How to get a Colombian spousal VISA

Hi,

I posted a while back some questions about how to get a Colombian spousal VISA. I have been married to a Colombiana for 1 year, and needed to get a VISA to stay with her in Colombia.

1. The process can only be done in Bogota or a Colombian consulate in your country. I did mine in Bogota.

2. It cost 15,600 from the airport to the correct Ministry of External Relations office.

3. It opens at 7:30am. You are promised a VISA in 5 hours or less if you have the correct documents. Get there early, as the place fills up.

4. You must bring an ID other than your passport to get into the building (you must leave an ID at the front desk, but you need your passport for the VISA. Drivers licenses work fine.

5. Once upstairs you get in the 1st line, to present your docs to the gatekeeper. He or she will check you have the necessary documents, if so, will send them to the back room.

You need:

i) A notarized copy of your spouses cedula
ii) A notarized copy of the marriage certificate (cannot be more than 3 months old)
iii) A notarized letter from your spouse asking that you be given a VISA, saying that he/she will be responsible for you while in Colombia, and an explanation of what you will be up to.
iv) Photocopies of every "used" page of your passport. Do not need to be notarized. THere is a copy shop outside the ministry (it is in a very very nice neighbourhood, so don't be too affraid... just the normal Colombian precautions.
v) A passport that is valid for the next 3 months (maybe 6??) with at least one empty page.
vi) 2 passport photographs of you (the foriegner). 3cm x 3cm, white background (I think blue is OK to, but they accepted my white ones). Frontal face shot, and your head cannot be too small, or so big that it goes beyond the border of the photo. I saw the gatekeeper turn people away for: head too small, and photos not being identicle.
vii) A document that proves your activity in Colombia. I used a letter from a school saying I had applied for 1 year of courses in Spanish, for 10 hours a week (minimum).
viii) 160$ US but in Colombian pesos (the rate is fixed on USD, but you must pay in pesos... I had to pay 364,500)
ix) A properly filled out application form.

After your documents are given to the people in the back, you must sit and wait. About 3 hours later the "Bad news guy" comes out and gives you a bill for $160 US converted into pesos. There is a booth with a "banco" sign in the office. Pay there (Must be PESOS!!), and you will immediately get a receipt. Give the reciept back to the "Bad news guy", give a dirty look to the bitch who steals your seat, and wait for about 1 more hour.

Then the "Good news Lady" comes out with a stack of processed VISAs. She will call out a Colombianized version of your name, and you must print and sign your name, write your phone number and passport number. She will tell you that you need register your VISA at the DAS within 15 days and hand you back your passport con VISA, then she will say "Listo" and call out another Colombianized version of someone elses name. Then you are home free.

I don't know about how to get authorization to work, as I never bothered trying.

Remember, Colombians will treat you differently depending on how you look. The did not ask me if I had the ability to support myself, because I dressed nice (dress shirt, shoes, and panks, and had a brief case, was clean shaven and polite). If you show up with shorts and a cap, they will assume you are a bum. I saw a guy getting drilled about his finaces as he had a 5:00 shadow, and was wearing jeans, a cap, and tennis shoes.

Although I didn't need to show any of the following, I brought it just in case:

1. Photos of me and my wife together (a couple wedding photos).

2. Proof that we rent an apartment in a good neighbourhood, with estrato 6 utility bills. A pile of ATM reciepts, and copies of bank records showing I had a chequeing account, line of credit, credit card, and retirement savings. (They may want you to prove you can support yourself).

3. A copy of my degree from Canada (you must tell them your profession on the form)... Colombians will treat you a lot better if you have a degree, and I brought it as a trump card in case they thought I was a bum.

Anyway, I waited 4.5 hours in total (30 minutes at the initial line, 3 hours to pay, and another hour to get the VISA)

Hope this helps anyone who needs to do the same, and I would appreciate any corrections to the information I gave (and not my spelling).

By johnboy77 on Sep 17, 2005, 09:09 in Visa & paperwork.

sydneygirl says on Sep 17, 2005, 10:49:

thanks great information thanks alot! I dont understand why you have to "prove your activity" do you think volunteering for a charity would work? i dont really do much else at the moment.

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Dan says on Sep 17, 2005, 18:52:

hmmm. I wonder if I would need to pay in Pesos.

Just kidding, I saw it was mentioned a few times. This is pretty good info. Every once in a while, I'll look into that possibility so live with my wife in Colombia.

Some day I will... Take care and enjoy Colombia.

God Bless America!

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johnboy77 says on Sep 17, 2005, 19:03:

Well, unlike the US and Canada, the Colombian immigration laws are consistant no matter where you are from (Being Canadian, I can get into the US without a passport, and can get a work VISA at the border in 15 minutes... I have done it before... the immigration laws change based on where you are from... not so in Colombia). So, the Colombian government may wish to know that you are not someone from Peru trying to sneak into the country to get a good job. Hence, you must prove your activities in Colombia. They just need a peice of paper to put in a folder. You can easily say that you want to be a housewife, or that you are just waiting until your Colombian wife/husband gains immigration to your country. Anway, they need the document.

At times I bitch about how hard it was to get this VISA. But, it cost me $180 CAN and took 4 hours, and there was 10 documents. My wife to get the same VISA to Canada takes about 1 year and cost $1500 CAN + a book of documents 4 inches thick.

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BAQ says on Sep 17, 2005, 19:14:

Curious I am CURIOUS, is this the SAME PLACE you go to RENEW your spousal Visa?

Semper Fidelis !

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Dan says on Sep 18, 2005, 05:10:

BAQ the office is near Parque 93, I want to say on around Cr 13 or 14.

I've been to that office once trying to get a marriage visa (when they still had them) only to be told that it wasn't neccessary. The guy that told me spoke very good english, then I heard him speaking German to someone else and I thought I heard him speaking another language(other than spanish). Pretty good guy to talk to. the advice of getting there early is very true. You'll wait in line for a little while. Also, like when I went, expect to check your phone at the door and turning the sound or phone off.

God Bless America!

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