6th, you still have time». I believe we just need to have patience and wait, europeans and north americans are not used to such delays. The migration mentioned about tourist permit extension, so eventually it should be available and hopefully they will give us extra time in case of problems with online system.
I’m personally still waiting for the “Permiso Temporal de Permanencia para Prorrogar Permanencia” to show up:
https://apps.migracioncolombia.gov.co/registro/public/formularioRegistro.jsf
Just wondering if anyone has successfully scheduled an appointment with Migration Colombia? I have been trying for 30 minutes now and no such luck. Also not exactly sure which form I am suppose to fill out. Help, please.
Yes, several readers have been able to schedule but the dates fill up rather fast. Pick dates further out.
Hi Jeff, thanks for the reply. I’ve put in every single day from tomorrow thru December and all I got was “Lo sentimos, en este momento no hay citas disponibles” for every date I tried. I am located in Cali. I guess I will try to email them, I don’t know what else to do.
Hi Michelle have you managed to get a hold of Migracion yet? I am in the same situation as you where it seems impossible to book an appointment in October online. Migracion is not answering emails/CVAC inquiries and nobody is answering phones at the local level (Santa Marta and Barranquilla). The Migracion 1-800 number also seems to only work after 5pm and then nobody answers the phone. I also went in-person to the office to try and talk to somebody about this situation but the only answer I got from them was to email Migracion.
Hello Amalia, unfortunately no, I still have not been able to schedule an appointment. As Francois mentioned the “Permiso Temporal de Permanencia para Prorrogar Permanencia” option still has not been reactivated online either and this is necessary for the appointment. I’ve been checking multiple times a day, and driving myself crazy. I suspect that because it is not an option, rules are changing (but who knowns for sure). Until then, I’ll keep trying daily — maybe cut it down to 3 times a day. jajaja good luck and wish me some too! 🙂
Hi, I am currently in Colombia on a tourist visa, Am I correct in thinking my current tourist visa will be valid to the end of the health emergency on the 30th November ? Thanks!
I wouldn’t bet on it if I were you. Flights are getting reactivated in September, international ones as well from what’s being stated by both airlines and the government. Taking this into consideration it’s more than likely that Migracion will be operating again on September 1st, which means time it going to get counted again after that 30 day period. The current “emergencia sanitaria” does not make much sense considering that about 3/4 of all travel is getting reactivated by mid-September, and all roads and intermunicipal highways are also getting reactivated.
Hi Jeff,
It looks like the immigration department has re-enabled their online visa extension page: https://apps.migracioncolombia.gov.co/registro/public/formularioRegistro.jsf
Currently, the only option is “Certificado de Movimiento Migratorio”, any idea if that’s designated for foreigners stuck in the country?
Thanks!
Francois
No, the “Certificado de Movimiento Migratorio” (Migratory Movement Certificate) is not for tourist visa extensions. This is a document showing movements in and out of the country. This is a document needed for a Resident Visa, not sure why Colombian citizens would need this – https://medellinguru.com/resident-visa/. Also, looking on the site it is only enabled for Colombian citizens with a Colombian cedula.
Yup, that’s what I thought, just wanted to confirm. Thanks!
Any advice? I spend all time from March 02 in Colombia and due lockdown of international flights i cannot leave (probably) before September. Does that day (March – September) count toward the yearly limit of 180 days? Of only the Days from March 02 till March 19, when the shutdown started?
The Colombian government introduced a grace period starting on March 19 where the time reporting for tourist visas is reportedly suspended until May 30, 2020 (or other date determined by the government) or when international flights are enabled.
Obviously May 30 has passed and no new date has been determined by the government. Also, according to Resolucion 1006 of April 1, 2020, you will get 30 days after the ending of the health emergency to extend your tourist visa or leave the country
Hi Jeff, Thank you for the explanation. My question is: Would I be able to come again, for example in October, or not because i reached the yearly limit of 180 days already? Or shortly: Does the Corona-Lockdown-Days count fully as “Stayed” days or only until March 19 when the lockdown period started? TIA and BR, Thomas
Supposedly time reported is suspended. So, you may be able to return. But best to ask Migracion to confirm when they reopen. BR, Jeff.
Hello,
Sorry for the cheeky question.
But taking the 180 max days tourist stay per calendar year, (then having to leave the country and not returning for whatever period of time…).
I have a British and Irish passport….could I in theory spend 6 months in Colombia on my British passport…..leave the country and enter fairly quickly again on my Irish passport and do another 6 months….and vice versa for whatever period of time?
i.e do they take biometric info on entry into the country to know I would be the same person?
Many thanks,
Al
They do not use biometric information when you enter Colombia. You may be able to do this but it is big risk if you get caught. I met someone who did this and was caught and had to pay a big fine and he could not return to Colombia for several years.
Hi Jeff, So we still have 30 days from May 30th to renew a tourist visa for another 90 days? Thanks!
You will have 30 days after “other end date determined by the government” as May 30 has passed and Migracion has not opened back up yet.
Thanks, Jeff! So you are saying as of today June 14, 2020 that the Colombian Migracion office has not re-opened, right? And that the Colombian government has yet to released an end date by which we have 30 days to submit for 90 day tourist extension? Does this also mean that are time as of today is not being counted as days in country?
Yes, Migracion offices have not opened and Colombia has not yet provided an end date yet.
We recommend asking the visa agency we partnered with about time not being counted, you can ask questions via chat at the bottom right on this page during business hours. Note tomorrow is a holiday – https://expatgroup.co/english/visasincolombia/
The safe thing to say is a government can change the rules anytime they want; which is why I’ve been nervous along with others. I reached out to the Visa agency and here is the relevant script:
Hello, I have a 90 day tourist permit that expired May 2. In Resolution 0918 the accounting of time was suspended until the health emergency is concluded. While that may not have specifically applied to tourist permits their website is down. The resolutions use different terminology, but I think I saw the health emergency concludes August 31 when the borders reopen. If so, I’d have 30 days after August 31 to leave the country without being considered as overstaying my permit, correct?
advisor expatgroup.co
Good morning
11:43:54 AM
Mike
Yes, good morning
11:44:32 AM
advisor expatgroup.co
The time of permanence in the stamps of tourism has been frozen does not count against, when the international flights are enabled must leave the country to avoid migratory sanctions
I would personally be very careful with the information about a 30 day time period after the quarantine regarding tourist visas, as I have not found any official information regarding it. I managed to speak to Migracion in person here in Armenia on May 24th and they said they never heard of a 30 day period and said that once flights open back up you had 48 hours to leave if you were stuck on a tourist visa. They also said (before the last extension to August 31) that the time for tourist who came into the country right before the beginning of the quarantine WAS in fact still being counted, but if the quarantine got extended and their time ends up expiring during the quarantine to not worry about it. So for people who came in on say, March 4th like I did, had the quarantine been lifted on the original date of May 31st, those people would in fact have been considered overstays. This is exactly what I was told in person by Migracion before the last extension. I asked about the time being suspended and then being counted again once the quarantine is lifted and they again said that this was not true, that the freeze only applied to people who could not leave before their time ran out. In other words, they won’t demand salvoconductos from people who overstayed against their will, but time is in fact still running. With this extension all tourists stuck here are going to end up being overstays so I don’t think in the long run it will matter that much, but I noticed that almost nothing in the Resolucion that was posted regarding it was really followed. My wife told me that this is the norm in Colombia and that government things are normally disorganized, and that Resolucions don’t mean much because most people just do what they want to do regardless.
I also spoke with the Cancilleria regarding the health insurance requirement because I just got married 2 weeks ago. They told me that “all requirements were already listed on the site”, and I found no official statement regarding this requirement either. I asked more clearly and they said no, but I spoke with expatgroup and they told me that sometimes yes they ask for it but for marriage visas it’s not really required.
This was my experience. Maybe the experience for everyone else will be different but I just wanted to share because everything is disorganized and back right now and there doesn’t seem to be a straight forward answer to anything at the moment.
Hi,
Here is a document which I recieved on the 25th of March after equiring from Migracion Colombia.
https://filebin.net/1md5h992xy4lwfat
Make of it what you will. I would highly doubt information across Colombian Migracion offices to be fluid.
The information you were given is inaccurate about 48 hours to leave if you were stuck on a tourist visa.
According to Resolucion 1006 of April 1, 2020, you will get 30 days after the ending of the health emergency to extend your tourist visa or leave the country, see: https://medellinguru.com/colombian-visa-process-changes/.
