Time’s Up, Time to Extend
Last week, was a moment Kim and I had been dreading ever since we arrived in Colombia: the expiry of our 90-day Colombia tourist visas. It was time to come before immigration and plead for a 90-day extension.
In a turn of events as unsurprising as a James Bond escape from certain death, the process ended up being a debacle.
So now, as per the vows we swore to uphold when we became bloggers, we will translate our experience into tips to help your Colombia tourist visa extension goes more smoothly.
What’s Your Visa Status?
Does your visa expire in more than two days?
You’re such a go-getter. Jump to how to extend your Colombia tourist visa online.
Does your visa expire tomorrow?
Sorry to say, you’re going to have to jump down to the section on how to extend your Colombia tourist visa in person at the Medellín immigration office.
Note: This post only covers Colombia tourist visas. To extend your student visa, follow this guide by Tellanto.
How to Extend Your Colombia Tourist Visa Online
1. Start early
As soon as you know you’re going to stay in Colombia for more than ninety days in a row, get started with extending your Colombia tourist visa.
Even if your visa doesn’t expire for another month, it doesn’t hurt to start now. There’s no penalty for applying early—the 90-day visa extension is added to the day your current visa expires, not the day you apply—but there is a penalty for starting late.
2. Get your documents together
You’ll need the following documents, in PDF format, to extend your Colombia tourist visa online:
- The photo page of your passport
- The page on your passport with your Colombian immigration entry stamp
- Your ticket for your departure from Colombia within less than 180 days of your initial arrival in the country. This can be a copy of your flight confirmation email. Make sure it has your full name, the dates, and an itinerary from a Colombian city to a non-Colombian city.
Three helpful things to know regarding these documents:
- The three PDFs must be less than 1 MB total. Colombia’s online tourist visa extension system won’t accept files bigger than that. Use a scanning app like Scanbot (free) on your phone to make a PDF of your passport photo and stamp pages, then use a free site like ilovepdf.com to shrink the files to the required size.
- Update: Jonathan in the comments shared that he and 6 friends he’s helped have had a 100% success rate in their applications by combining these documents into one PDF. You can do so at combinepdf.com.
- If you don’t have a departure flight yet, you can try applying without any flight info first. Jose, in the comments below, says he and his friends have done so and been approved. Otherwise, buy a ticket to wherever on Expedia, save a copy of the email in PDF, then cancel it immediately. Expedia refunds all flights as long as you do it within 24 hours.
- To get your full 180 days in Colombia, “buy” a flight that leaves on that 180th day. If not, they may only extend your visa until the departure date of your flight, as Holly points out in her comment.
- As Dave T pointed out in the comments, to be 100% sure the flight you book on Expedia has free cancellations within 24 hours, check the “Refundable flight” option under “Advanced Options” in your flight search. Then, in the details of the flight you book, the free 24 cancellation policy should be clearly stated.
- If you have any doubts or difficulties, this post on visatraveler.com has the idiot-proof step-by-step instructions.
- For families, there are additional requirements including proof you are parents of your children. Click here to jump down to Russ’ comment with his experience and the details on what you need.
3. Submit your online Colombia tourist visa extension application
Here’s the link for extending your Colombia tourist visa online.
Choose “English” on the top right if you think “no problemo” is proper Spanish*, then under “Tipo de Tramite” check the box beside “Permiso Temporal de Permanencia para Prorrogar Permanencia.”
The rest of the form is super straightforward**. It won’t take more than a couple minutes if you already have your documents ready.
**Update 1: Some people report in the comments that the drop-downs are empty if you choose English, so if you face that problem you may have to whip out your dictionary and fill out the Spanish online form.
**Update 2: Maybe the “Expedition country” and “Place of birth” fields aren’t straightforward for everyone:
- Dave T. mentioned in the comments that he couldn’t find his Place of Birth and Nationality in the drop-down boxes. He selected “NO APLICA” and his application went through and was successfully approved.
- Alice couldn’t find “Vancouver” in the city the “City / Municipality expedition” drop-down and got rejected twice. On her third attempt she found it by selecting “Canada” as the “Department / State” instead of “Colombia Britanica” and her extension was approved!
Shortly after you’ve submitted the form, you’ll get an email like the one below. It says your application has been received and that you will receive a response within one business day. It also includes a confirmation number and a password so you can check your application status online.
Amazingly, we got a response within one business day just like the email said we would.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the response we hoped for.
3. Don’t take “No” for an answer
Despite having all the documents exactly as they asked, our online Colombian tourist visa extension applications were rejected.
The rejection email (screenshot below) included reasons the application was denied, but those reasons are complete “gentleman cow manure”. It’s just something the poor employee with the horrible job of having to review each application mindlessly copy-pasted.
If you’re sure you have all the right documents, don’t take “No” for an answer. There’s no cost to you in doing so other than the couple minutes it takes to fill out the form.
4. Pray
Every time you submit your online visa extension, pray your application ends in the inbox of a Colombia immigration employee who does their job properly and not someone who hates their job or is spiteful that your country’s soccer team beat Colombia’s one time.
If you pray hard enough, you’ll get an approval letter like the one I got below (on my third try). It has an attachment you’ll need to keep on hand digitally or physically.
Update: What to Do If You Don’t Get a Confirmation or Rejection Email
Some helpful visa-extending readers shared that they successfully submitted their application and got an email with a “Número de solicitud” like the one I shared under Step 3, but then never received any more emails—not a rejection nor an approval—even after waiting for a couple of days.
If this happens to you, you’re unfortunately going to have to print off the email with your número de solicitud and go to the nearest migración office to sort things out.
On the bright side, you don’t need an appointment and shouldn’t have to wait too long.
Read Skyler’s comments below for more detail. (Thanks Skyler!)
5. Pay
If you’re a national of an EU or Schengen country your Colombia travel visa extension is free.
Otherwise, you have to pay 99,000 COP.
6. Mock your procrastinating friends
If you were forward-thinking and fortunate enough to have a smooth and successful online Colombia travel visa extension you now have permission to look down upon your friends who had to go to the Medellin immigration offices because they waited until the last minute.
7. Enjoy up to 90 more days in Colombia!
For a lot more exciting stuff than extending your visa, read these:
- Did you know these 9 surprising facts about aguardiente?
- If you’re in Medellin, have you considered all of our 10 favorite things to do?
- If you like hiking, try to squeeze in this mind-blowing trek we did that no one talks about
- Why go, what to do, and where to stay on Colombia’s Pacific Coast
How to Extend Your Colombia Tourist Visa at the Medellín Immigration Office
1. Give the online Colombia visa extension application one last go
Unless today is the day your Colombia travel visa expires, before going to the Medellín immigration office submit an online application and hope for the best.
If I had done so, I could have avoided a miserable trip to the Medellín immigration offices.
They had already rejected my online application twice and there were only two business days left before my visa expired, so I prematurely gave up hope and went to the Medellín immigration offices.
