PBH / Colombia / Forums (active) Travelguide Cheap hostels Pictures

Question for a newbie in colombia regarding visa's.

Here is the situation, my friend is interested in staying in colombia for a couple months, probably up to 6 months and living down there, does he need to get a visa from the colombian embassey before he goes to colombia? If so, how long does it take and what kind of process is involved? What would happen if he was to just stay down there for 3-6 months and leave? Also, what do you need to get an apartment, get utilities in your name (phone, internet etc). Is a passport sufficient?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

By money69 on Jun 23, 2005, 10:48 in Visa & paperwork.

carter says on Jun 23, 2005, 10:52:

Tourist visa is up to 3 months on entry + another 3 months you just have to go to the DAS office in a major city to extend it.

To rent your own apartment you need someone Colombian who owns property here to sign a contract saying they will back you up financially if anything happened.

This is near impossible.

Some rental agencies may ccept 6 months rent up front.

or

Just rent a room or find an apartment where you can deal direct with the owner

0 funny, 0 helpful.

money69 says on Jun 23, 2005, 10:55:

Well, if i dont get anything up front and he just goes on a passport, how long can he legally stay in the country? If he overstays, can he just pay a fine when he leaves? If he is planning on getting his own place can the internet, phone etc be hooked up without a cedula or visa? Anyone know?

0 funny, 0 helpful.

money69 says on Jun 23, 2005, 17:53:

Thanks for the help,

I guess he was thinking about $500 or so a month, anyone know if you can get a like phone and internet hooked up in the apartment with just a passport? Prepaid internet wont work because he needs highspeed. So, should he just go and leave before 6months or pay a fine if he leaves after 6 months? The utilities I would think would be the main thing. Any ideas?

Thanks

0 funny, 0 helpful.

money69 says on Jun 24, 2005, 06:40:

Well, I cant just forget about it, he is planning on staying down there and needs it, any idea on how long it generally takes?

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Hunter says on Jun 25, 2005, 00:09:

money69 It also depends on which City, for example Ctg is way behind on broadband access and it costs a lot more than in Medellin or Bogota for example, in those two cities it also is much faster.

tomtom33 is talking about his experiences in Ctg, where everything is done tommorow.

Hunter

0 funny, 0 helpful.

money69 says on Jun 25, 2005, 09:50:

Ahh ok guys, I have already been in contact with the cable company and they told me it could be hooked up within 2 weeks. I appreciate all the help and I am still trying to iron out some details.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Francisco10 says on Jun 26, 2005, 05:39:

getting back to my roots Hi im new to board i was raise in maimi and the last time i was in colombia was when i was 9 years old im in the us army and in iraq.... you have a lot of time to think out here and one thing i decided is to go to colombia for block leave as soon as possiable i think Jan, was wondering out of calli, cartengena and medillian where should i go thanks for any advice in advance ;)

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Hunter says on Jun 26, 2005, 08:40:

Francisco10 All 3 are good Cities for a short vacation, you will have to tell the board, more of what you are interested in.

Funnily enough your post reminds me when I was sat on a mountain in Central America for 6 weeks doing a job for the British/American military in 89, quite a few years back now, gave me plenty of time to think what I was going to do, when I finished the job, didn't think I would end up in living in South America though.

Hunter

0 funny, 0 helpful.