I am currently in Armenia, Quindio, and spent January 2 to Feb 12 here. I went back to the States to files taxes and visit family on Feb 12 and returned to Colombia on March 4, getting another 90 day visa. Me and my fiance have been trying to get married but the notaries were closed due to the quarantine until last week. Is it correct that my time is currently frozen and won’t count against me? I ask to clarify because I tried asking Migracion and I ended up getting different answers, one that my time is frozen and will count again when quarantine is over, and another saying I had 3 days to leave the country if my time runs out during quarantine. The notary accepted our paperwork finally but I think the date is going to end up set in June. I just wanted to clarify because I don’t want to get in trouble with Migracion here.
On May 30 (or other date) when things reopen for Migracion you reportedly will get 30 days.
Ok cool. So even though I came back March 4 and got a 90 day visa and the quarantine went into effect on March 19, in my case my time is still being counted?
Great article as always Jeff! I’m currently on a tourist visa that coincidentally expires May 31st. Hoping I’ll be able to get a flight out somewhere in that time frame and won’t be hassled too much at the airport. Thanks again for the info!
PS, hope you are well Jason!!!
So if you look on the website http://www.migracioncolombia.gov.co/tramites-y-servicios it states services are on hold until the 30th of May, the email that lots of people have received from migration Colombia states that there is then 30 days to reapply for the 90 day visa extension. How your existing application will be affected I am unaware, i too applied on the 28th of May, just before the suspension of services but received no confirmation.
OK so I just received a blanket email to an inquiry I made two weeks ago that states they are permitting the 90 day visa extension for a period of 30 days after reopening of services which, according to the pdf sent is 30th of May, although this is subject to change depending on the central government.
Hey Jason, I am in the exact same situation. I applied online and received a confirmation number that it was successfully received about two weeks ago, but still no response. Do you know if immigration is now open? I am staying at my fiance’s in Medellin and would definitely like to stay longer, it is way worse in Boston right now with the virus than here. Thanks so much!!!! Best, Jerry
All Migracion offices in Colombia are closed during the quarantine.
I intend to move to Medellín in August. i’m moving my furniture and i’m told i’ll need a work permit, green card or NUT number. what’s involved…. I intend to teach English. and i’m married to a paisa (in Bogotá 30 August 2018). i’m 72 and retired.
Hi all, one more trying to extend the 90 days. I completed the form but then got an error when trying to follow the link. Nothing in email. It has been 3 days. Any info much appreciated.
One reader reported it took a week for her approval that arrived on Friday last week and she followed up with Migracion last week before she received the approval.
Yup, I’m in the same boat. Applied on the 28th March for a visa expiring on the 10th April. Going to try call today but not expecting an answer.
Probably just have to wait till all the offices reopen on the 13th/14th and go and see what happens. Not expecting much organisation.
Hi Jeff, as always great information. I have been trying to access the application page to extend my 90 day “tourist visa”, but I keep getting a “service temporarily unavailable” message. I think if it was accessible I would be experienced enough to provide the necessary documents and follow the procedures and steps. So I’m just wondering, if the application is non-accessible, then what could your visa agency possibly do to get my application through? Please reply ASAP as I’m just trying to figure out what I’m going to do about this today…don’t want to wait too late. Thanks!
Hey Jeff – first off, amazing articles, I’ve read them all multiple times to determine the best course of action for me to not have to leave this amazing country.
Like many, I’ve submitted my visa extension request – It’s been a week and a half and I haven’t heard anything or even received an email. I do have the confirmation number. I am starting to get a little concerned as my 90 days is up in mid April. Do you have any recommendations on how I should proceed?
Thanks in advance!!
You submitted too early. They won’t accept tourist visa extension so far in advance. If you submitted a week and a half ago and your tourist visa expires in mid-April, that means you submitted about a month ago.
Also, Migracion possibly has stopped approving tourist visa extensions due to the quarantine. The visa agency we partnered with says that haven’t received any approvals recently but no official word form Migracion. Tourists may be in limbo with the quarantine.
I finally achieved success by changing browsers; it worked with Firefox; perhaps their site is not Chrome compatible.
I see in the article that many readers have encountered problems when using the online application for visa extensions. The specific problem I’ve encounter repeatedly is not being able to attach files with supporting documentation (passport, itinerary, flight cancellation details). Is this the same issue others are having? Has anyone found a workaround?
Make sure the files are small and you can combine into 1 PDF file sizes are limited to a total of 1 MB for the files. You can compress PDF files using the IlovePDF website. Also, you can combine PDF files into one file using CombinePDF.
I tried it with files far smaller than the 1MB limit – one under 500KB, another under 100KB – with no success.
Hi John, I have heard Migracion is currently slammed with tourist visa extension applications. So, perhaps is having problems with systems. I will see what I can find out on Tuesday (Monday is a holiday).
Does anyone know whether Migracion will be issuing automatic blanket extensions to those whose Tourist Visas expire during the quarantine?
I will try to find out and update the article but may take some time with the quarantine.
Hello Jeff!
Thank you very much for all your well informed and very helpful articles.
A quick update, though. I just got off the phone with one of the Migration agents, and the fee is now COP $103,000.
Thank you!
Hi Jeff,
I am currently staying in Colombia for 180 days and that would be until the end of June. After that I would have to leave the country but my flight is leaving from bogota on the 14th of August. Am I allowed to get back in the country even though I stayed 180 days in 2020 already?
No, you are limited to 180 days in a calendar year as a tourist in Colombia.
What would you recommend me to do because I want to travel after this period in Colombia from June to August?
You need to wait to see what happens in Colombia with the quarantine and locking the borders and banning incoming international flights.
Alright, thank you very much Jeff!
What’s the point of having an online application and system for tourists to extend their 90-day visas to 180-days when after the application process and data is submitted you wait on to two days to hear back from someone at the migration department and then are sent a code to then use to pay for the visa fee online but then find out that your Us-issued Visa Credit card isn’t accepted and the transaction hasn’t processed and then are notified by someone at migration dept that you must physically go into the office to pay the fee??? Why have an online application and system that cant process payments if you then have to physically go into the office to make payment!!! Completely backward and soo 1990s. BTW, I have a US issued Visa credit card from one of the biggest banks in the country so it is not a question of my card not working because it does; it is their online system that’s not working. I should have just gone into their office and started the application there like it was 20 years ago if they can’t even process the applications online 100% including payment!
Welcome to Colombia.
Something seemingly simple can be very frustrating here.
Hi Jeff,
First of all thanks a lot for all those informations, that is very helpful .
I am planning to overstayed this year , at least I am considering it ( I do not mind paying a fine but I certainly would not risk a BAN for few years)
My girlfriend is from Bogota and I would like to stay 8 or 9 months total in 2020 as we live together
but can not get married yet.
I read what you said about overstaying “But if you have overstayed for less than three months I have heard from a few foreigners the fine can be less than 700,000 pesos.”
were you talking about overstaying less than 3 months after the 180 days granted by the tourist stamp ?
Thank You
I overstayed by 8 days back in 2012 and was fined 500,000 pesos. I was given a document that gave me 15 days to leave Colombia. I booked a return flight to Ecuador, stayed a few hours there in the airport and flew back to Colombia the next day. I had no issues re-entering and and was given a stamp for another 90 days.
The officials in Ecuador were bit of an issue as they were suspicious as to why I only wanted to be there for less than a day.
Hey Jeff! Quick question for you — I received the pre-aprobada email today after putting in the application online last Tuesday. Now I’m trying to make the payment with my credit card directly on the site, but keep getting the error “Error.connect timed out” when I click Pagar. Is this normal for the site, should I just keep trying and it will eventually load? Or is the site likely borked for the entire day…
Tomorrow is day 90 for me so I’m trying to figure out if I’ll have to make the trip to the Migracion Colombia office tomorrow here in Medellin.
Also, assuming I’m able to make the payment eventually today on the site, am I good to go even if I don’t get the completed “con exito” email from Migracion before tomorrow?
Thanks man!
Some readers have run into problems paying online and had to go to the Migraction Colombia office to pay. When going to the Migraction office we recommend going early.
Thanks Jeff. I ran up there today and took care of it. There were a few people there but not crazy busy at 11:30am. When I told the security officer working the entrance that my extension was approved this morning but the online payment system was not working, he walked my passport up to one of the agents at a desk and they got me in an out in less than 5 minutes. Gave me a payment printout for Banco Occidental and I ran up to Los Molinos shopping and got it done quickly.
So process complete, just waiting on my extension document email!
Hi Jeff, great information on your website. Just a quick question, I arrived in Colombia, January 1, 2020 and leaving March 25, 2020, before my 90 days is up I am planning to comeback again end of April for another 60 days. I just want to confirm that I get a new 90 days up entry in April and do not need apply for any extension as I left Colombia and I am re-entering. Thanks!
Yes, when you return you will receive another 90 day tourist stamp.
