visa,cedula,drivers licence

BAQ says on Sep 28, 2005, 19:20:

Yes When you register with DAS, you will get fingerprinted, fill out some forms and need to take them some photos ect. They will issue you a TEMPORARY Cedula which will expire on the same day as your new visa (2 years).

You WILL have to wait 6 months after you get your Cedula before the banks will let you open an account, at least the big three, Citibank, Bancolombia and Bank de Bogota.

What city are you moving to?

Semper Fidelis !

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calipro says on Sep 28, 2005, 23:11:

Bank account "You WILL have to wait 6 months after you get your Cedula before the banks will let you open an account, at least the big three, Citibank, Bancolombia and Bank de Bogota."

I opened a bank account at Conavi days after getting my cedula extranjeria in Cali.

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calif en la selva says on Sep 29, 2005, 03:28:

thanks for the info We have (I have) already moved to Medellin. We have already opened up a bank account with Banco De Occidente (in her name, but they issued me a card too) my gripe with them is when I send money to the account via wire transfer they sit on it for 4 to 5 days. Sometime next year I'll go back to the states and I'm thinking about changing banks there to Citi bank because all the money transfered to Colombia first goes thru Citi bank then its issued to Occidente....maybe this will cut out the middleman and funds can get here quicker.
I noticed that this Visa is only good for one year and it has to be renewed either in Bogota or Quito. Well I'm glad to hear about the Cedula, so I'm guessing I can also get my licience as well. Thanks for the info

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aztec says on Sep 29, 2005, 04:02:

I don't think, calif en la selva , ...it matters what bank you use in either Country. Citi Bank New York acts as a clearing house for Colombian Banks for those funds transmitted to and from U.S. banks. Changing banks in the States may not solve your problem.

Having said that, we don't use Citi Bank as our U.S. bank but do have a Citi Bank account in Colombia. Funds take about two working days from the time we initiate the wire transfer to show up in the Colombia account. Each wire is $45 no matter the amount.

Another interesting note is that we don't monetize(change dollar to peso) the funds until we move the money from Citi Bank Colombia. In that way if for some reason you need to return the money back to the U.S. there will be no exchange fee involved. Of course, at the rate the dollar is falling it may be wiser to change as quickly as possibly!

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aztec says on Sep 29, 2005, 07:04:

Perhaps ... ...a poor choice of words. It does look as if the Central Bank is keeping the COP from changing in value.

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Mr. Hollywood says on Sep 29, 2005, 07:09:

You over estimate state influence GIB, you vastly overestimate the control a central bank or a government has over exchange rates. The reality is that there is a vast quantity of dollars being repatriated to Colombia and converted into pesos to buy things like the expensive apartments on the N. of Bogota, new cars, expensive schools for the kids, etc. Much of this is driven by the Colombians who left to the US and are now either moving back or preparing to move back. If you think about it, this explains why the dollar can fall against the peso at the same time that it's gaining strength against other currencies.

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Hunter says on Sep 29, 2005, 09:41:

GIB the dollar has strenghed against other MAJOR curriencies, Colombia is not a major currency, this week Brazil is at four year highs against the dollar. Check other commodity exporting Countries like Chile and you will find them strenghing against the dollar.

As Mr. Hollywood says there is a large amount of dollars and other currencies flowing into Colombia from Colombian expats, a lesser degree foreigners and foreign companies, plus they are selling more commodities overseas at a greater price.

I wouldn't base your information on what one economist friend says, look with your own eyes, who are buying a lot of the apts in Bogota, I know a lot of Colombian expats are buying in Medellin, some large foreign companies buying large Colombian companies (news articles), more and more deals being done fo exploration for oil and coal (more news articles), taken singulary not a big impact, but when taken together, there is only one way the pesos is going in the short term, up.

Separetly I believe that the dollar is still over valued against most curriencies, it might well have had some strength for the last 6 months or so, but I very much doubt it will last.

Hunter

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BAQ says on Sep 29, 2005, 11:09:

Banks Calipro, I was talking about the "Big three". Back when I first got my TEMPORARY Cedula, all three banks told me I would have to wait until I had lived here for 6 months before they would open an account for me. I explained I was on a Federal Pension and my direct deposit would be coming strait from the U.S. Treasury, they didn;t care, all three banks told me "Sorry, come back in 6 months". After 6 months, it was not a problem, got my account in one hour.

The difference in the banks here is that "The big three" are the only banks in Colombia that will accept direct deposit.

Sorry, I should have been more clear in my origional post.