There, the lady told me to fill out the online form once again. I didn’t understand the point, but I didn’t want to cause a fuss, so I did as she asked (I’m Swiss and Canadian after all). I then waited for over an hour to be called to talk with the guy who reviewed my documents. He pulled up my file on his computer and… asked me what I was doing there. He said the online application I’d just filled out had already been approved!
I’d gone to the immigration offices and waited around for nothing.
2. Make an appointment
If you’ve run out of time and hope for getting your Colombia travel visa extended online, don’t just show up at the immigration offices. Make an appointment.
To do so, call 018000-510454. If you don’t speak Spanish, don’t worry; there are call center agents that speak perfect English. They will set a time for you and give you an appointment number. Write it down because you’ll need it.
3. Prepare everything you need
Before going to the Medellín immigration offices, print off the required documents (see above) and get your appointment number and the number of your online application ready. If you’re not a citizen of a Schengen country, bring a credit card to pay for your extension. Cash is not accepted.
If you don’t have access to a printer, you can go to one of the many of opportunistic printing businesses located beside the Medellín immigration offices.
4. Turn lemons into (healthy vegan) lemonade
Except when we go to hike Cerro de las Tres Cruces, we don’t spend much time in the area where the Medellín immigration offices are. To make the most of being in a different part of town, we stopped for lunch at Copoazú, a twelve-minute walk away.
Copoazú is a vegan restaurant that opened in late 2017. The owner will everything she can to ensure you enjoy your meal. She even asked if we were right or left handed so as to set the cutlery for us accordingly.
Our meal included cream of lettuce soup topped with sesame seeds to start, then falafel, grilled zucchini medallions, cabbage salad with a herbed tomato sauce, and brown rice as the main dish. And the dessert of little pieces of french toast covered in chocolate sauce and carob powder was the best we’ve had in a lunch menu.
Costing just 10,500 COP, it was so good we almost wish we had to go to Colombian more immigration more often to give us a reason to come back.
Ok, that’s a complete lie. But Copoazú’s menu del dia was really one of our favorites. (See our list here.)
5. Go to the Medellín immigration office
The Medellín immigration offices aren’t where Google Maps says. They’re around the corner. Here’s a map. You can save these locations to your phone by following these easy instructions.
6. Stay calm and extend your visa
When you get to the Medellín immigration offices, show your appointment number to the security guard at the door. He’ll point you to a receptionist, to whom you also need to tell you have an appointment and then show your printed documents.
Be friendly but adamant to the receptionist that they respect your appointment. We weren’t and had to wait an hour because of it.
The receptionist will check your documents then tell you to sit down and wait to be called by an official. If you have an appointment the wait shouldn’t be long.
When called, the official will review your documents and stamp your passport. If you’re not a citizen of an EU or Schengen country you’ll have to pay 99,000 COP. You will need to pay by credit card.
Then you’re done!
Chris, thanks so much for this helpful article! I completed the process in less time than it would have taken me to go to the office. One question, as I wait-praying–
Did you pay the fee each of the three times you applied online, or did one payment cover the entire process?
Thanks again!
Glad to have helped Angie! I will pray for you too, haha.
Don’t worry; applications are free. You only have to pay once at the very end after (fingers crossed) you’ve been approved.
This article is very well written and detailed but I feel at some points you are a bit mocking colombian culture. If you don’t like it stay in your country.
Hey Luigi, thanks for sharing! Believe me that if we ever get around to making a guide to renewing your driver’s license or passport in our homeland of Canada our post will be as mocking of the inefficient Canadian bureaucracy as we are of Colombia’s! It’s a global issue.
yeah we have something called freedom of speech , which doesn’t exist in Colombia. It is ironic however how you can come to our countries and receive more chances in life that what your own country offers to it’s own people, o sea en otras palabras es un pais tan pobre que nos mandan sus problemas y se los resolvemos mejor que su propio estado como por ejemplo ese blog que nos informa de manera mil veces mas eficiente que cualquier pagina del gobierno. Por consiguiente, usted tienen mas derechos humanos en nuestros paies que en el suyo, y si te molesta eso, mejora tu pais, aunque dudo que lo logres
Awesome post! Very detailed and informative thank you. My girlfriend and I left it a little late and were hoping to avoid a visit to the immigration office, we followed your instructions and got approved within 1 business day. Thanks again, Jason & Rose.
Happy to hear this was helpful for you and your girlfriend, Jason. Enjoy the rest of your time in Colombia!
Going to try it out tomorrow. This definitely had me laughing. You guys are funny! hahaha.
Thanks Gabby. Hopefully all goes well and you keep laughing through your extension process! Fingers crossed.
Update: September 2018 – my application just got denied because I didn’t include my return trip and I have to resubmit. They also request that documents are “scanned” and not a photo, even if in a PDF. Just a heads up!
Thanks for the update Kimberli.
That’s insane that they request “scanned” documents instead of photos. I suppose their friends at the printing shops that are all around the immigration offices need more business. I’d try a couple applications with photos before going to the hassle of scanning anyways. Or maybe try a grainy filter so it looks scanned.
And yeah, you gotta provide the flight out. A couple other friends tried to get by without it and failed too. Just get a refundable one like we outlined above.
It worked! I used the Scanbot app and then just added a distortion filter in Photoshop. I also condensed the PDF just in case they got me for surpassing that max file size requirement. I added a return flight and they approved it within two days. Success!
Oh man. That’s hilarious that you added a distortion filter on Photoshop so it looked like a photocopy and not a scan. And that’s awesome that it worked. Congrats Kimberli and thanks for making us smile with your anecdote!
Well that might answer the question as to why I’m having problems with the online process. I’m a pro photographer and so I took nice clear photos of the necessary info and then made sure that the file was the right size after using the link to combine them. I have been told to re-send the file twice with the second time being the “last chance.” I guess that I’ll have to get them scanned. How ridiculous!
Here’s a follow-up to my first attempt at extending my visa. After submitting my first extension attempt, it was requested that I re-send the document images that they wanted and so I re-sent what I had originally sent (which was nice clear photos converted to PDF’s) thinking that perhaps the attachment didn’t go through. I had sized the pictures below 1 MB and I combined them into one file (as had been recommended here), but once again, it wasn’t accepted. I tried re-sending a second time (and I was told that it was the “last chance”) and still, it was a no go.
After re-sending for the second time, I read in your comments section that they didn’t accept photos and so I immediately re-did and re-sent the original form, but this time with scanned copies of my flight info and passport. I was then told that the photo images were too small and so I made them bigger and re-sent.
Finally, they were accepted and so the next step was to pay. Knowing that I would likely have problems paying online, I decided to go to the migracion office here in Cali (partly because it just happened to only be 6 blocks away from my friend’s house). I didn’t have an appointment and after arriving (and because all I needed to do was pay), it turned out that I didn’t have to wait at all.
