There are several visa agencies and law firms in Medellín and other cities in Colombia that offer visa services – helping foreigners obtain Colombian visas. We provide a guide to the visa agencies and law firms offering visa services in Medellín and Colombia that is updated for 2022.
We include a total of 15 visa agencies and law firms in Colombia offering Colombian visa services in this article.
Is a Lawyer Required for Visa Services in Colombia?
In Colombia, a lawyer is not really needed for most visa services. The application forms are relatively straightforward and the process and documents required are pretty well-defined.
Lawyers are typically only needed in more complex immigration cases in Colombia. And lawyers are not really needed for most visas that are relatively straightforward like student, retirement, marriage or resident visas.
So, several visa agencies in Colombia exist that specialize in providing visa services at lower costs than the law firms in Colombia.
The Colombia Visa Process
Colombia offers many different categories of visas, which enable you to stay in Colombia for a year or more. We previously provided a guide to Colombian visas.
You can apply for a Colombian visa online. In addition, you can obtain Colombian visas at Colombian consulates around the world. In the U.S., Colombia has consulates located in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, Newark, New York, San Francisco and Washington DC.
After receiving the online visa approval, if doing this in Colombia, you previously needed to travel to Bogotá to get the visa in your passport but this is no longer required to to the coronavirus pandemic.
I successfully obtained three Colombian visas that I applied for my own in the past that were good for a total of five years. But the biggest challenge with doing a Colombian visa yourself is not benefiting from the experiences of a visa agency, which has processed hundreds of visas and knows exactly what is needed for each type of visa.
So, for my latest visa received in 2018, a Colombia resident visa, I used a visa agency. And I found the experience painless and now highly recommend using a visa service over doing a Colombia visa application yourself. The bottom line is with a visa agency you are less likely to run into problems.
Visa Agencies and Law Firms Offering Visa Services in Medellín
You can find visa agencies in several cities in Colombia. For example, there are at least nine visa agencies in Medellín and at least four law firms offering visa services in Medellín.
Visa Agencies in Medellín
Inside the Expatgroup.co office in El Poblado
1. Expatgroup.co
Expatgroup.co is a visa agency in Medellín with an office located in El Poblado. This visa agency’s goal is to provide a portfolio of services tailored to foreigners who want to settle, invest, work, study and/or do business in Colombia.
Expatgroup.co’s visa services are competitively priced and their website provides more functionality than the other visa agencies. The functionality includes chat, Spanish and English language and the ability to get online quotes for visa services.
Expatgroup.co’s office is in the Davivienda office building in El Poblado
Website: https://expatgroup.co/english/visasincolombia/
Address: Carrera 43A # 1Sur-188, Davivienda Business Office Tower, office #508
InterCol’s office in Belén near the Migracion office
2. InterCol Trámites Internacionales
InterCol is a visa agency in Medellín with two offices in Medellín. One is located near to the Unicentro mall and the other is located near the Migracion office in Belén. Intercol started operations in 2000.
Website: http://inter-col.com/
Addresses: Calle 34 # 66B-63 in Belén near Unicentro mall, Calle 19 # 80-168 in Belén near the Migraction Colombia office.
3. Visas y Trámites Internacionales
Visas y Trámites Internacionales is a visa agency in Medellín with its primary office in El Poblado but reportedly also has offices in Miami and Bogotá.
Visas y Trámites is owned and managed by James Lindzey, who is an American expat living in Colombia since 2005.
Website: http://www.colombiavisas.com/
Gesticol’s office in Belén near the Migracion office
4. Gesticol
Gesticol is a visa agency in Medellín with over 15 years of experience. And Gesticol as its office in Belén near the Migracion Colombia office.
Gesticol specializes in advisory services for Colombian visas offering visa services targeting foreign citizens entering Colombia.
Website: https://www.gesticol.com/sitio/
Address: Calle 19 # 80B-19, Belén near the Migracion Colombia office
Extranjería & Migración’s office in Belén near the Migracion office
5. Extranjería & Migración en Colombia
Extranjería & Migración is a visa agency in Medellín with its office in Belén near the Migracion Colombia office.
This visa agency is the only company providing visa services in Colombia that doesn’t have its own website. Extranjería & Migración only has a Facebook page.