Hi, thanks for great article! But I still cannot figure out in my case should I apply for prolongation or no: arrival Nov 22 2019, will leave on March 11 2020. It’s more than 90 days since I arrived to Colombia, but less than 90 days in this calendar year.
I actually applied for prolongation online, but it has been almost 3 business days and no response at all.
Thanks in advance!
You have to get an extension or you will need to pay a fine when you leave. The calendar in the new year only resets if you leave Colombia.
If you applied online but didn’t get a reply, you need to go to the Migracion office quickly, as you have been here almost 90 days.
Thanks for such quick reply! Indeed I made an appointment online for the next day and got my new 3-months stamp in the Migracion office in Bogota without any issues. The fee is 103000 cop.
They didn’t even asked me for any copies (maybe they saw the docs that I attached online when I applied for prolongation).
Proof of onward travel to leave before the consecutive 180 days? Or what date would you need to have the flight for?
I was told by a visa agency the date for the onward travel doesn’t matter, just needs to be within the 180 day limit. The agency said they just confirm you have onward travel and they will still renew for 90 days.
Anyone else having issues with the immigration website and making an appointment?
I heard from another expat last week that he had problems making an appointment and he just went to the Migracion office early.
Ah I thought there was an issue with my browser or something, thanks for the heads up Jeff. You wouldnt happen to know when the office opens?
Per the Migracion website, opens Monday to Friday at 8 am and is closed on holidays and weekends.
Hi Jeff. Thanks for this informative post.
I have a question about how these rules apply to my situation.
I arrived in Bogota on May 19, 2019 and did a 90-day extension of my tourist visa. I left Colombia on November 9, 2019, after 175 days.
I am hoping to return to Colombia but am unsure of my options.
If I wait until February 2020 (a new calendar year), am I able to return on a tourist stamp in my passport? Am I eligible for a 90-day extension?
If not, when would I next be able to return with a tourist stamp in my passport?
Any help understanding my options would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Yes, your tourist clock will reset in 2020 when you return. So, you can return in 2020 and normally will get a 90 day stamp (at discretion of immigration officer) and can get a 90-day extension for a total of 180 days in 2020.
You do not have to go through immigration on domestic flights within Colombia so I think you would be okay since the airlines do not check your immigration status. Just that your passport is valid.
Hi. Great article. Thanks so much. My question is if you have already overstayed, is it possible to take an internal flight in Colombia, or could that be an issue? Thanks again!
Hi,
I came to Colombia with 61 days left on my extended tourist visa on the 14th of November.
I am a qualified English teacher and came with the view to live with my boyfriend and get a job here in San Carlos Antioquia. I have been offered a job, however it starts in late January/early February and so I cannot obtain a working visa before the end of the year.
As I cannot have more that 180 days consecutively, will I have to leave Colombia and re enter in 2020, to obtain new visa days? I spoke to someone in the Colombian consulate in London before I came who said if I can’t get a working visa before then I could always go to bogotá and explain the situation and see what they could do so as that I don’t have to leave the country. Have you heard of this working for anyone?
Thanks,
Laura
I have also faced many issues in extension, Staff is not professional at all
Extending your stamp is such a hassel !
I went to the bogota office and they said you could now only do it online !!!!!
I did it online ( after the site crashing so much ) It said we will update you within a day !
I waited for 2 days !
Heard nothing back so I rang them
when I did the person on the phone said do it again !
However when i login into the portal it says billed / invoiced
However I recieved no invoice !
They are very unprofessional and unreliable !
What should I do !
You will have to go to the Migracion office.
Hi Jeff. I have a friend trying to get a 2 year visa in Colombia (a year or 2)
What is the easiest way for her to obtain this visa? Without having to leave after 180 days
She loves Colombia and wants to travel throughout the country but is having trouble figuring out a way to get the visa
See our comprehensive Colombian visa guide that has information about all the Colombian visa options with a flowchart – https://medellinguru.com/colombia-visa-guide/
Extending your stamp is such a hassel !
I went to the bogota office and they said you could now only do it online !!!!!
I did it online ( after the site crashing so much ) It said we will update you within a day !
Hi Jeff. Love the information.
Just a quick question.
My first visa runs out on the 13th of Dec 2019. I want to go on vacation for Christmas then come back.
If i come back in late Dec 2019, will i be able to extend my new visa in 2020 just minus the couple days that were still left in 2019?
Or should i stay out of Colombia until the new year.
Thanks Sam
If you come back in late December, yes can renew in 2020.
As it says in the article, the current tourist rule is that you can stay in Colombia as a tourist for a maximum of 180 days in a calendar year (January 1 to December 31). In addition, you can’t stay for more than 180 days consecutively, even if this is across two years. So, when you come back in late 2019 and renew in 2020 your 180 days will count the few days in 2019 when you return.
Hi Jeff, I just entered Colombia by air via Medellin on Sept. 12, 2019 and my passport stamp is the same as one of your pervious comments which is with the date of entry and then a row a numbers 1-9 and the initials PIP in front of them and the official at the airport marked the number 5 . I have tried to find out what this means and have come up with only incomplete info. The PIP stands for “Permiso de Ingreso y Permanencia” which is what they are calling your initial tourist entry permit or visa. This is not to be confused with ” Permiso Temporal de Permanencia (prorroga)” which as you know is an extention to the original tourist permit and which now costs COP 99,000. I still do not have an answer to what the numbers mean and have written Migration Colombia via their webpage to try and find out. There is no date of expiration on the stamp and I do not want to assume that it is 90 days from entry. If anyone should know please leave a comment and I will also update when I get an answer.
Hi all, I just got a reponse to my question from Migration Colombia and unfortuately it does not say anything about the meaning of the number 5 marked by the official at the airport. The response does say to check my passport stamp for the amount of time I am allowed to stay and then the stock instructions on how to apply for the extension. Other than marking the number 5 on the row of numbers from 1 to 9, the only other mark is what I assumed to be the officials initials but which on further scrutiny could be considered a scribbled 90. Could that mean 90 days? I would like to upload a pic of the stamp here on the comments. Is there a way to do that Jeff?
Yes, probably what is scribbled is 90 days. Unfortunately no way to upload a pic of the stamp in the comments here. But you could upload photo on a big Facebook group like Medellin Expats and ask – https://www.facebook.com/groups/159461177529433/
Hello Jeff, I am an American living in Medellín and your blog was extremely informative however I still have some questions about renewing my Migrant Visa. Are you by chance able to speak on the phone tomorrow regarding. my situation?
Hi Julius, for your questions about renewing a Migrant visa, I recommend contacting the visa agency we partnered with. They will most likely be able to better answer your visa questions. Click on this link and you can chat with them on the bottom right of the screen tomorrow during business hours or contact them via phone or email – https://visasincolombia.com/
Great thank you very much Jeff
Hello, is it safe to book a flight to Bogota with a return 6 months later? Assuming that one asks for visa extension and gets it… I’m just afraid of being stopped at the border on arrival. Or, I could book an inexpensive flight from Bogota to any country nearby in the middle of my stay in case I actually need to leave and come back..
Does anyone know if you overstay your tourist stamp if you can still travel with major airlines to visit other parts of the country?
I want to know this too!!! Hopefully someone with answer!
I just checked out the online form, and the selections for my city of place of birth and also the city for the passport issuance, only has TORONTO as the entries. Toronto isn’t correct for either of them. Do I just use toronto and hope for the best?
I’ll be in Bogota, and from prior posts I can only extend online? :/
It should be fine to use TORONTO. I talked to an expat recently whose city also wasn’t listed and his tourist renewal went fine.
Great! thanks for the advice!
Hello, I followed the exact steps above to extend my 90-day tourist visa online. I was pre-approved within 30 minutes and I paid the 99,000 pesos (which was confirmed). However, I have not received a follow-up email with a PDF info that I need to print. I paid about 5 days ago. Should I be worried?
You, should follow up at a Migracion Colombia office and bring your confirmation. Note they are closed on Monday since it’s a holiday.
Hey Jeff. Great article! From my understanding if I come in September of 2019, I can’t stay for six consecutive months until February on a tourist visa?
Yes you can if you extend your tourist permit – note it’s a tourist permit not really a tourist visa as most call it. Also, can’t exceed 180 total days in Colombia in 2019.
Hello sir,
i am of Lebanese nationality hence requiring a visa to enter colombia which i have already obtained, once i’m in colombia can i renew my visa using the said method above or that does work for my situation and need to obtain another visa through the ministry or online?
regards
Since you needed a visa to come to Colombia, I assume this is a visitor visa. See our article about visitor visas – https://medellinguru.com/visitor-visa/. You need to renew this online and it will require a trip to Bogotá to get a new visa stamped in your passport. Or you can use a visa agency as it says in the article to avoid a trip to Bogotá.
