Before starting your visa application, either online or on-site, you must always first fill out the online application form through the following link: http://www.cancilleria.gov.co/tramites_servicios/visas/ visa- and upload the required documentation.This must be done in all cases, either if you file your visa application at a Consulate or in Bogota.
Verify that you meet the minimum requirements under the current regulations. However, keep in mind that the authority responsible for issuing visas shall have the power to conduct interviews and request further documentation in cases where it deems appropriate either in person or through suitable means of communication.
Be sure to bring the needed photocopies for your application.
Payments are done in cash and in Colombian pesos. Remember that in the Colombian Consulates in the United States any payments are done through Money Order.
Start your visa application with at least thirty (30) days prior to the expiration date of the visa you currently held.
The offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responsible for issuing visas have four (4) working days to respond to requests.
Holders as well as beneficiaries of Visas, which validity is over three (3) months must register in the Alien Registration of the Special Administrative 'Migracion Colombia' Unit within fifteen (15) calendar days, as follows:
If the visa was issued in a Consulate: count from the date you enter into the country.
If the visa was obtained in the national territory: count from the date of issue.
All necessary paperwork for granting some of the visas, either in Colombia or abroad, must be Legalized or Apostilled, as appropriate. Also, if the original language of these documents is other than Spanish, it must be translated by an official translator. The translation must be legalized before the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Holders as well as beneficiaries with approved Visas whose validity is less than three (3) months, may enter, remain and leave the country presenting the electronic visa, with no need to stamp the official label in the Passport or Travel Document.
If your Visa has a validity longer than three (3) months, it is mandatory the printing and stamping of your Visa. In any case, the alien may only request the printing and gluing of the visa in the Passport or Travel Document directly or through a proxy, within the two (2) following months of the date of issue of it. After this period you must apply for a Visa transfer.
Documents issued in Colombia that support or are part of the requirements for a Visa requested abroad before a Colombian Consulate, do not require to be Apostilled or Legalized.
The Alien who wishes to remain in the country beyond the term of his Entry Permit and Stay or his/her Visa, must apply for an extension through Temporary Permit of Stay or must apply for a new Visa before it expires.
In the event of an error in the information of the granted Visa, provided that it was a typo or spelling error, or does not affect the essential information of the Visa, the holder will have a maximum of thirty (30) calendar days to request a correction. Once this term expires the applicant must apply for a Visa transfer.
An alien who has obtained a Visa should observe the limitations imposed by national legislation to settle in certain areas of the national territory and to exercise certain activities.
When starting your online application, make sure that your uploaded documents have a sufficiently clear resolution. In addition, it is advisable to attach a single file.
Once the Visa issuance has been authorized, the applicant will have thirty (30) calendar days to make the payment of it. If after the thirty days the payment has not been done, it will mean that the applicant has withdrawn, and would have to perform the procedure again.