Website: https://www.facebook.com/extranjeria.migracion/
Address: Carrera 80B # 17-152, Belén near the Migracion Colombia office.
6. Autoarchy
Autoarchy is a visa agency in Medellín that was started by Roger Schmidt from Switzerland. This agency offers Colombian visa services, American visa services as well as legal advice.
Website: http://autarchy.co/en/our-services/
Address: Calle 32EE # 76-115, first floor office #3
7. Gustave Traducciones
Gustave Traducciones is a company that provides official translation and interpretation services, voice over, and text editing in different languages. Also, they offer preparation for the following tests: TOEIC, MET, TOEFL, IELTS, DELF, TCFQ, TCF, DALF, DELE.
Additionally, they provide advice to apply for an American visas and Colombian visa for foreign citizens. And they offer services for the apostille and legalization of documents.
Furthermore, they offer personalized classes in French, English and Spanish at home and/or in virtual mode.
Website: https://www.gustavetraducciones.com/en_US/
Address: Calle 7D # 43C – 134, Medellín
Phone: +57 300 327 6146
8. Ben Relocation Consulting
Ben Relocation Consulting provides relocation, consulting and support services including visa services. This company isn’t strictly a visa agency. It’s more a relocation assistance company that also provides visa services to clients.
In addition to visa services, Ben Relocation Consulting supports the relocation process via several services including:
- Assistance during arrival.
- Looking for a temporary and/or permanent home.
- Assistance in selecting educational options.
- Consulting on setting up public and private utilities.
- Help in establishing banking services.
Website: http://benrelocation.com/en/
Law Firms in Medellín Offering Visa Services
1. Cuadro Legal
Cuadro Legal provides legal advice in many areas including commercial, labor and tax law.
This law firm’s practice areas include commercial law, intellectual property, consumer’s rights, labor law, immigration law, family law, real estate and urban planning law and mining and energy law.
Website: https://cuadrolegal.com/
Address: Carrera 43A, # 1-85, El Poblado
2. Gutierrez Group
Gutierrez Group is a boutique firm that provides legal advisory, investment, business and general consulting to foreigners that live or invest in Colombia.
The company provides legal advice through JDG Law advisors as well as other services including forestry investments, mortgage lending, taxi lending and real estate.
Website: https://gutierrezgroup.com.co/
Address: Calle 7Sur # 42-70, office #209, El Poblado
3. Colombia Legal Partners
This law firm’s practice areas include real estate, immigration law and doing business in Colombia.
Website: http://colombialegalpartners.com/
Address: Calle 10, # 42-28, second floor, El Poblado
Visa Agencies and Law Firms Offering Visa Services in Other Cities in Colombia
Some other cities in Colombia have visa agencies and law firms offering visa services:
- Cali Capital has an office in Cali.
- Migracol has an office in Bogotá.
- My Visa has an office in Bogotá.
- Pinilla Plazas & Associates has an office in Bogotá.
- BMLEGAL has an office in Pereira.
What Visa Services are Offered?
Each of the visa agencies and law firms in Colombia generally offer similar Colombia visa packages that typically include:
- Virtual or in-person meeting with agency or law firm to discuss your visa application.
- Provide a list of documents required for your visa.
- Initial review of documents for your visa.
- Provide templates for some required documents.
- Review your visa application to ensure maximum probability of approval.
- Apply for your visa online.
- Visa stamping service – once the visa is approved, send your passport to Bogotá to get the visa stamped in your passport and return the passport to you. But this visa stamping is no longer required due to the coronavirus pandemic.
- Visa registration and cedula application – assist with documents and schedule appointment with Migracion.
In addition, visa agencies provide additional services including translations and helping to get documents notarized and apostilled.
What are the Capabilities of the Visa Agencies and Law Firms
Each of the visa agencies and law firms offering visa services in Medellín and Colombia have different capabilities for their websites and also their internal systems and communications abilities
The following table summarizes the capabilities of each of the visa agencies and law firms for their visa services. All the visa agencies and law firms have phone, email and WhatsApp communications. But the capabilities of websites and other communications capabilities vary.