The next problem, however, was that neither of my two bank cards worked nor did my one credit card (which also didn’t work at the airport to pay the entry fee that we Canadians have to pay). To top it off, the guy at the cubicle next to me was having the same problem and so when he saw me trying to pay with my card he asked if he could give me cash in exchange for putting his fee on my card. I was happy do so until I found out that none of my cards were working (and they normally work fine at atm machines and this is my 14th time visiting Colombia). Fortunately, (and I think it was because I was being really cool about it all as well as really friendly with the staff in espanol), the immigration guy behind the counter who was heping the other guy agreed to pay with his card in exchange for the cash. He did the same for the other guy who was having the same problems and so a big thanks to him! If it wasn’t for that, I might have been totally out of luck. I will add that, despite all that happened, the online responses were really quick in all instances. Bottom line is that I got my extension. Btw – I had to pay 96 000 cop too and so it’s possible that they put the fee up as of January 1st.
Haha, you ended another person ended up paying the immigration guy cash so he could pay with his own card? What a crazy story!
Thanks for sharing this, Thomas. I’m happy it all worked out for you. Also, way to go for keeping in good spirits the whole time. Hopefully the good karma keeps going your way and you have an awesome extended time in Colombia!
Awesome. Thanks for the input! It saved me some grief!
Very easy visa Colombia
I take it you had no problems with your extension then. Glad it was better for you than it was for us! Enjoy your next 90 days.
if you book through expedia you have to call to cancel. if you book through united, you can cancel online. hate having to call.
We canceled our Expedia booking online. No call needed. We’ve done it multiple times. Maybe something’s changed recently, but I doubt it. I do remember that it was a bit difficult to find the “Cancel” link though.
Anyway, if you say it’s easier with United, I’ll take your word for it. I’ll update the post. Thanks for the tip Chris!
Oh, I don’t know. The wording was very clear about having to call when I did it.
I just booked and canceled online for free via Expedia with no problem. The key is to pick an airline that accepts cancellations. This is clearly stated in the details of the selected flight, or even easier, during your flight search just check the checkbox to only show flights for airlines that accept cancellations.
That’s a great tip to filter the flights for airlines that accept cancellations. I’ve updated the instructions with it. Thanks Dave and enjoy the rest of your time in Colombia!
Hi Chris, great read. I saw that you said you can try to extend more than a month before your Visa expires with this online process. Do you know of people successfully doing this? We need to extend more than a month before but I’ve heard some people say you have to be within a week of it expiring or it won’t get approved!
Hey Max – I haven’t actually heard of anyone who tried more than a week in advance. Everyone we know is like us, needlessly saving it to the last minute. According to the Colombia immigration website you can, but maybe it’s not true in practice. Since it costs nothing to apply, you might as well give it a go. If you could update us with whether you succeed or not, future extenders would appreciate it.
I just applied about 5 weeks before my original visa expired and got approved no problem! (I realize this is not of help to the original commenter, but in case someone has the same question)
Got approved on my second attempt. Paid. Now what? I’ve gotten nothing other than a confirmation of payment? Bit concerned as obviously the stamp in my passport clearly says 3 months and I don’t seem to have any paperwork to show the extension has been approved. Did you receive something?
Congrats, Chris. Did you get a confirmation email like the one I shared above (with the green exclamation marks)? If so, that’s it. I felt the same you did, concerned about having no stamp or paperwork (other than the email). At immigration at the airport, I was super nervous, and when the guy first looked at my passport I could see he first saw it was expired, but then he entered me in the system, saw I’d extended and let me through with no problem or mention of it at all. Long story short, you’re good!
Oh great, thanks. I did eventually get a second email with a PDF it said to print out and carry with me. Many thanks for your blog post and guidance, made it possibly the easiest visa extension I’ve ever done!
Hey I’m from England and the flight alone is a arm and a leg and i wish to go for 4 months
The problem being is that the visa is only 3 months (90 days) is it ok if i apply for visa towards the end of my 90 days to stay for an extra month?
or is this cheating or something??
Thanks
Hey Lewis, giving up an arm and the leg to trade in England’s winter for 4 months in Colombia sounds like a good deal! And there’s absolutely no problem with waiting towards the end of your first 3 months to extend. I would recommend filing your extension request at least a week ahead of time, though, so you can do it online and avoid having to go to the immigration offices.
Well done
Hello! Many thanks for this super helpful and entertaining resource. As a US citizen who has spent 6 months in Colombia in 2018, I’m wondering when I can return as a tourist… Do you know if the 180 days reset January 1, 2019, or will I need to spend 6 months outside of Colombia first? Gracias!
Hey Kathryn, I’ve seen conflicting reports on this so I looked for an official resource. According to this link on the official Migracion Colombia site (click here) the limit is 180 days per calendar year. So yeah, if that’s still up to date your 180 days reset on Jan 1.
“MIGRACION COLOMBIA estampa un sello en el pasaporte, documento de viaje o Tarjeta Andina Migratoria (TAM) donde consta EL INGRESO (fecha del ingreso, di?as de permanencia autorizados y tipo de ingreso), que sera? de noventa (90) di?as consecutivos, prorrogables, por noventa (90) di?as ma?s, hasta completar un ma?ximo de 180 di?as por an?o calendario”
Thanks so much for the quick response! This is what I was hoping to hear.
yes, rules are clear in that regard. Maximum of 6 months in any calendar year, AND maximum of 6 months in any one stay. So, even if arrive in, say October, you would have to leave by April so as not to stay more than 6 months in one stay. But you could leave for a single day and come right back. You would then have to leave (for the rest of the calendar year) by end of June due to the 6 months in any calendar year rule.
Perfectly said. Thanks Chris, for clarifying!
Hello there, great post. I am on my extension that expires 12/29/18 right in the middle of the holidays…and its causing me a bit of stress. Do you know if there is any way, any options so or work arounds that would make it so I didn’t have to leave in the middle of the holiday’s?
Hey Chris/Kim, thanks for this very clear and concise post. I was wondering if I could ask you guys a question – my situation is a bit similar to Kathryn’s.
This year I’ve made a few entries into Colombia. My most recent entry was Oct 2, by which point I had already stayed around 70 days in Colombia in 2018 (from previous entries in May and July).
My plan is to stay from Oct 2 – late March without leaving the country. This would mean in 2018 I will spend around 160 days in Colombia, and in 2019 just under 90. This means, from my perspective, I’m not overstaying the calendar year limit (180 days) or the consecutive days limit (180 days).
In early Oct I went to Migracion in person and after one officer told me my plan wasn’t okay, one of her colleagues sat down and agreed with me that it would be fine.
I’ve applied for the extension and it was approved, though they’ve said I need to leave the country by Jan 15, because from that agent’s perspective the counter doesn’t reset on Jan 1 I guess? What do you think?
Hey Eamon, So when you arrived on Oct 2, you got a stamp until Jan 2 (or 1 or whatever 90 days is), then you got another extension with a stamp (or email if you did it online) that says you have to leave by Jan 15? They only extended you for 13 days?! As you say, the other Chris wrote above in his comment, and the migration officials you talked to confirmed, you should be able to stay a whole 180 days. Unless I’m missing something, I suppose in your case your only option is to head to Migracion to tidy this up. That sucks! Sorry to hear about this, all the best, and please keep the rest of us posted on how it goes for you. I’m sure others are in similar situations as you and are keen to learn from your hard-earned experience.
