Visitor, migrant and resident visa categories, cedula de extranjeria processing, and the residency pathway, handled by bilingual attorneys who work with foreign nationals daily.
Colombia sorts visas into three letters. V covers visitors, including the digital nomad category. M covers migrants, which is where most people who intend to stay end up: property investors, pensioners, spouses and partners of Colombian nationals, and workers. R covers residents and is the category that leads toward citizenship.
The category you qualify for is decided by your circumstances rather than your preference, and the wrong application is the most common reason for a refusal. The second most common is a documentary mismatch: a name spelled differently across two documents, or an amount that does not reconcile between a deed and a bank certification.
Several M categories are indexed to the Colombian minimum wage, which is reset by decree every January. A threshold that was correct in December is wrong in January, and a great deal of the English-language material online has not caught up.
Requires registered property investment of at least 350 SMMLV. For 2026 that is COP 612,816,750. The value that counts is the one declared on the escritura and registered as foreign investment, not what you paid.
The resident category can be reached through a larger property investment of 650 SMMLV, COP 1,138,088,250 in 2026, or by accumulating qualifying years on an M visa. Each route suits a different situation.
Your Colombian ID card, issued by Migracion Colombia once your visa is granted. Required for banking, contracts, property registration and most administrative processes. There are deadlines attached to applying for it.
Resolucion 9316 of 2024 set a transfer deadline of October 31, 2026 for certain R visa holders. If this applies to you it is the item with an actual clock on it, and it is worth confirming your position early.
Immigration matters handled by attorneys who file these applications regularly, not generalists.
Review of your circumstances against every category you might qualify for, before an application is filed. This is the step that prevents most refusals.
Document assembly, apostille and translation coordination, and submission through the Cancilleria online system, with the consistency checks that catch name and amount mismatches.
Coordination between the property purchase, the foreign investment registration and the visa application, in the order that the application requires.
Registration with Migracion Colombia after visa approval, including biometrics scheduling and the deadlines that follow visa issuance.
Renewal filings, moving between categories as your situation changes, and the accumulation record that supports a future residency application.
Analysis of why an application was refused and what can be corrected, plus representation on reconsideration where that is available.
Fees are set by the attorney, not by us. You receive a written scope and quote before any work begins, and you are free to walk away at that point.
Tell us your situation and timeline. We will connect you with an immigration attorney who files these regularly.
Get Your Free Consultation →Planning a property purchase alongside the visa? Our real estate page covers the title and registration side, and the sequencing between the two matters. Real Estate & Property