This article is especially helpful for anyone needing an extension because Medellin Guru regularly updates its information about this and many things that can have an impact. Rules and regulations are subject to change and some internet advice on blogs is undated and out of date.
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for this article very helpful! Just extended my tourist visa online, was denied the first time, and had to show proof of onward travel the second time. Once I did that, it was approved. Not sure if this is a case by case request but figured I’d let the readers know that at times you do need to show proof, at least in my case. Once I sent that in with the rest of the docs they approved it, and I paid online no problem. Great site!
TJ
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for this resource. It’s really useful.
I do have a question which may seem obvious, but keen to be sure before \i book my flight home for christmas.
When I leave Colombia overland in July I would have been in the country for 170 days in 2019. I want to return in December to fly back to the UK. Do you think i will have any issues entering the country overland from Ecuador if I only have 10 days left on my annual allowance of days?
Thanks
Joshua
Hi Joshua, thanks. You shouldn’t have an issue as long as you are sure about how many days you have been in the country and can show that you have a flight leaving Colombia.
Hello Jeff,
My husband and I are planning on visiting Colombia regularly to get away from the snow in Missouri. I want to stay less than the 120 days but I also want to try and partner with someone in Medellin for my mainly online business for wellness and beauty products that I make. We want to team up with other similar minded business owners and out on health fairs and events. I have been told I need a Colombian ID. What do I need and if I needed a Colombian bank account eventually, is that even possible as a visitor? I will be attending the March 12 event at the brewery to learn more. Thank you
Hi Kathleen, if you are coming to our meetup on March 12, there will be experts there that can likely answer all your questions. The meetup is at Medellin Beer Factory on Calle 10 in El Poblado – https://medellinguru.com/march-medellin-guru-meetup/
If a second 90 day tourist permit is up… do you have to leave the country on day 90? Or the following day? Thanks!
Have to leave on day 90.
OVERSTAYED ORIGINAL 90 DAY DEADLINE?
It is worth noting that if you miss your initial deadline before the 90 days is up, or if you fill out the wrong form and receive neither an acceptance or rejection, you will be unable to renew for the next 90 day extension. If you’re planning to stay in Colombia long term, as I am, you will need a good excuse to not get deported if you miss your deadline. They don’t give you the option of paying the fine unless you have a job here, you’re a student here, you have a colombian spouse or partner, etc. You will be forced to leave and remain outside the country from 6 months – 2 years depending on the case. It is not your choice to pay a fine OR be deported/banned. The only way I was able to pay the fine and do the 24 hour border-hop to get a new 90 visa was because my girlfriend, a Colombian National, (I am US) has written a letter stating that we are a couple living together, I help with her two children, and we plan to get married. It did not need to be notarized in our case, and is not legally binding. We simply needed to provide this along with the usual passport copy, cedula copy, etc. You will be unable to extend your original visa if you breach your original 90 day deadline. You will have to border hop and start a new 90 day visa with its own 90 day extension. This was all told to us, in person, by the big boss of the Bogota Migracion office, Gustavo. In short, if you plan to stay in Colombia long term, DO NOT mess up your initial 90 day extension. Get a running head start on it or potentially ruin your entire trip plan.
Hi Jeff,
I am a citizen of Ghana and currently residing in the US with a students visa. I want to obtain a Visitors Visa since the Visitors stamp does not apply to me. I just have a concern. After I have my visa approved, will I have to go to my nearest consulate to receive it or it will be issued online? The nearest consulate to me is quite far.
Approval is online but a visitors visa is a physical visa put in your passport. So, you have to go to a consulate to get it.
We just went through this process using the online form. The online form ask for several dates and other information, and I found I had to switch between the English and the Spanish version to really figure out what information they wanted in each. So I would suggest studying the form and figuring out all the info before starting, so you don’t end up refreshing the screen and starting over (like I did a couple of times!). The only other difficult step was the 1mb limit for the attachments. Apparently that is 1mb in total. I submitted PDF’s of main page of passport, entry stamp page, and onward travel airline tickets. I had to use a online PDF compression site to get those reduced so that all 3 were less than 1 mb.
The rest of the process was very easy. I got an email within an hour telling my that it was pre-approved with a payment link to pay the fee, which I was able to do using an international card. Two days latter I got my official extension statement in the email. So Colombia is stuck with me until March 29th now LOL!!
Can you please share the name of the compression site you used? I am having the same problem.
https://smallpdf.com/compress-pdf
Can be visa be obtained in one’s passport in other cities, without help of an agency? Or only in Bogota?
You can get a visa at any Colombian consulate in other countries as our visa articles say – see: https://medellinguru.com/colombian-visa/
I mean, inside Colombia.
No, in Colombia you can only get a visa in your passport in Bogotá. But you can use a visa agency to get the visa in your passport in Bogotá so you avoid a trip to Bogotá. See a list of visa agencies in this article – https://medellinguru.com/colombian-visa/
ok, thx
Hi,
I entered colombia on the 15th of March this year, stayed my 90 days, made the visa extension, but left on the 11th of July, back to England. I have two questions:
I did not use all of my 180 days, I only used around 4 months, so my question is, can i pick those 2 remaining months up if I re entered Colombia this year?
I am looking to work there and am speaking with someone who will hopefully offer me a job teaching english, if I am able to obtain a working visa (the M visa) and am not allowed into colombia on a tourist visa this year, would I be able to enter colombia this year on a working visa?
If you only used about 4 months you can re-enter Colombia as a tourist.
Really?
Thank you for getting back so quickly. So what does the ‘consecutively’ refer to? And I can still enter this year? It’s just on my visa extension certificate it has an end date of the 10th of September just gone, which would be 3 months from when it was approved.
But you think I can just pick up the last 1 and a half months or so this year?
The clock is time spent in Colombia regardless of time left on a tourist permit extension. Once you leave the clock stops ticking. Consecutively means you are limited to 180 consecutive days across years – such as 90 days in 2019 followed consecutively by 90 days in 2020.
For obtaining Cedula I’ll need to apply for a visa first, right? And then for Cedula itself.
Can these both procedures be done in Medellin or will I have to go to Bogota?
Yes, you need a visa before you can get a cedula. You can get a cedula in Medellín and here’s our article about obtaining a cedula: https://medellinguru.com/cedula/. You can apply for a visa online but to get the visa in your passport you need to go to Bogotá.
Or you can use a visa agency in Medellín and they will take care of getting the visa in your passport and you won’t need to go to Bogotá.
See our visa article that has a list of visa agencies: https://medellinguru.com/colombian-visa/
Thanks
Does a visa itself have the same price when obtained in Colombia and abroad, say in Peru?
Yes, the Colombia visa price should be the same regardless of where you get it.
Can I obtain visa in my passport in Lima, and then apply for Cedula and get it too, and then return to Colombia with Cedula? Namely, while being abroad all the time.
Yes, you can get a visa at the Colombia embassy in Lima. But you can only get a cedula in Colombia. When you arrive in Colombia you will have 15 days to apply for a cedula – see our cedula article: https://medellinguru.com/cedula/
Really helpful! Thanks!
I have just used the option to complete the payment by going into the bank. It looks easy, but as I clicked done, my malware checker on my laptop told me it was a phishing website. It could be that the site just dons’t meet curtain standards, but has anyone heard of a fake website which looks exactly the same? This link on the above didn’t work so I’m concerned that google might have thrown up a scamming site.
Any thoughts?
The emails came from migracioncolombia.gov.co
The link in the above article does work, I just clicked on it. But it took a while to open. And migracioncolombia.gov.co is the correct domain for Migracion Colombia.
Jeff, As you said in the above article if I arrive November 1st and leave by April30, the next year,
Then I can just cross the border and re-enter with a 2 -month or 60 -day visa, my question is: Can I
cross again outside the border and renter for another 180 day stay in Colombia? Or 180-day stay is the limit per year regardless if I leave the country for 24 hours or more?
Thanks
Peter
You are limited to a total of 180 days in a calendar year in Colombia as a tourist no matter how many times you leave the country. So, if you do a border run on April 30, you will already have 4 months in Colombia and only can stay in the country for 2 more months until June 29. In 2019, from January 1 to June 29 is 180 days.
Thanks for the immediate reply JEFF. That was kind of you. So the 180-day-per-year rule is absolute. Once a tourist accumulates a total of 180 days then he has to pack. I was just kind of
confuse because of the word “consecutive” which in effect can open to varying interpretations. But your info is firsthand so I will take note.
They also have a 180-consecutive days rule. So, if you stay 180 days consecutively across two years – you would have to leave and return after 180 consecutive days for the 180-days calendar rule to kick in for the second year.