Hey Chris, no problem. I went to Migracion and one officer told me my plan was fine, while another told me that indeed I had to leave by Jan 15. So I went to a private migration agency in Bogota for their opinion and they agreed with January 15. He told me that the 180 days/calendar year counter only resets in the new year once you’re out of the country. So if I continue to stay in Colombia in 2019, those days will add to those from 2018 because I haven’t left the country since 2019 started.
I can’t be completely certain this is correct but that made it three separate opinions to one saying I needed to leave by Jan 15, so rather than risk a hefty fine when departing in March I’ll try and find a cheap flight in and out in Janaury. I’d be more than happy for someone to prove me wrong though! Cheers
Hi Eamon, I am in a similar situation. Do you have any post experience information on this? I have been reading contradictory statements: some say it does reset on the 1st of Jan, others like you say it doesn’t.
Thanks!
My online application was rejected the first time around, with the stated reason that I must only submit one PDF with all documents in it. I had submitted two: one with the flight ticket, and one with the passport. After combining into one PDF, it was accepted. It might just be that the officer was being overly fussy. I’ve since helped 6 other people with their submission, and have done one PDF with each. It’s been accepted that way right away in each case. So I suggest to always submit only one PDF (which is under 1 MB in size), in order to avoid the possibility of it being rejected due to not having it in one PDF.
Really good to know. Thanks for the tip, Jonathan. I’ve updated the guide accordingly. Even if it was only the officer you got who was being fussy, it’s so easy to combine the PDFs that there’s no reason not to do so in order to increase the chances of getting approved.
Hello Chris,
Thanks for the helpful information you have posted, would you know anything in regards to being able to go from a 90-180 days on aPIP-2 student visa, to then change to a tourist visa for a further 90-180 days once completed my studies?
Sorry, Maria, I haven’t the faintest idea about anything related to the aPIP-2 student visa so I cant help you there. Best of luck.
Thanks for the excellent write up! I actually did this last year in Cali and am doing it again, but I have a question that I’m not sure if you can help answer — I only need to extend my visa by about 20 days because I am going to Brasil on January 30th via Leticia and Tabatinga, and then flying to Rio from Tabatinga (via Manaus and Sao Paulo). I have my Avianca tickets to Leticia from Cali and my Azul ticket from Tabatinga to Rio, and am hoping that they will not try to make me buy another ticket directly out of the country. Do you know if they will give me a hard time about this? Should I try the online form or should I just go down to the office here in Cali? I HAVE to imagine that plenty of people leave Colombia via Leticia/Tabatinga so I am hoping it won’t be a problem, even though I remember seeing signs in the office last year that said (in Spanish) that you can’t have a ticket to a border town. Since I also have my ticket from what is, essentially, the same border town to a non-Colombian city, I would hope it would be no problem. Especially for a short extension like mine.
If I try the online form first I was thinking of including a quick “notes” page at the beginning explaining this, assuming I can shrink all my tickets and info to fit into a 1MB document. Thoughts? Thank you!
Hey Edward. Lucky you for being able to check out the Colombian/Brazilian Amazon. That’s one area we didn’t have the chance to check out during our six months in Colombia in 2018.
Just to ensure I understand your question correctly, your main concern is not having a ticket showing proof you’re leaving the country, correct? If so, and if I was you, I’d just buy a completely separate ticket from Cali to wherever outside of Colombia, save a copy, then cancel it within 24 hours for a full refund. As I wrote in the post, you can cancel free with Expedia. Commenter Chris mentioned you can do the same with United and that it’s even easier with them.
Thanks for the response Chris!
What I mean is that I basically have a ticket from Cali to Leticia, and then another ticket from Leticia to Rio by way of Tabatinga, because Tabatinga and Leticia are connected at the border. But there is no way to get from Colombia to Tabatinga or Leticia to Brasil by plane, so technically I don’t have a ticket segment that shows a flight from Colombia to Brasil. However, any immigration agent with half a brain will know that Leticia and Tabatinga are in the same spot, so hopefully they will approve it as-is.
I am curious to see what will happen and I have almost a week left until my first 90 days expires, so I am going to send the application like this (with a very cordial and detailed explanation at the beginning of the PDF file) and see if they approve it. If they won’t approve it this way, I’ll do Expedia ticket thing and try again.
Will let you know what happens!
Well not even an hour after I sent the application I got a response saying that my request had been pre-approved! I don’t know if this is a new thing, or if I got this because I was here last year and did the extension with a successful exit stamp so I’m already “trusted” in their system, but this is the email I received (with sensitive information withheld):
“Señor(a) ciudadano(a):
Su solicitud de permiso temporal de permanencia(PTP), registrada con el número XXXXXXXXXX se encuentra pre-aprobada.
Para finalizar esta solicitud es necesario pagar por los derechos de este trámite. Dicho pago podrá realizarlo a través de alguno de los siguientes canales que hemos dispuesto para usted:
Pago Seguro En línea: Click here.
Usuario: XXXXXXXXXXXX
Contraseña: XXXXXXXX
Pago en efectivo, tarjeta débito o crédito: en uno de nuestros Centros Facilitadores de Servicios Migratorios (ver mapa)
Cordialmente,
Migración Colombia
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores
servicio.ciudadano@migracioncolombia.gov.co
Bogotá: +57 (1) 6055-454
Línea Nacional Gratuita 018000510454
http://www.migracioncolombia.gov.co”
Everything check out legit with the link so I went there and they use “PlacetoPay” as an online merchant for payments. I decided to make the payment (96,000 pesos) with my credit card and it went through no problem!
So hopefully I will receive a confirmation email regarding my application. Hopefully this information will be useful to all of you!
I put mine in on Saturday – given it was a holiday weekend, let’s see if mine get a reply today!
Exitooo! Congrats, Edward. What a pleasant surprise that your application was approved given your situation. I would’ve thought for sure the agent would turn down your application for not having a flight from Colombia to another country.
I, and anyone else who might find themself in a similar situation to yours who reads this, really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience. All the best with your time in the Amazon!
Thank you very much Chris!
I guess I’m still a bit unsure if my extension is a done deal… I haven’t received any additional emails from Migracion Colombia after making my payment online (only the receipt from PlacetoPay) and the “pre-aprobada” email I got from them is different from the one you have in your picture “finalizado con exito”.
Do you think I’m good to go for my exit in Leticia on the 30th or should I run down to the Migracion office on Friday if I haven’t gotten an additional confirmation email? My first 90 days expires on Sunday the 13th.
Did you end up receiving another email? I got the exact same email as you and paid but Im not sure if everything is finalized and Id like to know the exact date I can stay until
Thx
Thank you so much!!
There is a way you can buy a REAL FLIGHT TICKET through an agency fro 12USD SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF proof of onward travel – the ticket generally expires within 48hrs, and you can choose te date you want to depart.
I have used them many times to show proof of onward travel, and NEVER HAD ISSUES.
