PBH / colombia (travelguide, pictures) / post

More tourist visa questions..... plus a rant

Thanks for the replies thus far...

That's good news that you can extend the visa for up to 6 months but there is a problem. When I make plans to come down I will have to have an round trip ticket in the first place. So what do I have to do keep changing my ticket? I don't think it would be a good idea to assume I will get a 6 month stay but it is a pain in the ass not to mention there is a fee every time you change your ticket. Is there a way to get an extended stay in the first place? Maybe while I'm here in the States? Also curious in how long you have to leave the country once the tourist visa does expire? I read a week somewhere. So could you just go to a neighboring country and come right back after some time elapses? Is there a limit to the number of times you can do this?

I suppose who ever reads this may be curious about my reasons for this. I'm considering getting out of the rat race that is the suburbs of Chicago. I have been to Colombia's neighbors Panama and Peru. I had a wonderful time in Peru in July and thought about Socrates most famous quote " The unexamined life is the life not worth living".

For those of you that aren't familiar with this area (Chicago burbs) let me explain. I wake up go to work sit under florescent lights and talk on the phone. Once a week on average I go out and shmooze clients while dressed in a suit. I get paid pretty well for doing this. There are a lot of jobs that are similar to this all shoved into office building that line the highways here.

My daily atmosphere consists of the frontier of urban sprawl. Houses that look similar in big developments that your lucky to get in starting at about $300,000. National and Local chain stores and restaurants as far as the eye can see. The land that is not yet developed is flat cornfields with a few trees in between.

We have nice weather here for roughly 60 days out of the year(late spring and early fall). The rest of the time it's too damn hot or cold.

What are the people like? We are an advertisers wet dream, money and unsatiable consumerism. They are people that just want to consume as much as they can. We have a high standard (most would say) of living. I see expensive sedans and moms with mini vans and suv's that clog the streets. In terms of culture there are some immigrants mostly from Poland, Mexico, and India but the natives rarely seem to mingle with them. I can't tell one town from the next as they all have the same restaurants, stores, houses, prairie nature.

Traffic is terrible and if your lucky enough to work in the city your going to spend around 3 hours of your day commuting.

Most of the married people I know are miserable. They are too busy with the chores of life multiplied by a high speed lifestyle. They look for material things to value their worth. If I go to a bar to meet women the first thing they ask is what you do for a living what kind of car do you drive and how big your house is. The people are lucky if they have as much depth as my toilet bowl.

When I told people I loved Latin America an the culture and wish I could live down there they looked at me like I was retarded. They couldn't even understand why I would visit any place in Latin America south of Mexico in the first place. They think it's all the same and Mexico and the Caribbean islands are familiar and closer so why go anywhere south of there?

So I've been living on a budget saving up. I realized that I really don't need all this tangible crap anyway. It doesn't make me happy. A good available woman makes me happy but at the moment I'm sacrificing that. I have to pretend I'm someone I'm not to date them in the first place so why bother. Although the last two women I've dated have been Mexican and they are only somewhat influenced by the lifestyle not totally ruined yet.

I guess this might be someone’s great lifestyle but not mine. Pressuring myself to keep up with this lifestyle amongst this crappy atmosphere and bland vanilla people.

I'd like to get a job down there and supplement it with my savings. I know teaching English is the easiest gig to get in any non-English speaking country. Although now I know that you have to take that TEFL course or so I heard. It seems kind of ridiculous when I have a B.A. in communications and psychology to take some six week course. I'm hoping maybe I could get a position without that. I really don't care to spend the time and the money. It's weird because I did some substitute teaching on the side when I graduated and my degree although not in education, was good enough for the American kids.

I guess I figure I'll give it a shot and come down there and look. If it doesn't work out than my back-up plan is Hawaii. At worst I'll come out of it speaking better Spanish with an adventure under my belt. It's really the visa and the income supplementing that makes me more discouraged than anything else. Alas, it's the only way I can stay.

If any one has any ideas for me let me know...If you've read this thanks for your time.

A

ubiquitiousadam at yahoo.com

By AdaminChicago on Nov 22, 2004, 20:12 in Friendly Talkzone.