Capabilities of the Visa Agencies and Law Firms, January 2022
Current Pricing for Visa Services in Colombia
There is a wide range of pricing for visa services by the visa agencies and law firms in Colombia. In general, the visa agencies have lower prices than the law firms as seen in the following figure based on our survey in January 2021:
Visa service prices based on Medellin Guru survey (lowest priced visa), January 2022
We surveyed visa service prices in January 2022 using quotes from agencies and law firms. And we found a wide range of prices for visa services from $160 to $2,000 USD. The mythology we used in our survey was to get quotes using a “secret shopper” method. So, they didn’t know it was Medellin Guru.
Note that some agencies and law firms charge a different price depending on the type of visa. In this case we used the lowest priced visa in our chart above. For example, Expatgroup.co, the visa agency we partnered with, charges:
- $160 for a student visa
- $190 for a retirement visa
- $190 for a work visa
- $250 for an investment visa
To compare apples to apples we compared prices for the same type of visa services including an in-person meeting. We found the law firms have the highest prices for visa services with some law firms even charging $1,000 to $2,000 for visa services.
Other Colombia Visa Fees
It is also important to understand that the fee paid to visa agencies for visa services is not the total cost of a Colombian visa. There are also fees paid to the Colombian Minsterio de Relacions Exteriores for the government visa application and government study fees, translation fees, notary fees, apostille fees, document fees and delivery charges. Fees for a visa typically include:
- Visa service fee which is the fee paid to a visa agency or law firm for visa services. This can range from about $160 to $2,000 depending on the company used.
- The government visa application fees vary depending on the type of visa. This is paid after your visa is approved.
- The government study fee is paid as part of the original application and is usually $52 for most visas.
- Translations are required for documentation needed for a visa that is in a language other than Spanish and you should uses a translator certified by the Colombian government.
- Notary fees are required for most visa applications. And notarizations are certifications by an official notary that verifies the identity of a person signing a document.
- Apostilles are used to validate documents from other countries to be used in Colombia.
- Delivery services may be needed for your visa application to deliver documents needed for your visa application.
Example visa fees for a Colombian visa to demonstrate cost components – not the actual costs which can vary depending on type of visa and agency.
Also, there is a charge of 196,000 pesos for a cedula that is required after you receive your visa. We have a separate guide to obtaining a cedula.
How Long Does it Take to Get a Colombian Visa and Cedula?
The time required to receive a Colombian visa varies. The following are some approximate times for the different steps in the visa process when using a visa agency:
- Gather all the required documents including notarizations, apostilles and translations (if needed) – one day to four weeks.
- Submit the online visa application – most visa agencies do this within 24 hours after receiving all the required documents.
- Receive visa approval from the Colombian government – this can take one week or longer if an interview or other documents are required. This is now taking up to two weeks.
- Send passport to Bogotá for visa stamping – visa agencies typically do this in four to five business days (but this is no longer needed due to the pandemic).
- Register visa and apply for cedula – this should be done within 15 days of step number 3 and you need your passport with the visa from step 4.
- Receive cedula – this typically take 5 to 10 calendar days.
We have another article with the time processing for Colombian visas.
Medellin Guru’s Comprehensive Visa and Passport Series
So, 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?
- How Long to Get a Colombian Visa? Colombia Visa Processing Times
- Coronavirus Impacts on Colombian Visas and Tourist Visas
- Visa Agencies: A Guide to Visa Agencies in Medellín and Colombia
- 7 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 early 2021 to ensure they are up-to-date and are being updated again in 2022. In addition, all visa articles on this website will be kept up-to-date as new details are disclosed.
Using a Visa Agency
If you are in Colombia and not located in Bogotá and you don’t want to travel, you can use a visa agency to obtain a Colombian visa. A visa agency can handle the online application and ensure you have the documents needed for the visa.
Full disclosure: Medellin Guru has partnered with expatgroup.co, which we believe offers very competitive Colombia visa services. Features of this service include:
- Online chat – get visa questions answered fast.
- Online quotes – get immediate visa quotes.
- Courier your passport to Bogotá to get the visa in your passport.
- 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 35 months, 544 visas have been successfully received by clients.
Also, our visa service renewed 61 American passports in Bogotá using our passport renewal service and provided visa stamping service to 10 clients (getting the visa in a customer’s passport who applied for a visa himself before the pandemic). In addition, 28 clients extended tourist visas using our tourist visa extension service.
So, in total we had 644 clients of the Medellin Guru visa service in 35 months.
In addition, many more visas are in process – short, medium or longer term, depending on client needs.