Jeff, Nice to know these info. Definitely, Colombia will be a place for me and many Americans to consider for retirement Thanks again.
We arrived Oct 1st, which makes our 90 days Dec 30th. We are planning on Staying Jan, Feb and March.
So my questions/concerns are:
How do the holidays effect processing visa extensions?
If I do it online, 5 days before would be the 25th, so I am guess I would need to do it on the 23rd?
When they extend it is it 90 days from when processed or 90 days from when the current stamp expires.
If its 90 days from when it is processed and the happen to process it on the 23 or so I will end up losing a week in march and have to leave earlier than we want.
Thanks
October has 31 days so your 90th day is December 29. And the holidays may impact the processing time, so try a couple days early.
Hey Jeff,
The stamp on the “tourist visa” / permit that I received on Nov. 8 2018 looks a little different than those pictured above. There appears to be a line with the numbers 1-9 in small boxes. There is a one or a slash through the number 5 and a scribble on the lower right side of the stamp.
This is my fourth visit in 2018 and would guess that I’ve been here a total of barely 60 days. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
JK
Hi Jeffrey, interesting. But things change all the time in Colombia so we try to keep articles on this website updated. For example, this article has been updated twice since originally published.
Perhaps they changed the tourist stamp. No telling what the numbers 1-9 in small boxes means. But I’m sure the Migracion Colombia office could tell you. If you find out, please post a comment so the article can be updated.
Thanks Jeff, I plan to be proactive and find out sooner than later. I arrived on November 8th and asked for 60 days as I planned to do a “border hop” over New Years. I’m concerned that I got 50 days and don’t want to show up at the airport a day or two late. Hypothetically, if 50 days is up on Dec. 27th… do I need to leave the country on that day? Earlier?
I will certainly follow up when I find out intel on the stamp.
Thanks!
I recently extended my 90 day visa. I was having trouble getting my photos reduced to < 1mb and feeling frustrated by the whole mess. I saved myself a lot of hassle by going to one of the local offices around Migracion Colombia office in Medellin. For $20,000 cop that filled out the form for me, reduced my photos, and sent my application online to Migracion. Then they printed out all of it, including my ticket out of Colombia. I was informed that I would need it to process my application by the front desk at the immigration office. I was also told to come back no earlier than 5 days than my visa expiration date as they weren't working on renewals further than advance than that. The worker at the front desk was helpful and spoke excellent English.
I returned around 9:30 am 5 days in advance of my visa expiration date with the printouts from the commercial business that helped me and presented them to the front desk. I was told to have a seat in another waiting room and that I would be called. I was called about 11:30 am, after quickly looking through my paperwork I was asked for a credit card to pay the fee and once that was paid I was sent to get a photo and fingerprinted. Very professionally treated and low stress.
Sorry Jeff I am nowhere near Pakistan..Must be my twin brother
Dear Jeff
I need your help for obtain the visa from Pakistan I would like to visit on my Christmas vacations so there are some problems to make payment in Turkey or Colombia so please let me know if any body help me to make the payment
Sorry, can’t help you. You can apply for a visa at a Colombia embassy but Colombia doesn’t have an embassy in Pakistan. Here is a list of other countries where Colombia has embassies. https://www.embassypages.com/colombia
Thanks for the information…So, I will be given a tourist visa until December without any problems…Then I can return in January and see what visa options I have….
This was very helpful in deciding on whether I go to Costa Rica, Ecudaor or Panama for a day or two…
Thanks Jeff
My tp-10 visa expires November 8th…Will not be renewing….What can I do to remain in Colombia until Middle of December before heading back to U.S. for the xmas holidays?
When a visa expires it doesn’t convert to a ¨tourist visa¨. So, you will have to leave Colombia and return as a tourist. You can do this by booking a round-trip flight to a neighboring country, or by traveling by road to Ecuador or Venezuela. When you re-enter Colombian territory you will be issued a 90-day tourist stamp.
I just got approved and paid for the visa extension via online. I didn’t receive a PDF. Does it take a day or two to receive a PDF to bring to migracion Colombia? Or is the process done after paying?
Hi Jeff
Thank you for your very helpful article! Hope you can offer some advice on the visa extension, my 90 days expires on December 22nd, at that point I will have spent 5 months in the country this year on 2x separate visits so I have never extended before.
Am I right in thinking if I extend it for the 180 days in December it should be no problem as I wont have spent more than 180 days this year and it runs into the next year and the extension starts counting down from my 2019 180 days in the country?
Many Thanks
Chris Shier
Hi Chris, I believe you should be OK. The rule is 180 days in one year OR 180 days consecutively, even if this is across two years. But I would check with Migracion to be sure. If you stop by a Migracion office they should be able to answer the question quickly. Or you can try to ask a visa agency like http://inter-col.com/en/
Hello there, I filled out a request to extend my 90 visa and the response I got back was “Con los siguientes datos de ingreso” is it normal for them to ask for proof of income? And would I just take a snap shot of my bank account and sent it over?
Thanks!
Michelle
Hi Michelle, I haven’t heard of that before from other expats. I recommend asking the visa agency InterCol – http://inter-col.com/en/
Hey Jeff, I’m so embarrassed but apparently I read the email wrong ha ha, they were asking for proof of onward travel. Once I provided that, they sent me a pre-approval and a link to pay the $96,000 COP which I did. I’m wondering how long does it take to get the extension paperwork? I got a receipt of payment but nothing else. 🙂
Update: September 17, 2018 – I applied for extension and they denied it, saying I need to include a return ticket and that my documents must be scanned and not a photograph. I have to resubmit. Just a heads up!
Hi,
Like a lot of people on here I was having trouble with the online application, I would fill out all the details but then it would not let me submit. The trick it seems is to use and old computer (windows xp or older). When I filled out the form using an antique computer at a cyber cafe I had no problem as opposed to when I used my relatively new laptop.
Jeff I can’t thank you english for this crystal clear write up.
I have been searching for quite some time and this is by far the clearest and most detailed explanation which I found really beneficial. I wanted to ask if you know how to identify how long my tourist visa has been approved for. I’ve just landed in Cartagena yesterday and was given a tourist visa however I am having some difficulty figuring out how long I’ve been giving to stay as a tourist.
Any suggestions?
Hi Parrie, immigration should write a number on your tourist stamp in your passport that is the number of days it is good for. If yours doesn’t have a number, you will need to stop at a Migracion office to ask.
As an update, the price to pay to extend your stay is now 96,000 COP.
Thanks, the article is updated.
Hi Jeff
Thanks for all the great info.
Do the payment links from Migracion Colombia expire? I’m pre-approved for a tourist permit extension (email from Migracion received today) but I’m on the road and won’t be able to pay until Sunday earliest.
It would suck if I tried on Sunday and the payment link had expired.
There was no information on this or deadline given in the email.
Any ideas would be much appreciated!
Thanks!
Thanks for the information, Jeff – I tried submitting online, with one week left on my entry stamp, and with just passport and entry stamp included, no proof of onward travel. They didn’t reply back so the day before expiration I went to the office without appointment; they said to return the next day at 8 AM (7/25/18) with proof of onward travel. It seems they are requiring that for now. Also the fee has raised to 96,000 pesos. All in all a relatively pleasant visa renewal experience – thanks again for all the helpful info.
hey Jeff. I have a lot of questions.
1. so i arrived in colombia at 30 may and plan to stay until 23 november (about 180 days). can I extend it right now (18 july) or should I wait until one week before 28 August to extend my tourist visit from 90 days to 180 days? In the article, you wrote this “You should schedule the appointment a week before your tourist stamp expiration. And you won’t be permitted to schedule months or weeks in advance.” <- so that means i can only schedule it at 21 August, not before? so if i want to extend it right now (18 july), i cannot do that? I need to wait until late august?
2. and how about some complaints regarding online form? from several comments above, I got the impression that online form is a waste of time. do we have better chance to get that 90 days tourist stamp extension by going to the immigration office directly or is it the same with using the online form? which one do you recommend?
3. and why some people said they got declined online? how is it possible that some people got their tourist extension declined? what are the possible reasons that your extension get declined? i want to make sure i prepare everything properly. i dont want to waste money for flight ticket and suddenly i get declined.
and if i get declined online, I have another chance to extend my tourist extension by going to the immigration office directly or not? or if i get declined through online form, i'm done? there's nothing else i can do?
4. so i tried to find the best solution for this. I think viva air colombia is very cheap to Lima (much cheaper than avianca and other airlines). and i think they offer refund as well. so why don't I just buy a flight ticket through viva air to outside colombia, then apply for the tourist stamp extension, then ask for refund later? That sounds like the safest bet. what do you think?