The ticket is also verifiable online with the airline!!
https://bestonwardticket.com
Thanks for sharing this Kevin. I’d previously heard either this site or another one that does the same but haven’t recommended it since it’s possible to buy and cancel a ticket yourself without paying the 12 USD or whatever it costs. Then again, for those who are scared they’re forget to cancel your ticket within the 24 hour window or who don’t want to deal with the hassle of clicking a couple of buttons to do so, $12 is a reasonably low cost alternative. If anyone else has other reasons to consider sites like this, please let me know!
BTW, I the email they sent mentions you can pay in cash at one of their locations, but that site is down – can anyone access it and post locations in Medellin?
Pago en efectivo, tarjeta débito o crédito: en uno de nuestros Centros Facilitadores de Servicios Migratorios (ver mapa)
https://www.sivirtual.gov.co/4/?formality=1008
Thanks!!
Thank you Chris for this super-helpful article and everyone else for your comments, I was “pre-approved” (pre-aprobada) in one day on my very first attempt ever!
Notes:
• My phone’s camera along with the Scanbot, combinepdf.com, and ilovepdf.com combo worked wonderfully to “scan” my passport pages, combine them with my canceled flight info from Expedia, and shrink it to under 1mb. No actual scanning or PhotoShop filtering needed.
• The website form is confusing and unintuitive in some places. For example the “Place of Birth” and “Nationality” dropdowns are incomplete. I doubt it matters what you select because I chose “NO APLICA” as my nationality since I couldn’t find anything applicable for a white man from North America.
• The website is flaky. I got an error when I first tried to pay by credit card, but after refreshing the page everything worked fine and was secure via HTTPS.
• I applied for the extension a whole month before my original visa was to expire, so no worries about applying too early.
were you able to do thhis today? I have been ingoing crazy trying to get the website to wor again for me without bogging down.
Is there a link I am missing?
The one I was sent IS NOT HTTPS.
http://apps.migracioncolombia.gov.co/registro/public/numeroGenerado.jsf
The link in my email earlier today is the same as yours (HTTP) but I was redirected to a secure page before I was prompted for any credit card info. I imagine you’ve tried clearing your cookies etc. already?
yup – I cleared cookkies and even went as far as reinstalled different browser, on different laaptops, tablets etc – the site bogs down AFTER i submit my UID/PW with this error everywhere:
Proxy Error
The proxy server received an invalid response from an upstream server.
The proxy server could not handle the request POST /registro/public/numeroGenerado.jsf.
Reason: Error reading from remote server
By any chance can you open this link? It is supposed to be their service center where you can pay in-person in Medellin.
https://www.sivirtual.gov.co/4/?formality=1008
UPDATE; So, I got my pre-approval notification, and I tried ot go online and pay at the UNSECURED WEBSITE – which keeps giving me 404 ERRORS after I enter my supplied UID and Password.
This link (click here)
Gives me a 404 ERROR proxy not found – I have tried 4 different browser on 3 different laptops – no dice.
Proxy Error
The proxy server received an invalid response from an upstream server.
The proxy server could not handle the request POST /registro/public/numeroGenerado.jsf;jsessionid=F1F23BD3FE0F46C5A443F9D5F8D151A3.
** Remember that ugly word I used above “insecure website” This website DOES NOT have any type of security or protection from man in the middle attacks aka HACKERS. That’s right, your credit card information goes to their servers UNENCRYPTED!!!
BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL AS IT IS NOT USING HTTP CERTIFICATES TO AUTHENTICATE THE RECIPIENT SERVER IS INDEED THE INTENDED RECIPIENT, AND YOUR CREDIT CARD INFORMATION CAN BE SWIPED WITH EASE AS IT I SENT UNENCRYPTED WITH YOUR BEHIND WIDE OPEN!
This is why Colombians are such easy prey to hacking and ATM card skimming, they are very naive to this stuff.
How do I know? I am a white-hat hacker/cyber-security expert.
I have no idea how I am going to pay my fee as it will not let me see payment locations
Interesting. I paid for mine on the same day as you (1/9/2019) and initially got an error but after refreshing the page everything worked fine through a secure site called “Place to Pay”. Perhaps they were updating their site or HTTPS certificates at the time? I encourage you to try again.
Well everyone I finally got my “ha finalizado con exito” confirmation email!! So aside from the technical glitches some of us had with the process, it would appear that this is the new and improved (and much easier) way of extending… paying online and not even having to go to the bank let alone the immigration office.
What’s more, my particular situation of having an Avianca ticket to Leticia, and then an Azul ticket from Tabatinga to Rio, did not seem to be a problem after all. Maybe the very nice message I typed to them in Spanish and integrated into the PDF file explaining my situation helped, but who can say. Either way there seems to be some flexibility with the tickets which is awesome, but YMMV.
Best of luck to everyone still waiting for their confirmation. It took me roughly 3 days and 4 hours to get mine after filing and making my payment Monday morning. Off to the Amazon I go!!
Too bad – this is not working for me…all I continue to get is the same proxy error after submitting my supplied credentials…..I have no idea what to do from here.
I am using a TOP OF THE LINE APPLE MACBOOK PRO, NOT ANY RINKY-DINK LAPTOP 🙂
Proxy Error
The proxy server received an invalid response from an upstream server.
The proxy server could not handle the request POST /registro/public/numeroGenerado.jsf.
Reason: Error reading from remote server
UPDATE: So, I googled “Oficinas Migracion Medellin” – took my approval e-mail and passport to the local Immigration office in Belen neighborhood, and paid the extension of $30USD (90,000COP).
about 3hrs later, I got my confirmation e-mail with extension certificate.
Cheers!
is it possible to extend the visa in bogota too?
Thanks so much Kim and Chris for the detailed explanation! On my third try, I managed to get approved and paid my 96COP fee online.
Whoop whoop! 3rd time’s the charm. Thanks for the tip on finding Vancouver, too. I updated the post accordingly to share with other fellow Vancouverites. Enjoy Medellin extra hard for us and hopefully see you back in Van this summer!
Hi thanks for all this info.
Do you still receive a confirmation email once it has been submitted?
I never received an email, but it said “Registering your procedure successfully completed, your application has been filed with the unique number of process” and has a code generated.
It also says the procedure will be done online. Anything new will be notified to the mail
It’s been about 36 hours now and I haven’t heard anything, so am getting a bit worried. Is there a link where I can check the progress using the code?
I need to have it extended by this Friday, as my 90 days ends on Sunday
Hey Skyler. I don’t know if they’ve done away with confirmation emails, but I highly doubt it, especially based on the other recent comments here. Hopefully you’ll get some sort of email soon, since it seems you completed the application. If not… I guess you’ll have to head over to migracion.
Hi Chris,
Thanks, just wanted to do a follow-up in case anyone else has the same situation.
I never received a confirmation email, so I went into migracion on Friday. I showed up about 9:30 am without an appointment, and went in and spoke to someone straight away.
I took a print off of the ‘code generated’ screenshot I had too, as well as a copy of all my documents.
They told me it had already been approved and the email was sent for payment. But I had never received it.
I ended up paying at migracion (they accept card only), and then they said they would email the extension to me within a few days.