Semper Fidelis !

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BAQ says on Sep 29, 2005, 11:20:

Holding the money BE CAREFUL !!!!!

I can only speak about my bank BANCOLOMBIA, but I think it is pretty much the same with all the banks SO CHECK WITH YOUR BANK ABOUT THE POLICY.

BANCOLOMBIA limits wire transfers to $5.000.00 per month IF YOU ARE AN AMERICAN AND IT IS YOUR ACCOUNT. The only exception I found was if you are buying a house, car ect, if you take them a copy of the sales contract and can show documents as to where the money came from ie: sale of your house in the states ect, then you can transfer the amount needed to make your purchase. I spoke with one American here who banks with Citibank and he told me he transfered 50k at one time without any problem so I guess it depends on the bank, the branch and the manager you talk to.

If the PRIMARY ACCOUNT HOLDER is a Colombian citizen, they are limited to $15.000.00 per YEAR in transfered funds from the U.S..

I also found that if the money is trasnfered to an AMERICANS account, it is creditied immediatly, if it is transfered to a COLOMBAINS account, they hold it for 3-4 days before it gets creditied to the account.

It is a screwed up system but what can ya do? jajaja.

Semper Fidelis !

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spigrimace says on Sep 29, 2005, 15:53:

Colombia Drivers License Need like a few pictues 3cm x 3cm, your driver´s license from whatever state, cedula -or- cedula extranjeria en tramite (the temporary white super lo-tech typewriter one they give you at DAS when you apply for a cedula that everyone thinks is the real one but get pissed when they find out the "definitiva" which is gray, with a sim card, and pretty hi-tech gets issued 6 months later), the copies of some consignation of whatever amount they ask for which you can pay for right at the transito office. bring your passport and a few copies of the entry date and visa if you have one. ANd beforehand you need a blood test (yes they want to know your blood type definitivamente and certificated), you also need a physical where they check your eyes, ears and senses, and after all that submitted you should get it issued within a few days.

Go to the Transito office and dont let the slimes outside or inside who say they´ll do the tramite for you for a fee do it as they´ll probably just take your money and run. It´s a little hassle but not much different than the DMV hassle of whatever state in the US

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Hunter says on Oct 1, 2005, 13:18:

GIB What do you suggest that the Colombian goverment/central bank do. The are slowly switching some of their dollar denominated debt to Pesos, I am sure that they would like to do more, but the market will only take so much in one go. They are lowering interest rates slowly, if they only had to look at the currency I am sure they would lower a lot more, but they have to take other things into consideration there as well. The central bank is selling some of its dollar reserves, for converstion to pesos. None of the above is doing nothing, basically you can't buck the market, or you can buck it for long and all the present fundimentals point to pesos strength, all they can do is slow its apreciation.

The US has a large current account deficit, I can only see this getting worse, how is it going to get better without the economy going into recesion or a dollar devalution, the US goverment also is in deficit, the US housing market is a huge bubble waiting to burst, you think Bogota is in a bubble, it is nothing compared with the US.

As to dollar weakness and Europe, I would tend to agree Europe and the UK should weaken against the dollar, but Europe and the UK are only a very very small part of the picture. The Asian Countries are propping up the dollar by buying dollars or in most cases US bonds to stop their own curriencies from strengthing, hence the crazy US bond yield curve. Maybe they will keep doing this, but as they buy more, they are taking on greater and greater risk to a dollar depreciation. Sooner or later one or more Asian central bank will decide the risk is to great and start switching their US dollar holdings, once one starts others will follow once they find out, sending the dollar South, the Euro, sterling and others will apreciate against the dollar by default.
If the bond yield curve starts to change, because foreigners start to reduce their purchases of US goverment bonds, mortgage rates will start to rise, making the purchase of properties harder, there is already a lot of manipulation going on in with mortgage brokers to allow people to meet the borrowing reqiurements, once the buyers to start to dry up because they cant afford to purchase the properties becuase of the higher interest rates, the bust will start another possible trigger. That is a couple of scenarios, there are others, but it the most likely of them I think is the selling of US goverment bonds by the Asian Central banks, we shall find out within the next few years, maybe it will all un-wind without to puch pain, but I doubt it.

I am not a great worrier about China taking over the world manufacturing wise, their labour costs are rising rapidly in China, they will not reach any where near the labour costs of the developed Countries, but they should over take many Countries like Colombia, also trade barriers will stop many things. Also I believe China will slowly float its currency by expanding the curriencies trading range, twice now in the last few months.

Hunter

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