Hi Johnny, 1. you should wait until about week or so before to extend. 2. The online form seems to be hit or miss – some have no problems while others do. 3. Reason for getting declined according to those I have talked to seems to be not having proof of onward travel even though some get their extension without this, if you get declined online you can go to the Migracion office to fix things. 4. Make sure whatever airline provides a refund before buying…
Bus tickets are apparently accepted as proof of onward travel as well. For what its worth, I was told on Monday, that since April 1, 2018, no more extensions without proof of onward travel.
it’s fine, Brian, i can buy flight ticket before i try to extend. I thought ‘onward travel’ was something else. Anyway, I read someone else was fined for staying longer than 90 days. ok, i think this is not something I have to worry about but it came to my mind earlier.
So my original plan was just to stay for 2 months in colombia. I arrived in colombia at 30 may and my original plan was to exit Colombia by 1 August (and go to Chile), but I changed my mind, and as you can see from my comments earlier, I plan to stay for 180 days (until 28 november).
Original plan -> to stay for 60 days
my new plan -> to stay for 180 days
it doesn’t matter, right? i mean, i can still extend my stay at mid August because 90 days from 30 may is 28 august?
I hope I get everything correct here because my original plan was just to stay for 60 days and I think the immigration officer at the time also looked at my exit ticket/onward travel. so i had an idea in my head that they wanted me to leave at 1 august (instead of 90 days from 30 may, which is 28 august).
tl;dr / bottomline – I arrived in colombia at 30 may. i had my exit ticket for 1 august. 90 days from 30 may is 28 august. when should I extend my stay with the online form? 20-21 august?
I did mine two weeks before expiration. When it got approved they added 90 days more after the expiration date. I recommend after approval you print out a receipt online for Banco de Occidente. It’s a page you print out with Barcode to pay at this bank. Unfortunately, online payment was not available at the time. So you have to pay CASH at the bank too! That it’s beyond me why a bank doesn’t accept a credit card. Fortunately for me I carry cash like a good American. You can find the bank at the Oviedo Mall near main entrance to the right. Straight forward process. Just wish they gave out those details in their email…
hey Jeff, thanks for super fast reply
1. understood
2. ok, understood
3. alright but this is weird though. what does ‘onward travel’ mean? let’s say my flight ticket is from Bogota to Peru. then they want to see my travel from Peru to another country or what? and how if it’s a flight ticket from Bogota to my country, in that case why do i need to show ‘proof of onward ticket’?
4. alright but at the moment I see viva air colombia is the cheapest option (much cheaper compared to other airline prices). i hope it’ll be fine to use viva air (vivaair.com) because I have suspicion that many tourists abuse their flight tickets just to extend their stay from 90 days to 180 days
Onward travel means showing proof of a flight (or bus) leaving Colombia.
Alright, got it. that’s very easy then. i plan to buy flight ticket to exit Colombia before I extend my stay next month. Thank you Jeff!
I was declined online and had to go to the office in Belen. There I found out was a couple days over my 90 days. I was fined $100 and had to leave the country for 24 hours. I went to Panama for 2 days. On return, I tried to get my Pensionado residency on my own, spent money and time only to be held up by the American government (you now have to send your Letter from Social Security to Virginia for apostile) and ended up spending $700 to have an agency here do it. Was done in 2 weeks.
Thanks Jeff. Booking appointments online seems a waste of time as well. We’re good until the end of July so will head over to Belén in 2 or 3 weeks. Maybe I applied to early?
Yes, I think the limit is around 10 days or so before the tourist stamp expires.
Great article!
Is the online application for tourist stamp extension a “once and done” type of thing? In other words, if you are declined in your first online attempt, should you try online again or just suck it up and go visit one of their Migraćion offices?
Hi Brian, thanks. Several expats I have talked mentioned online problems that they resolved when the went to a Migracion office. So, I believe if declined on the first online attempt, I’d go visit the Migracion office for the city I was in.
Thanks to share your knowledge on your website , it is really well done and interresting.
My situation is , my girlfriend is Colombian I work overthere there several times ( yes the most dangerous in latin america is to don’t fall inlove).
I work by rotation of 6 weeks but in one other country, we plane to live together in Bogota.
But for the moment my only way to have visa is tourist visa. I understood that we can not spend more than 180days per year 1stJan to 31stDec right ?
If i go to Bogota for 41 days I receive then 90 stamp, i go back work 42days out of Colombia, then come back for 41 days again I spent until now 82 days in Colombia.
Does that mean when I come back 6weeks later to Bogota for 41 days again I still have 8 days to do an extension OR, when I arrive to the airport they give me again a stamp 90 days knowing I didnt spend 180 days yet and then still have then 98 days to spend during the year.
Question Bis
Do you advise to have a booking to go out of Colombia when i pass immigration and tell them I stay 41 day? Because my company always send me the flight 1 week before the end of my leave, otherwise i can book cheap ticket before.
I hope I m clear enought .
Thanks for your help, and your website.
Hi Lee, yes as a tourist you are limited to 180 days in Colombia in a year. In your example after 82 days in Colombia when you return you will receive a new 90 day tourist stamp and no need for an extension.
Immigration doesn’t check to see if you have a return flight but the airlines normally do.
Thanks for your reply.
The to be brief each time i receive a stamp and there is not need to extend except if i stay more than 90days in a row.
Thanks a lot for your info. Once I m stable over there I wanna visit Medellin too. I use to work Barranquilla and Cartagena
Thank you so so much, this has been so helpful!!!
An update that may be helpful in early April 2018, submitted my submission online and was approved in 48 hours without need of proof of onward travel. Online payment system is still down so will have to go to bank to pay.
Hello. my flight to leave medellin is april 20th. i came here january 12th. so i plan to overstay for 8 days and pay the fine. i dont want to be delayed at the airport when i leave and miss my flight. i dont know if its best to get a 90 day exention if im only staying for 8 days or just overstay and pay the fine… my biggest issue is if i overstay i will be in the airport and miss my flight…
Hi Dylan, it is better and much cheaper to extend your tourist stamp. I recently talked to someone at the Bogotá airport that had overstayed by only 15 days and he said he had to pay over 400,000 pesos. The minimum fine is reportedly half the monthly minimum wage (390,000 pesos) compared to only 92,000 pesos to extend a tourist stamp.
thank you for the fast reply Jeff! good information.
Just to give an update. I wish I listened to you Jeff. The bogota immigration people have no mercy… I missed my flight.. The way it worked was I went to line in customs they saw i was like 5 days late. Then they brought me into immigration office. And they detained me for 2.5 hours…. I had to wait an hour then went to do paperwork with immigration for 1.5 hours.. so 2.5 hour total time and i missed m flight to europe so i lost $1400 USD had to rebook. But it was my fault , i just read online people say they just make you pay a fine and let you go after 15 minute but i was detained for like 2.5 hours . and missed my flight and had to rebook.
that being said.. i just arrived back in medellin and there were no issues with me despite the denied passport stamp from 4 months ago. so it looks like medellin is one of those countries where you just leave and reenter and they dont care. they dont follow the 180 day calendar rule.
Do it online. Takes 5 minutes and I was approved in 48 hours. It’s simple.
Sorry, what I meant was proof of onward travel…
Hi. My boyfriend and I went to Migracion Colombia today and was told that we need proof of online travel – by bus/air/boat/etc. It’s a requirement that they are implementing and visa can’t be extended without it. 🙁 Is there anyone in this comment thread that can help us with producing a proof of online travel that we can cancel after getting our extension approved? Thanks in advance! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Go to expedia.com same day you go to immigration, book a flight to Panama, print out proof of travel (I didn’t and had to leave immigration office to track down copy shop), then after they approve you go back on expedia and cancel the flight (within 24 hours of booking).
Expedia used to allow passengers to cancel their reservations within 24 hours, without any fees.
Received this in my inbox this morning after successfully paying the 103 mil pesos online with my Visa card last week and receiving receipt of payment from them. My question is why haven’t they attached the Visa extension documemt to the email below and why are they asking me to come into their office when the lockdown is going on??? In addition what’s the point of having an online application and payment to then be told you physically need to go into their office to pick up your extension, that defeats the whole point of having the online application. I should of just gone in person before the lockdown started last week and gotten my extension in their office in Medellin if they’re going to tell me that I have to go there to pick up a simple one paper document you keep with your passport to show immigration when you exit Colombia. This is not my first visa extension either and in the old days it was more efficient with DAS. I remember getting a visa extension in Santa Marta in 2010 and it took half the afternoon and was more simple than this online. What a catastprophe, so inefficient and stupid process! What if the lockdown wasn’t going in and hypothetically I was in the middle of the jungles and not returning to Medellin before my flight home??? How on Earth would I be physically able to go to their office in Medellin to pick up this extension??? Crazzzy!