The whole process took about 10-15 minutes in the office, and I got the extension email yesterday.
If anyone else doesn’t get a confirmation email within 48 hours, I’d suggest just going straight into migracion to sort it out, instead of stressing for days as I did!
Thanks again for your help with this blog post, and now to enjoy 90 more days in Colombia! 🙂
That’s great to hear, Skyler. Thanks very much for sharing! Since what happened to you seems to be somewhat common, I’ve updated the post accordingly to make sure others see your advice in case it happens to them.
Enjoy your next 90 days!
Thank you SO MUCH! This post made the whole process super simple for my husband and me. Just submitted and now I’m praying…
Hi guys, thanks so much for this post! I want to add some info from our experience, specifically about extending tourist permits with children. It came as a shock to us when we applied for the extensions to find out that we needed to show proof we were the parents of our children. We hadn’t read about that anywhere and thus did not have Birth Certificates with us in Colombia. They weren’t required to enter the country. So we ended up having a family member in Canada retrieve and scan them. Migracion Colombia officials did ask that they be notorized — although ours were signed with a rather unofficial-looking stamp from a commissioner of oath, and they were accepted.
In the end, this is what we submitted for each child via the website: (all PDFs)
Passport
Current tourist stamp
Onward ticket info (yes this is required)
Birth Certificate
Passport of one parent
A couple of other points to note. We received the pre-approval emails later the same day, and after paying the $99,000 COP online (yes the payment part of the website IS secure) for EACH of us (upon entry only the adults had to pay the Canadian reciprocity fee), we had the final confirmation email and attached document the very next day.
I hope this is helpful for other families!
Russ
Thanks Russ! I’ve updated the post so that all other families see the super helpful tips you shared. Really appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of your time in Colombia!
Hi Russ,
Thanks for this amazing info!
Do you have to fill out the online form 4 times (if you are a family of 4)? If so, is it better to start with head of household first or one of your children first? Thanks!
Thank you for putting together this article, it worked great!
My first request was denied (PASAPORTE MAL ESCANEADO) when I took photographs with my phone, but as recommended in another comment I used the Scanbot Pro app the second time and was approved. The default filter washed out the colors to look more like a scanned document. Also my rejected photos were single passport pages, whereas the second attempt I “scanned” both the relevant page as well as the facing page. Both times I combined them into a single PDF and compressed them to under a megabyte. Also the second time I named the combined PDF “Passport scan and flight info” to make the “scans” more believable 😉
I bought a random ticket to Panama and had it refunded. I have no intention of going to Panama.
The rejection came in 30 minutes, and later the same morning I received my approval response in 9 minutes. Not too shabby. Thanks, Colombia. And thank you, Chris and Kim.
Felicidades Jonathan! And thanks for sharing. That’s funny (in retrospect, now that you succeeded) that you had to go to such lengths to make your photographed documents look as if they were scanned. Hopefully one day immigration offices worldwide will overcome their “predjudice” against digital photos.
By the way, and maybe I’m biased because I lived there for 2.5 years, but Panama’s worth actually buying and keeping a flight to one day. Santa Catalina and Venado beaches, Boquete hiking, Gatun jungle boating… there’s more to it than the canal.
Hi!
First of all, thank you so much for this post. It helped make my renewal process fairly smooth when I applied back in January.
So, I have a question – I am heading to Peru in April for a few weeks right before my extension runs out. Do you know if I would be able to come back to Colombia for two more months? I arrived in Bogota in October but wasn’t sure how the new calendar year affects things. And would I need to get this approval ahead of time or would it just automatically be calculated by immigration at the airport when I arrive back in country? I am considering trying to get a volunteer visa before then, but need to know my options just in case.
Any tips or experience you’ve had are very helpful!
Thanks!
Amanda
Hey Amanda. I’m glad this post, and all the contributions from fellow readers, has helped! Based on my understanding and the how the rules are written out (I linked to them in response to an earlier comment), you’re entitled to 180 days every calendar year, so in theory you shouldn’t have any issue. “Theory” obviously doesn’t help you, though. Unfortunately, that’s all the insight I can provide since I haven’t heard from anyone with a situation like yours. If you can update us with how it turns out for you, I’m sure others in a similar situation would much appreciate it. All the best.
Thank you for the useful information!
I just applied and got an “exito” email confirming the visa extension.
I also got the pdf with the visa attached to the confirmation email. I didn’t get any instructions on how to pay so I am a little confused if I need to or I am fine with the pdf.
I am from Romania, wich is not part of the Schengen territory, but it’s part of the UE.
Anyone else had similar situation?
Thanks for the question Alexandru. And congrats on the “exito.” According to this page on the migracion website, all EU nationals can extend for free, so looks like you’re set. I’m surprised it doesn’t include Swiss nationals as being free too, since I didn’t have to pay with my Swiss passport, but maybe that’s just an oversight by the person who made the website. In any case, I’ll update the post to mention EU nationals are free, so thanks for pointing this out.
Thank you for the information!
If it helps other users… I used a fake flight ticket that I generated through returnflights dot net
Be sure you use real flight details when you complete the fields. I know it is not that orthodox, but worst that can happen is that you just get rejected. It saves you the trouble of going through a useless formality.
Cheers!
Hey All,
Firstly thanks a lot for your help and your good tuto for the application! Very clear and well done.
Regarding my application for the PIP I did everything and received a pre approval of the visa but yet no PDF file with the stated visa extension.
Since I’m from the shenghen territory no Need to pay the fee however they sent me the link to do so.. I tried then to check it out but as soon I connect to the link I received to do it (with the login and password provided) I got the reply below :
“Tipo de trámite o Estado de tramite inválido. Tramite: Permiso Temporal de Permanencia para Prorrogar Permanencia. Estado : PENDIENTE POR FIRMAR.Contacte al administrador”
I believe I should wait for another day since I ve checked and payment is approved/done because of shenghen agreement. And hope that the signature has to be done by one of the migration officer
If anyone else received this and solved that problem give them s a sign 😉
Rgds
Alix
Hey Alix,
I’m in the same boat, except I’m not from Shengen. Paid last night, still pendiente por firmar.
I was wondering how yours resolved itself.
Hey Matt, did everything turn out alright? I’m on the same boat. Cheers
Hey Kim and Chris,
I’m leaving for Bogota sunday and i have a quick question. I have a flight from medellin to Montreal 120 days after arrival so will need the extention. Will it be a problem at entry as my proof of onward travel is later than the original 90 days? Did you have to show one when you arrived first?
Gonna also miss the lifting of reciprocity fee by a month 🙠1st of may Canadians don’t have to pay it anymore!
Hey Matt – How’d it turn out for you? I don’t know the answer so I, and certainly others, would be curious to know how it turned out. I guess you’d be fine so long as you don’t catch the wrong agent on the wrong day.
As fellow Canadians, that’s awesome to hear about the reciprocity fee being waved as of May 1!
Thanks for great information. I’d like to give you update that as of 1 April, the fee I was charged is 99,000COP.
