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Marriage in Col: new info from Houston consulate

[Original post title "No Tourist Visa Needed for Marriage in Col. - Per Houston" is a little confusing. A slight change has been made to make the post more useful in the archives -Moderators.]

Hello Folks,

Don't want to muddy the water again, but I spoke with the Colombian Consulate in Houston (because my location was already closed for the business day) about the "new" marriage guidelines that changed effective February 2005. The person I spoke with said that indeed the guidelines had changed. I asked him how and where did he get his information. He informed me that the information came from Colombia, but could not point me to any sources where I could read it myself.

He did say that if I was a citizen of the US that NO tourist visas were needed for marriage in Colombia and that the passport will do.

He also said that he did not know if the Colombian government updated their site yet (which they didn't because I checked), but said that in 2 or 3 days their (the Houston site) will be updated with the current information.

See http://www.colhouston.org/english/contactUs.htm

I called the phone number at the bottom of their web page. Hope this helps!

By eagle46 on Feb 24, 2005, 16:24 in Visa & paperwork.

gstern says on Feb 24, 2005, 17:39:

Since when did you need a tourist visa? Hi-

I was married in Colombia about a year ago. At the time you needed a special visa to get married in Colombia because in essence you are entering into a contractual agreement with your spouse and when you enter without a visa you are essentially a "tourist" and prohibited from entering into contracts. The visa they gave me wasn't a tourist visa, it was a visa specifically for this purpose.

Are you sure you asked the right question? Did the consulate specifically say you need no visa at all? Another source you should check is to ask your spouse to go to the notary you will use in Colombia for the marriage license and ask them what you need for them to be able to process the certificate.

It'd be a real drag to go there without the proper visa and then not be able to get the license.

Greg

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Lionheart says on Feb 24, 2005, 17:46:

no more marriage visa needed Standard tourist visa stamp, passport and other documents are enough.

Do a search here, about 3 other threads are already reporting about the changes.

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Gator says on Feb 24, 2005, 19:31:

The Requirement is Gone... for people planning to get married in Colombia with a civil ceremony before a notary.

The special visa for marriage, issued by Colombiam Consulates,is/was discontinued effective February 1. This was done by Decree No. 4000 of 2004 of Colombian legislature and Administrative Instructions from the Superintendent of Notaries and the Mistry of Foreign Relations.

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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Gary Bala says on Feb 24, 2005, 23:27:

Thanks Gator I am presently in Colombia and was able to independently confirm the information and the citations which Gator has provided.

I will update my website with fuller information when I return to the US.

Good luck to all on this forum.

www.garybala.com

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lpdiver says on Feb 25, 2005, 04:44:

Gator That is the good stuff...armed with that information you can "teach" your notaria the law if need be. I have said it before and i will say it again..."Check with the notaria performing your ceremony", Her requirements are the ones that matter. If she is satisfied then she will perform the marriage. If she isn't then she won't.

T

"cook some rice!"

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