Señor(a):
El documento del trámite registrado en línea se encuentra listo para ser entregado. Por favor preséntese en el centro facilitador de la ciudad de MEDELLÍN, ubicado en la dirección , donde quedo registrada su solicitud.
Cordialmente,
Unidad Administrativa Especial Migración Colombia
Migracion offices are closed during quarantine. So, unfortunately you are in limbo until Migracion office open back up.
I’m having a lot of issues with this website. It often says that the file needs to be max 1MB, even though it’s under that. But an even bigger problem is it doesn’t allow me to select the document type. The dropdown doesn’t work. Also, my birthplace is Cleveland, Ohio, and that’s not an option; it only has Columbus, Ohio. Any suggestions?
Several readers have indicated they are having problems with the site but many have gotten it to work and extended their visa online. Fill it out out as best as you can and if you can’t get it to work go to the Migracion office.
Hi !
Thank you so much for the info, succeeded in renewing my visa online without having to show proof of onward travel or any document beside my passport.
Without your article I would have had to go myself to a migracion office and I didn’t have any of the required documents. Also, I didn’t have to pay anything online. Brilliant, thanks again !!
Hi Marie, thanks.
We try to keep all the articles on the Medellin Guru site up-to-date. When I found out from a reader that you could renew online, the article was updated as soon as I could confirm the details with Migracion.
Hi there,
Sorry for asking a probably very silly question. I renewed my tourist stamp and it’s done to 20th March 2018. Can I go over the border that day or does it have to be day before.
Thanks
Rehanon
I talked to an expat recently that left the last day of his tourist stamp and he didn’t have a problem and he returned the next week.
Hi,
Thanks for sharing this information! I understand that you’re allowed up to 180 days in a calendar year and “multiple entries”. Is there a limit on the number entries back into Colombia in a calendar year?
Here is my current situation and I researching to see if this will work out for me:
End of Dec 2017 – Arrived in Colombia and received 90 day tourist stamp/visa
End of March 2018 – Fly to the states for the weekend and then returning to Colombia to extend/receive a new 90 day tourist stamp/visa
End of April 2018 – Fly to states and staying X months in 2018 – At this point I’ve stayed ~4 months in 2018 so far
X month in 2018 – Fly back to Colombia to stay for remaining ~2 months of my tourist stamp/visa in 2018
I would have roughly 2 months left in 2018 with my tourist stamp/visa at this point. Does this work or will I have any issues when I return?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Shouldn’t have a problem. Just count the days you have been in Colombia and make sure to include arrival and departure days and make sure no more than 180 days in the year.
Thanks for this information!
Hi Jeff! So I had the same experience as Josh, except every time I received response quickly. Firstly I went to the Bogotá office and it is no longer possible to do it in person. The ONLY option is to do online if you’re in Bogotá. Secondly, I did the application at 10pm one day, and at 7am the following day I was rejected for not having an onward ticket. After this rejection, I rang the office and they confirmed this is necessary. I bought a ticket and submitted the whole thing again. In 1.5 hours I was accepted. Then I could not pay by credit card due to ‘maintenance’. I rang again and they said they did not know why it didn’t work. I got a friend to pay for me via PSE. By the following morning I received the document. It seems to me they are trying to iron out the process and what is required. However, if they respond as fast as what they did with me, there is no harm in trying without a ticket if you don’t already have one. If you have one, attach it.
Also the ticket I bought and attached was clearly bought 5 minutes before submitting my application and it was fine.
I suggest to people if it is not possible to pay by credit card due to the maintenance thing, just crack on and find another way to pay, as there did not seem to be a way for them to fix it. I think you can also print some form and go into a bank. But when my friend paid using PSE it was done in five minutes.
It cost 96,000.
Also, thanks for the great blog.
I just returned from the Immigration Office in Belen and extended the tourist visa/permit for myself and my two kids and wanted to share my experience. I tried to start the process online and got emails right after giving us number codes and was told someone would be in touch but never heard from anyone so an expat friend of mine advised me to go to the office in person with copies of my passport info page and visa/permit page. I also booked flights to Panama on Expedia (with the plan to cancel it after I got my extension as Expedia gives 24 hours free cancellation… we actually plan to go to Peru but I haven’t yet decided when or where).
We got there late as I was waiting for a fedex and were there for 4 hours. I brought our devices and I was able to do some work and my kids played video games.
Tip: if you have kids you need to bring them plus their original birth certificates.
One frustrating things is while I had an email with proof of onward travel, showing them on my phone wasn’t good enough. So I had to leave and go to a copy center. I tried to email it from my phone to the lady at the copy center but she didn’t get it. Then I remembered I had saved it on my laptop which I had with me and I had a thumb drive. So I saved it on the thumb drive and gave it to her but she couldn’t open the document because she didn’t have Adobe to read PDFs. It’s like we’re living in 1998 here. She has a computer/copy shop but doesn’t have the ability to open a PDF using a free app from Adobe! So I went across the street to an internet cafe where I signed onto my yahoo account and printed it from there. Super antiquated. At least the immigration guy was really nice and was amazed that we’re worldschoolers and digital nomads and thinks we should write a blog ha ha! But seriously, Colombia is in the dark ages when it comes to technology. I feel like I’ve gone back in time when I was backpacking in 1998.
So we’re all good until May 3rd!! But just know that the online process to extend your visa/permit and pay online via your credit card doesn’t work!! It’s all a facade and we actually have to go back in time and do everything in person!!
Hi Lizz, thanks for commenting on your experience. Some readers have been able to renew online. But it looks like a hit-or-miss process so far with some problems Migracion needs to work out.
Hi! I just submitted the form, and like many others above, only submitted an image of my main passport page. Is it important to include the Colombia tourist stamp I received upon arrival?
I’m also 2 weeks after my 90 days – do you know if this will present a problem or have other people been able to extend to the 180 days no problem? Thanks!
Here is my experience so far applying on-line. I applied over a week before expiration but only sent a copy of my passport. I forgot to send the stamp page and did not send proof of onward travel (it was not mentioned anywhere on their website). After a week, the status of my application was the same and I had not received any update. I called Migracion Colombia and was asked if I included all the required documents. He said I needed to include three documents, passport page, passport stamp, and proof of onward travel. He said to start the process over from the beginning. While doing so, I saw it mentioned specifically the passport page and stamp but not proof of onward travel.
Next, I re-submit with passport and stamp but no proof of onward travel. This time I received a prompt next day reply stating that my documentation was incomplete, I needed proof of onward travel, and also that I needed to complete the process in person at the Migracion office.
“Documentación incompleta, debe anexar tiquetes de salida y realizar el tramite de manera presencial en las oficinas de Migración Colombia, tiene hasta las 18: 00 horas del 02/02/2018 para presentar documentación.”
I really didn’t want to go into the office as I heard the wait can be several hours so I accessed my application again on-line and attached the PDF document of my proof of onward travel. The next day, I received confirmation that my application was approved and that I now needed to pay. Unfortunately every time I’ve tried to pay by credit card, I’ve received the message that the website is out of service for maintenance.
“Servicio suspendido por mantenimiento”
I spoke with Migracion again and was told to just go to the bank and pay there. I made the mistake of not asking which bank or how. I went to the BBVA bank near my house and was told that I could not pay it there but no additional information. I just noticed in this MedellinGuru.com page I’m posting on that you can pay at Banco Occidente. I’m not sure if this is the only bank this is possible but unfortunately it’s now closed for the day.
Officially my initial stay expired yesterday but I’m hoping once I can make the payment everything will go through smoothly.
Hi Josh, I was told twice at the Migracion office that you didn’t need proof of onward travel and another reader got their extension without including proof of onward travel. So, looks like they aren’t consistent, which isn’t a surprise in Colombia. Also I was told they are having problems with online payment.
I extended my visa in Santa Marta in january without showing a proof of onward travel
I renewed mine online as well. I did supplied all including onward travel. However, I only did a reservation online with Copa Airlines without having to pay upfront and it met their requirements. My only question is if I’m able to go back to Colombia since I left early because of work before my Extended Visa Expired. I had about 1.5 months left. Will I be able to return before the end of the year since I haven’t been in the country for 180 days or will the VISA expire on said date?
A tourist visa is not really a visa it is just a tourist permit stamp in your passport. When you leave it is no longer valid. And you get a new stamp when you return. The 180 day rule is how many days your are physically in Colombia.
I just submitted my application for the tourist visa! However I saw in the comments to also upload proof of onward ticket but I didn’t upload that just what you indicated in the article passport personal data and Colombian tourist stamps! I hope it is confirmed!