Also, regarding the flight ticket, it is USDOT requirement that any airline operating in US airlines to allow passengers to cancel a non-refundable booking or reservation within 24 hours of purchase, without penalty, so long as the booking is made at least seven days in advance of the flight.
Delta airlines supposedly have more flexible policy allowing cancellation until midnight following day of ticket purchase. https://www.delta.com/us/en/change-cancel/cancel-flight/#24hour
That gives us enough time to hold on to the “real” ticket while the extension process.
Noted and updated with the new fees. Thanks SJ! And too bad the extension now costs a few extra empanadas.
Hey thanks for the article it’s super useful! Just wondering if you have any tips on how to use the combine pdf site? I got as far as making the pdf but can’t find any way of downloading it so I am totally stuck on the uploading documents part. I only have my phone with me so I’m trying to convert photos to pdf which I’m finding pretty tricky..
Sorry, I can’t help you with that Kate. Your best bet is to get on a computer and do it because yeah, I can imagine it’d be difficult on a phone.
Hey, great post! I have a specific question. I want to extend for another 3 months, but halfway through the 3 months I would like to leave Colombia (going to the US for a family wedding). Can I spend the first half on my extension in Colombia and then spend the second half of the extension later in the year? Thank you very much.
Hey James. Man, that’s another tricky one! I don’t know for certain. You’re entitled to 180 days in a year and when you return to the US you’ll get an exit stamp, so when you return from the wedding the agent should see you have those extra days left and give them to you. Your best bet is probably to go to the immigration offices and ask, though. That or ask your friend to change their wedding date to exactly 90 days into your trip so you don’t even need to extend your visa at all and get an automatic new visa upon returning!
Hey Guys,
thank you so much for the information. This helps a lot! Im about to extend the visa and at the same time Im about to book a flight back to Europe. Im planning to fly out from Ecuador. Do you think it is enough to attach the confirmation of the flight out of Ecuador or should I also book an extra flight on Expedia to have a flight from a colombian city to a non-colombian city? Ill go from Leticia by boat to Peru and then to Ecuador. I cannot find a website where i can reserve that boat, so the only thing I can attach is the flight ticket out of Ecuador.
Would be a pleasure to hear from your experiences on that.
Yuri
Hey Yuri. I haven’t heard of anyone with your exact situation, though Edward shared in the an earlier comment that he got his visa extended by showing a flight ticket he had from across the Colombia/Brazil border to Rio. You may as well try with the flights you have and see how it goes. Odds are it’ll go through. If not, get a refundable ticket and try again.
All the best. Let us know how it goes.
Many thanks for this blog, super helpful! I recently submitted my extension request. I received a refusal, with the reason being “DILIGENCIAR FORMULARIO COMPLETO Y CORRECTO SUMINISTRAR DIRECCION Y TELEFONO”. The only section where they ask for phone number and address is in the emergency contact box. I was confused by this section as it only allowed you to add addresses in Colombia. I put my mum’s name down as the contact with her UK phone number and left the address box empty as it wasn’t starred ie obligatory. But my application was refused so it seems that wasn’t the right thing to do! I’ve met a couple of friendly Colombians I reckon would let me use their name/phone number/address but before I do that just wanted to check that’s what other people do? Also, what happens re payment, do they request this once you’ve been approved and then do it online? I’m from the UK so (still just about!) a member of the EU so will that go through automatically so that I don’t have to pay (given that my nationality is on my passport) or do you have to do something else? Thanks :O)
Hey Catherine.
On your first question I don’t know, though if I were you I’d just put whatever Colombian number and address and see how it goes. They’re not going to contact them. I must’ve put Kim’s Colombian number when I applied.
On the payment, seeing as you’re still EU and don’t have to pay, your application will go right through without any extra step.
Hi Chris,
I used my friend’s phone number/address, went through fine, so now my application is pre-approved. I’ve still been sent the message saying I have to pay though, so I guess I’ll have to go to the migration office to ask in person about the EU membership thing though. Do you have a link or anything from the Colombian immigration service that states that EU members get free visa extensions? Just in case they’re confused about this? Thanks! Catherine
Well I went to the immigration office in Cartagena and an official confirmed that the UK is NOT included in the agreement with the EU for free visa extensions (nothing to do with Brexit either!) Decreto 2235 of 24 Nov 2015 means that those with passports from Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Coatia, Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portgual, Czech Republic, Romania, Sweden – and also Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland (which aren’t even full EU members!) – get the free visa extension. The official had to check with her boss about it, and another UK friend of mine got hers through for free, so you might still get lucky with an official who doesn’t know the rules in full!
No way! That sucks for you and your fellow UK nationals (at least those who don’t luck out like your friend did). Thanks for sharing this so at least others maybe don’t have to spend the time going to migracion to clarify.
On this link – https://www.nomasfilas.gov.co/memoficha-tramite/-/tramite/T1008 – it says “Tarifa para nacional de país de la Unión Europea 0.00 Pesos ($)” but I guess based on what you found out that’s not 100% accurate. That page also has a link to download the Decreto 2235 that you refer to.
Question: for your flight info. required…does it matter if your return flight is before or after the 90 day normal tourist visa? I don’t know if it’s better to have it set before the current 90 day expiration or after that date so they know you need an extension? ie. I’d hate for them to reject me because my flight date is already w/in the 90 days lol! Read through your whole article and many comments and finally decided to just send a question since I’m unsure? Thanks for all of this! My visa doesn’t expire for a few weeks but want to get it done asap.
Josh, don’t bother with the flight ticket. In the past couple of years myself and my friends have extended their tourist stay with no flight ticket. The online form only asks you to upload the passport. I don’t know if it was possible to upload a flight ticket in the past or not. I do know that the requirements list it, and I also understand how you’d want to be careful and not risk it because I was in your position, but in reality it turns out it was 100% not needed. You send the form, you get an automatic response the next day saying you were approved and you are asked to pay.
Thanks Jose! I have a return flight w/ miles that I can change w/o a penalty so wasn’t sure what flight date was preferred (i.e. if I should move it past the 90 days to show the need for the extension). Turns out I think it got approved 20 mins after I sent it??!!! Is that a new world record??? My Spanish isn’t great and I used google translate and it says it’s been pre-approved and I need to pay so I imagine that’s the same thing as your approval? I saw your screen shot above and it’s not the same (and you say “approval”) but I think I’m good to go. Thanks again!
Yup, basically that pre-approval means you got approved, just need to pay now.
Just fyi, this is the email I got for the “pre-approval”. It came 20 minutes after the first one confirming receipt of my submitted application:
Señor(a) ciudadano(a):
Su solicitud de permiso temporal de permanencia(PTP), registrada con el número XXXXXXX se encuentra pre-aprobada.
Para finalizar esta solicitud es necesario pagar por los derechos de este trámite. Dicho pago podrá realizarlo a través de alguno de los siguientes canales que hemos dispuesto para usted:
Pago Seguro En línea: Site
Usuario: XXXXX
Contraseña: XXXXX
Pago en efectivo, tarjeta débito o crédito: en uno de nuestros Centros Facilitadores de Servicios Migratorios (ver mapa)
Cordialmente,
Migración Colombia
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores
servicio.ciudadano@migracioncolombia.gov.co
Bogotá: +57 (1) 6055-454
Línea Nacional Gratuita 018000510454
http://www.migracioncolombia.gov.co
Hey Chris,
Thanks for this great resource – much appreciated!