Max Dinero says on Nov 23, 2004, 03:02:

airline Just make your ticket for 6 month return......that way if you want to return earlier you only need to change it once for $100

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cremaster says on Nov 23, 2004, 06:01:

teaching and living Adam,
I wouldn't bother with the TESL diploma - most of them aren't worth the paper their printed on. Go to www.eslcafe.com for a shload of information on ESL. Unfortunately most of the schools in Latin America don't recruit online. So you'll have to go in person.
Regarding money: pick up a copy of Lonely Planet's Colombia guide. It'll give you an idea of what to expect as far as costs go. If you're a 'backpacker' at heart - you can get by on about $10 a day - from there the sky's the limit.
Hope it helps,
Patrick

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Skippy says on Nov 23, 2004, 06:36:

I disagree. I would take the TEFL certificate program. It will teach you how to teach English as well as help you with English grammar. There is nothing worse for a student than for he/she to sit there with a teacher who doesn't know wht the hell he is talking about about. Don't waste the student's money. Get some training. I have been an English teacher for the past five and a half years and it all began with TEFL. I would reccomend it. Just make sure you go with a program that has a good reputation.

Yup

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Antonio says on Nov 23, 2004, 06:39:

Socrates might tell you.... If you are not happy with yourself now a new country isn`t going to make any difference....

The two happiest people I know live in Chicago and are expecting their first baby.

Geographic cures are rarely successful unless you are an ex-Nazi war criminal..

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Mr. Hollywood says on Nov 23, 2004, 07:20:

Two things If you're a young, single guy, I can think of nothing better to do than get the hell out of suburban Chicago. What are you doing living there in the first place? Any major city in Colombia would be a huge cultural step up from that. But don't underestimate how hard it is to make money in Colombia.

The other thing is this. You don't need a RT ticket to go to Colombia. What you need is an onward ticket showing that you intend to LEAVE Colombia. So you can buy a OW to Colombia and a full-fare but refundable ticket back to the US or onward to another country. Then get the onward ticket refunded once you're in Colombia. This, of course, only makes sense if you can find a OW fare cheaper than a RT. If not, just eat the 2nd half of your ticket as a cost of doing business.

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gunn44 says on Nov 23, 2004, 08:26:

I've read in some older posts that a student visa...for example, studying Spanish...is easy to get and sets you up for a year. Check the Colombian Consulate web sites. Regards -gunner

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Bill1243 says on Nov 23, 2004, 19:18:

long tem flight To avoid the change fees, the best thing is to fly on frequent flyer miles, where all changes are free. Also, they are the best for long flights, since the prices for regular tickets for long term flights go way up if they are more than about 60 days. I have tons of miles if you are interested.

bill1243 at yahoo.com

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Max Dinero says on Nov 23, 2004, 20:21:

border jumping When I didn't have my Work Visa in Venezuela I just went to Colombia for 72 hours and returned and started all over again. When I was in Costa Rica I flew with a couple of babes to San Andreas, Colombia for 3 days and retuned and started all over..border jumping for 72 hours will usually fix you status....it's legal

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Erik says on Nov 24, 2004, 07:16:

6 month tourist visa When you have extended your tourist visa up to 6 months in a year you will have to leave the country before it expires and are not allowed to return to Colombia in the same year. Your can make another six months starting from the first of January in the next month. The legal fee for staying longer than your visa gives is 100 minimum salaries which is still payable but the problem will be when you want to aply fotr a different visa than a toursit because they will ask you if you have stayed illegal in the country. No matter what your answer is they will find out anyway.
My advise is stay 6 months as a tourist and leave and come back with a job visa (english teacher) or come back in the new calender year.
Cheers,
Erik
www.deunacolombia.com

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p0gue says on Nov 28, 2004, 14:51:

yea the above is correct. You get either 60 or 90 days when you first enter (ask for 90) and to extend your time past that you must report to a regional DAS office with about $20US, photos, proof of air ticket out, and many copies of all your documents. they will ask you a bunch of questions and fingerprint you. extentions last 30 days. You can keep extending for up to a max of 6 months in any calander year. I think you can exit and re-enter the country as well, up to the same 6 months.

Technically you are supposed to have a RT ticket to get into the country, but from my experience and other Ive talked to, this is laxly enforced at immigration in the airport. You will need a ticket out to extend your visa however, unless you do what I did -- forge an electronic confirmation and show them that.

What does one have to do to get a year-long student visa? Any chance of getting one without actually being a student?

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Hunter says on Nov 28, 2004, 15:27:

Student visa You don't have to attend the course at the college, to get a student visa, just pay your en-rolement fees.

Hunter

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p0gue says on Nov 29, 2004, 22:51:

student visa
Thats kind of interesting. So I could sign up for a course, get the visa and ignore the course after that? Would any course do? What does DAS want to see? All student visas are a year?

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Hunter says on Nov 30, 2004, 09:20:

Student visa Sorry I can't help you on your other questions,

But I have known people in the past sign up for courses, but not attend, those people signed up at a large University.

Hunter

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