Use the Medellin Guru Visa Service
We reviewed all the Colombia visa agency services in Medellín in the above article. And in this review we found one agency that offers a more efficient visa service with more features and more comprehensive communications including online chat, WhatsApp, Skype, 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.
Using a Visa Agencies to Obtain a Colombian Visa
The Bottom Line: Visa Agencies: A Guide to Visa Agencies in Medellín and Colombia
If you are in Colombia you can use a visa agency or law firm to obtain a Colombian visa. A visa agency or law firm can handle the online visa application. And the visa agency or law firm will courier your passport to Bogotá to get the visa in your passport.
There is a wide range of prices for visa services. And in some cases, it can be difficult to find out the prices for visa services from visa agencies or law firms unless you become a client. But in general visa agencies have lower fees for visa services than law firms based on our survey of pricing in January 2021.
In addition, we highly recommend using a visa service over doing a Colombia visa application yourself. The bottom line is with a visa agency or law firm you are less likely to run into problems. We found that over half of visa applications in Colombia do not have sufficient documentation when originally submitted. So, the Foreign Ministry asks for additional documentation making the process take more time.
Using a visa agency will help ensure your visa application has all the required documents.
The visa agency we partnered with has helped 626 Medellin Guru readers successfully obtain Colombian visas and U.S. passport renewals.
Use the Medellin Guru Visa Service
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Editors note: updated on March 13, 2019 to add approximate times for the steps in the visa process based on reader questions.
Editors note: updated on May 15, 2019 to add the Autoarchy visa agency in Medellín and update the capabilities table in the article.
Editors note: updated on May 19, 2019 to add the My Visa agency in Bogotá.
Editors note: updated on June 20, 2019 to add the Gustave Traducciones agency in Medellín.
Editors note: updated on November 29, 2019 to remove the Visas Americanas agency that only does U.S. visas.
Editors note: updated on January 1, 2020 with updated visa services prices from a December 2019 survey of prices for visa services from visa agencies and law firms in Colombia.
Editors note: updated on October 13, 2020 to add statistics for the first 19 months of the Medellin Guru visa service partnership.
Editors note: updated on February 1, 2021 with updated information for 2021 including results of a new pricing survey for visa services from visa agencies and law firms.
Editors note: updated on December 11, 2021 to add statistics for the first 33 months of the Medellin Guru visa service partnership.
Editors note: updated on February 23, 2022 to add statistics for the first 35 months of the Medellin Guru visa service partnership.
22 thoughts on “Visa Agencies: 2022 Guide to Visa Agencies in Medellín and Colombia”
Do any of these companies help Colombian citizens get a Visa for the United States>? Thanks!
No, the visa agencies in the list about only provide Colombia visa services.
There are a few agencies in Bogotá that do U.S. visas but we have not covered getting U.S. visas on this site, as there are already many websites that cover all the different types of U.S. visas.
After study a few of the blog posts on your website now, and I truly like your way of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website list and will be checking back soon.
Nice and helpful post, how much time does it take to get a Colombian visa?
Hi Robert the time varies. Some other readers asked the same question via emails so the article has been updated with some times for the different steps in the visa and cedula process.
One visa agency/lawyer you failed to mention is Colombia Legal & Accounting, Cra 36 #10B-78, Edificio Aleph, La Linde Barrio, +57 301 3371881. I used them and they provided for everything (sending a courier to the Embassy to verify my Soc.Sec, and again for getting the stamp in my passport) at a reasonable price. I had my pension visa within 2 weeks, and the morning I picked it up they already had the appointment set for that afternoon to get my cedula. I had to wait longer to pick up my cedula then to pick up my visa. One important note. I had already contacted them so I had all the necessary information they needed and also stayed in town during the process, to be available if other information was needed. Luckily none was because I did my homework. When I say reasonable it is less then Life International or Langon. One other recommendation that you list is MLP, Medellin Legal Partners, I have used them for other services and they have very reasonable and know what they are doing. Andres and Juliana stay on top of things and copy you on every issue. They are also very enjoyable people to work with compared to those at Life International and Langon
Colombia Legal & Accounting is owned by James Lindzey and is essentially the same as Visas y Trámites Internacionales already listed in the article – see: http://www.medellinlawyer.com/
You’re doing a great job of explaining every visa option in Colombia. It’s probably the best thing you could write about because people will query you forever on the ins and outs. Now you can simply point them to the relevant up-to-date articles. The only thing you’ve not covered, at least to my knowledge, is how to take the next step – a Colombian passport. That would be useful for a lot of folks, including me. Many thanks.