Please let me know if not confirmed and I’ll update the article. Migracion at the Belén office told me specifically that you only need the passport personal data and the Colombian tourist stamp. And I specifically asked about the proof of onward travel and they said it’s not needed.
I was approved! However you DO need proof of leaving the country in case they don’t approve you.
Hi Jeff, I just scheduled an appointment to extend my visa for another 3 months. The only option that was offered that seemed to make any sense was “visa registration”. Is that correct? My visa does not expire until the end of the month but there were only two available dates so I was scheduled for a day this week. That doesn’t seem to fit with the experience people have had with not being able to schedule earlier than a week before expiration. There was no field where I could enter the date that the visa was issued. Thanks for your input!K
Hi Kim, visa registration is to register your visa you have a visa. You reportedly can’t make an appointment to extend a tourist visa until about a week before it expires. But reportedly you can now extend a tourist visa online with no need to go in person – see Permiso Temporal de Permanencia para Prorrogar Permanencia via this link: https://apps.migracioncolombia.gov.co/registro/public/formularioRegistro.jsf
I plan to confirm this and update the article.
Oh it is so great to hear that it can now be done online! I am still a little confused on what box to check. Would it be ‘Permiso Temporal de Permanencia Para Cambiar Permiso’? Thanks!
Use the “Permiso Temporal de Permanencia para Prorrogar Permanencia” option.
And it will ask for attachments – According Migracion Colombia, make sure you attach two documents:
1) PDF scan of the page of your current passport with your personal data/photo.
2) PDF scan of your current valid Colombia tourist visa stamp
If there are issues you may be able to solve them by phone, rather than going in person. (+57 1 605 5454) and you can even ask for an English speaker, they reportedly are very helpful.
Just got off the phone with Migracion (January 2018) and apparently the information about having to go in person to extend your stay on a 90 day tourist visa / waiver is no longer correct.
According to them you can extend online and do NOT have to go to the immigration office in person unless there are problems with your extension.
Go to http://www.migracioncolombia.gov.co/ click on ‘Tramites’, then down to ‘Permiso Temporal de Permanencia’. This will take you to the following form: https://apps.migracioncolombia.gov.co/registro/public/formularioRegistro.jsf
Select:
[x] Permiso Temporal de Permanencia para Prorrogar Permanencia
And make sure you attach two documents:
1) A PDF scan of your passport photo page. I’m not sure if the visa page needs to be included as well.
2) A ticket proving that you’re leaving Colombia.
You’ll get a response within 1 business day. If you’re from a Schengen country this process is free, others may have a fee around COP 90,000 via credit card.
If there are issues you may be able to solve them by phone, rather than going in person. (+57 1 605 5454 you can even ask for an English speaker, they were very helpful.) If you do need an appointment after all be sure to call on a Thursday, as that’s when they hand out appointments for the following week.
Update: Just renewed online and it worked like a charm.
Got a PDF noting the details of the PTP5 that extends my PIP5 entry by 90 days.
Just have to print this and keep it with the passport.
Hi Dustin, thanks I confirmed with Migracion that you can renew a tourist visa online without going to a Migracion Colombia office. So, I updated the article. Also, Migracion told me you need a A PDF scan of your passport photo/data page and a PDF scan of your current tourist visa stamp.
Hi Jeff – Great article, very informative! I am a UK passport holder and will be travelling to Colombia in March for a period of 5 months to volunteer. Do you think the tourist visa will work for me? With an initial 90 days then an extention to 180 days? Also will it be a problem if I book return flights from the UK (with the return flight falling outside of the initial 90 day visa period, but within the 180 day extension period?)
Hi Imran, thanks. Yes, if you are from the UK you should get 90 days for your tourist visa stamped in your passport when you enter and you can extend it while in Colombia by another 90 days. And shouldn’t be a problem with your return flight if it’s within the 180 day period.
Hi Imran. I am in a similar situation. Would you be kind enough to share your experience? Thanks
Hi, Jeff. Thanks for the important information.
I have a question about the controversing second tourism visa.
1. I applied my extention of the PIP on march and it had been pending for the Pandemia.
2. I heared that the migracion service opend. And I checked my pip process online in 23 of september. Then I found out the application has been approved.
3. I paid the extention cost in 23 of september.
4. I got a pdf in which my valid date is until July.
I dont know if this is a mistake or error. And I wonder if I have to leave anyway until end of October.
I would really appreciate if you have any idea of this.
Much thanks, Ethan.
Recommend asking the visa agency we partnered with, click on this link – https://expatgroup.co/english/visasincolombia/ and there is a chat at the bottom right of the page.
Hi Jeff – great article – thanks! Do you know whether any of this has changed since the new visa laws came into place? Specifically, is the 180 day limit still per calendar year? I heard a rumour this may have changed to 180 days in any 365 day period. Thanks!
Hi Danny, my understanding is the new visa laws only impact visas that you need to apply for and not the tourist visas that are simply a stamp in your passport when you arrive in the country.
So, the rule is you can stay in Colombia on a “tourist visa” for a maximum of 180 days in a calendar year (January 1 to December 31). In addition, you can’t stay for more than 180 days consecutively, even if this is across two years.
We plan to keep this article up-to-date as we find out any new information.
This is what I recently heard too (about the 365 days). Any new updates on this?
No updates, the rules haven’t changed.
The rule is you can stay in Colombia on a “tourist visa” for a maximum of 180 days in a calendar year (January 1 to December 31). In addition, you can’t stay for more than 180 days consecutively, even if this is across two years.
Hi Jeff! Thank you for the useful information. I have been trying to book an appointment online and it looks like there is no availability for the next 3 weeks. My visa ends Dec 18. Should I try showing up this week? or should I wait till a week before my visa ends to show up? I want to stay at least one more month in Colombia but tickets are too expensive to fly out to a nearby country.
Thank you,
Kayla Kelly
Hi Kayla, you should schedule the appointment a week before your tourist visa expiration. Several expats that have renewed tourist visas have told me that you won’t be permitted to schedule months or weeks in advance.
Is there any probability of not getting approved?
Hi Malory, I haven’t heard of anyone not getting approved for a tourist visa extension.
Hello Jeff….i want to know if this me this also apply to this E who have to apply for a real tourist Visa. I mean those countries that need tourist Visa to enter Colombia.
My second question…..a friend of mine was on a tourist Visa and has applied for a different visa but was denied ….and I want to ask if it’s possible for him to go for the tourist Visa extension.
Thanks
Hi Anthony, if you have a real tourist visa (known as V visitor visa) you have to use the visa process. The process in this article only applies for tourist visa stamps. And if in Colombia with a tourist visa stamp and denied a real visa, you should still be able to renew the tourist visa.
Thanks, this was a very useful article. I wish I had read it in detail though. Or maybe you could bold the text that says YOU MUST PAY BY DEBIT OR CREDIT CARD. I went only with cash and this caused quite a major problem. If you can’t pay with card, you will have to go to a bank and pay and then come back to get your stamp. Quite a hassle. Bring a card!
This is good information to know. I just completed my extension request online using Jeff’s article. Thank you so much for this. Lets hope they don’t get confused that I am a Canadian carrying a U.S. passport. I immigrated to the U.S. 26 years ago and became a citizen. I guess next I go for my Pesionado and E Cedula and hopefully Jeff can get me through that process – Marie
Hello
Can anyone tell me what documents a Colombian citizen needs to provide to form a civil union (common law) with a Canadian
Regards
John
Requirements possibly vary by notary, so important to ask the notary. Normally will need a registro civil, which is a Colombian document containing details of the Colombian’s birth, parents names, nationality and marital status; birth certificate of the Colombian and notarized copy of the Colombian’s cedula.
Hi Jeff,
I entered Colombia on 15/11/19 I realise I’m a day over, can I still apply online for the second 30 day permit to stay in the country?
If you are over 90 days this will require a trip to a Migracion office to sort out. Go early tomorrow.
Hello, I am a bit confused still on how long I can stay in the country. I arrived in January 2020 and stayed for 44 days. Then I left, and I have just now returned on Oct 4, 2020. Can I now stay for another 90 days as that is what was stamped in my passport, or can I only stay for 46 days without extending the tourist stamp?
You can stay for 90 days without extending. The limit is 180 days in Colombia – see our popular article about tourist visas – https://medellinguru.com/tourist-visa/
Thanks so much. That’s a relief. I was thinking if I wanted to stay past the 46 days (which would have made 90 total this year) I would have to request the extension, but now I see that just leaving and coming back has renewed? Great!
Another excellent resource article Jeff. This and taxation are the two questions we’ve asked other expats and, interestingly, gotten several answers–some of them pretty fantastical. Thanks for the straight information.
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