Open Return Tickets from Colombia

ellbee2 says on Aug 30, 2008, 05:15:

You know you can only stay 180 days legally, right? After that you will have to pay a fine for overstaying your visa. It's no big deal but can you define "long, long time" thats kind of a relative statement. I overstayed almost 3 months an payed about $200.00 USD.

As far as the open ended ticket goes, I do not think it is offered, but why don't you just call the airlines?

"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going because you might not get there." Yogi Berra

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iCarajo says on Aug 30, 2008, 06:22:

Well, in my case, I want to stay six months, so 180 days. I read though that I can stay up for 60 days and then I have to apply at the DAS for more days. The DAS website however said that I need to provide them with a return ticket when I apply for the extra days, hence why I want to provide them with an open-return ticket instead of changing the date every time I apply.

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ronaldo says on Aug 30, 2008, 06:23:

Some tickets are good for a year. Why don't you get a ticket with a year return date and if you want to come back before a year is up, pay your change fee and fly home.

Ronaldo

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paulr says on Aug 30, 2008, 06:27:

Carajo, word of advise if you want to stay sane, don´t go to DAS every 30 days, get a 6 or 12 month student VISA, going to DAS every 30 days will drive you mad.

"paulr threatens me with death !" pobrecito

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Poorbutsnappy says on Aug 30, 2008, 08:06:

>>>> I overstayed almost 3 months an payed about $200.00 USD.

Colombia tierra querida, himno de fe y armonía!... Cantemos, cantemos todos grito de paz y alegria!...

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Ctg Bound says on Aug 30, 2008, 08:10:

iCarajo,

You can buy tickets that allow you to change the date, some even used to let you change the first date change for free, Continental used to let, not sure now.

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Poorbutsnappy says on Aug 30, 2008, 09:10:

I overstayed almost 3 months an payed about $200.00 USD.


what happened to my earlier post?

Anyway, are there any other repercussions to overstaying? Like a record, denial of re-entry? etc...?

Colombia tierra querida, himno de fe y armonía!... Cantemos, cantemos todos grito de paz y alegria!...

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paulr says on Aug 30, 2008, 09:22:

" I overstayed almost 3 months an payed about $200.00 USD." I got told that the fine was way more than that, did you have to sleep with anyone to get that small a fine?

"paulr threatens me with death !" pobrecito

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ellbee2 says on Aug 30, 2008, 09:45:

Ha Ha, Yeah I did, but then they increased the fine! Honestly, I don't remember exactly what the fine was, it could have been more, but I am sure it wasn't more than $300.00 FYI, you have tell them why you overstayed, DO NOT tell them you were working in any form, if you are. I made the mistake of telling them I was teaching English and they didn't like that to well. Fortunately, the woman seemed to take a liking to me (could have been the sleeping together thing) and told me just to say I was traveling.

"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going because you might not get there." Yogi Berra

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Sebastian says on Aug 30, 2008, 11:48:

I had the same situation as iCarajo. What I did was I bought a one-way ticket coming into Colombia because I didn't know exactly when I wanted to leave and I didn't want to go through the hassle of changing the ticket. Then I bought a full-price, fully refundable ticket from American showing that I was leaving Colombia after about 6 months of my original entry date so when I applied for my tourist extension I showed them that e-ticket and after that I refunded the ticket for full price. You could even doctor an e-ticket with different dates to show them. I think that it worked out well because I'm still in Colombia living the dream!

jajajajajaja

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Poorbutsnappy says on Sep 1, 2008, 11:01:

"Then I bought a full-price, fully refundable ticket from American showing that I was leaving Colombia after about 6 months of my original entry date so when I applied for my tourist extension I showed them that e-ticket and after that I refunded the ticket for full price."


This is, while obvious, perhaps one of the most useful tips I have seen... It is amazing how one overlooks the obvious... This way, you have full control of when to return, refund teh ticket, and buy a restricted ticket at a much cheaper price....

Colombia tierra querida, himno de fe y armonía!... Cantemos, cantemos todos grito de paz y alegria!...

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