Hi Vic, thanks. Plan to cover becoming a citizen but will take some research.
Hi Jeff,
Great report as usual as you are on top of the latest information and that’s what counts.
In looking at your graph of the breakdown in Visa cost per person it comes to $557 per person, which is $1114 per couple.
In doing our research we contacted the Visa agencies and Langon that received the best recommendations and reviews on social media which narrowed it down to two Visa agencies and Langon for us.
Our main criteria were in the response to our questions, information on their websites, speed of the process and above all communication. After that, it was the cost. We received quotes from all three. As far as our criteria Langon beat them all and was at or very slightly more in cost than the two agencies.
Our experience with using Langon was superior. The communication was fantastic and the turn around was exactly what they said to get our Visas stamped in our passports and in our hands within 2 weeks. Our total cost was $1079 for the both of us.
Keep your reports coming!
Cheers,
John
Hi John, thanks. That chart in the article with a breakdown of total visa costs is an illustration to show the different components – not the actual total cost which varies depending on type of visa and agency. Your total of $1,079 for 2 people is $539.50 per person. FYI, for a migrant visa – expatgroup.co charges a lower price of about $420 USD including government visa and study fees, visa service fee, in-person meeting with them, sending passport to Bogotá and help with cedula.
Many thanks for the various visa articles and updates. They are very helpful for those who navigate the process for the first time. Regardless of the involvement of the visa agency the applicant need to understand the process.
Thanks! A pet peeve of mine is all the out-of-date Colombian visa information that is found out on the Internet. So, a goal of this Medellin Guru website is to have a comprehensive series of visa articles that are kept up-to-date.
This is very helpful, I did not apply for an investment M visa due to the Cost that FAR International wanted, close to $1000.
Thanks for this helpful article.
I see Langon post all the time on Facebook groups about having the lowest price. But I think nobody will use their lowest price basic visa service as it doesn’t include sending your passport to Bogota for the visa stamping, doesn’t include help with the cedula and doesn’t include an in person meeting. So you need their complete visa service that is more expensive. Looks like bait and switch to me.
If you use a visa agency you can save money.
Yes, don’t believe posts by Alan Grongora about Langon having the cheapest price as he keeps saying on Facebook. The prices at Langon are high compared to the visa agencies.
I agree with you. I also have seen those posts on Facebook by Alan Grongora claiming the cheapest visa prices. But that is bait and switch if their cheap visa price is for less services than the other visa agencies provide. To me that indicates that the the Langon law firm has questionable ethics.
initially I was impressed by the information Langon provided but when I wanted to have a face to face consultation with them, they did not want to give me their address before I made the payment to the bank. When I force them to explain why, they said that, they meet their clients at coffee shops and told me that they work virtually most of the time (whatever “most of the time” means)
I think you should include this information on your page, as for me it is a deal breaker. I don’t want to send my documents and money to people who do not even have an office.
Younger people may be OK with it but I guess I am not young enough for that. I like me legal matters handled the old fashioned way.
Our experience was the opposite. We received the quote that was geared for us, including sending our passports to Bogota and an in-person meeting with Ana Maria from Langon.
They gave us a separate quote to do the Cedula with them or on our own with detail instructions on how to do it. With that free info, we did our Cedulas on our own.
We highly recommend them for outstanding service, communication and speed of the whole process!
Jeff : you have beat this visa stuff to death – It is simple – unfortunately alot of expats are stupid irresponsible and don’t want to play by rules : You need to understand that if they were not successful in United States or they would not be here
cheers
What for you is “beat to death” is new and uncharted territory for a never ending crop of people with a new-found interest in obtaining the right visa. Just a moment ago emailed this to a friend in Australia who asked me if I could get him up to date information for 2019.
Hi Geoffrey, thanks! Visa questions are the commonly asked questions on this website. Over 750 comments just on the visa articles on Medellin Guru and over 500 more questions asked via email and Facebook.
Also, things change all the time with Colombian visas. So, the articles on this site have also been updated many times to keep them up-to-date.
Comments are closed.