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How to stay in Colombia

Back again for some advice. I'm not sure what the best way to stay in Colombia is. What do you think?

Me personally, I've written some jounal entries on this forum, I'm a US citizen, BA but no teaching credential and have a student visa good through the end of August, at which point I will have been in Colombia 1 and a half years. I've been living with my girlfriend in Cali for 6 months, the lease we signed is for another 6 months. My Spanish is far from perfect.

My main purpose is to work legally, teaching English. Schools don't seem too keen on sponsoring a work visa nor am I that keen on it as my understanding is you are only given permission to work at one particular business, institution etc. Second option that seems played out was to get a special visa(I forget the exact name, temporal associo o algo)I got what I thought was all the necessary documentation but it turned out to be a no go at the Colombian consulate in Israel(I happened to be here as a tourist). The consul said that this visa does not permit one to work at any job in Colombia only the business that one is planning to set up. Also according to him, the amount on the paper from camera comercio was short by 5 millones and that a visa application could only be done in the US or Colombia. Third option is to marry my girlfriend. I don't know that much about this option. What must I do to ensure that this will give me the legal right to work? What kind of liability am I setting myself up for?

Fourth option is student visa renewal but the only place in Cali that does this charges 2 millones for a semester and ofcourse it won't give me the right to work.

By Jon on Jul 3, 2006, 02:30 in Visa & paperwork.