As another reader noted, the online process has changed slightly from the one you outline above.
I followed your great advice about combining all the required scanned docs into a single pdf, and then completed and submitted the online form. I received an email the next day indicating that my application had been pre-approved (first time lucky; word!), and that to complete the process I had to pay the fee online or in person at the Migracion office. I paid online by credit card, and received the “con exito” email the next day.
Also, the other content on your site is superb! I’ll be back for sure to check out what you’re writing about.
Thanks again!
G from Victoria, BC
Congrats on having a seamless visa extension process, G. Enjoy the rest of your time in Colombia, and hopefully some of our tips and recommendations will work out for you.
Coincidentally, we’re heading to your hometown in a couple weekends.
Oh cool! If you have time on your trip to Victoria, I recommend checking out Thetis Lake Park and Sooke Potholes Park (one of my favourite places in the world). For good food in a comfy setting, check out the Heron Rock Bistro in James Bay. Favourite cafe is Bean Around The World in Chinatown, and favourite spot for late night drinks is The Mint on Douglas St. Have a wonderful time!
Thanks G! My sister got a place in James Bay, so for sure I’ll follow your Heron Rock recommendation. And hopefully a couple others as well. I really appreciate it when readers return the favor and share tips
Hello,
My visa request was granted, but nothing in the appendix except a picture. no number, no name. what does the attachment look like? Do I have to go to the office now?
Hi Mino. So you got a similar confirmation email to the one I screenshotted above? If so, that’s it. You don’t get a piece of paper to put in your passport or anything.
Thanks so much for this super helpful and funny article. Mine was just approved first time round, although the one business day thing definitely runs on Colombian time, mine took 4 business days. Just also wanted to give a heads up to anyone, they extended mine until the date of my exit flight rather than the full 90 days, this only cuts me short a few days so it’s no biggie, but for anyone booking a ticket get it for the last day rather than just picking a random flight and day.
Thanks again and happy travels
Thanks for pointing that out, Holly. I’ve updated the guide to share that info. Congrats on the successful extension and enjoy the rest of your time in Colombia!
Here’s my experience with my recent application for a 90 day extension:
Went through the online procedure as given here.
Receveived “No Fue Aprobado” within 24 hours. (It was clear from the reason my documents had not been looked at)
Made a second online application waited 6 days and after no reply email I decided to go to the immigration office in Cartagena.
Took all documents with me but the officer only used my passport and didn’t look at anything else.
My tourist visa is due to expire on 14/7/19 and I received an extension today 10/7/19 valid till 11/10/19.
My extension is for 88 days which was based of my entry stamp (15/4/19) which is still 2 days less than I should have been given.
Anyway hope this information helps anyone else applying for an extension.
Simon
Hi, thank you very much for sharing the experience, it is very helpful! I have one question: we are located in Bogota, and once the application online has been approved, do we still need to pay a visit to the migracion office? I heard that the applicant will still need to be present in the migracion office in order to complete the process, but not sure if it is true.
Thank you very much!
Best,
Chingcheh
Hi Chingheh. You should be able to pay online too and avoid the migracion office altogether.
Thank you very much Chris!
Hi Chris,
Great post! So very luckily i just got my extension granted email within 48hrs! And my email is exactly like the screenshot indicated on your post. But that’s it! I don’t receive any attached PDF document which indicates my name, my passport information, new expiration date…is that normal? Thanks for your help. Cheers:)
Hi Xuan. Yeah, it’s normal not to receive anything other than the confirmation email. We were nervous about that too, but it’s in Migracion’s system.
Hello,
A friend of mine applied for a 90-day visa extension and was granted that. However she left the country after staying 15 days of the 90-day extension in Colombia. She has been out of Colombia for 2 months and is planning on returning to Colombia once again. She is wondering if she will be able to stay in Colombia for the remaining 75 days of her visa extension, or she can only stay until the date that her extended visa expires, which is about more or less 15 days maximum. Any suggestions or recommendation will be appreciated,
Just a follow up to my previous comment/question, As I understand it, a foreign tourist can stay only 180 days a year in Colombia, however since my friend has been out of Colombia for about 60 days out of her 90-day visa extension, would the Immigration officials at the airport grant her those 60 days+ to stay in Colombia (like extending the 90-day extension’s expiration date ?
Hey Ali, Yeah, the agent should grant your friend the remaining days out of the 180 she can stay for the calendar year. Even so, I’d be sure to bring it up with the immigration agent upon her return so the agent doesn’t absentmindedly do something different.
hi, i have just followed your tutorial yesterday afternoon and have received the approved email on my extention VISA. thank you very much for your thorough steps on this.
i came to Bogota on June 13, and the extension should be December 13. the thing is i went out to Peru and Canada from August 3 – August 17 (14 days) which means i have extra 14 days to put on my extension, which means around December 27 IMHO. i put the date on December 25 for my last day in Bogota (bought the ticket in Expedia).
the questions are;
(1) the thing is they only gave me the extension until December 22. would that be a problem?
(2) and if i fly out from Bogota December 25, and come back January 2020, would remaining days start from zero (0) day?
thank you for your help.
Hey Andreas, Congrats on getting extended.
June 13 plus 180 days in Dec 10, then you were in Peru for 13 full days, so I suspect that’s the cause of your discrepancy. If you leave later than the date Migracion gave you, Dec 22, I don’t know what the punishment would be—whether a fine, a travel ban, both, or something else—but since you plan on returning I’d recommend either you change your flight dates or confirm the penalty won’t be too severe. Hopefully it works out for you!
I go back and forth between the US and Colombia frequently. Upon my last two arrivals in Bogotá (from the US), they gave me 90 days, apparently without bothering to count how many days I have already been in the country this calendar year. In fact, the 90 days they gave me will push me about 60 days over the 180-day limit. Presumably, I just got lucky twice in a row in terms of them stamping my passport without bothering to do a tally, but I’m curious to know whether others have had this happen. I’m wondering how frequent it is, and if, perhaps, it’s somehow becoming more common. (Although laws are frequently updated here in Colombia, I don’t believe the law in question has been changed.) Has anybody witnessed a tally being done upon entry into the country?
Now I face a dilemma. My latest 90-day stamp gives me permission to be in Colombia until the end of November. I was planning to do a short trip to the US in early October, but now I don’t know whether to risk it. There is certainly a significant possibility that, upon trying to return, they will do an actual tally and not let me in.
Interesting question, Luc. I figured the days were tallied digitally, but maybe not. Or the system’s not the most accurate.
Have you also looked into the possible income tax implications of being in Colombia for more than 180 days?
I have done all the procedures but I received an email and this is their content
Your request is being attended. To continue we request that the following supports be entered:
Mr. Ususario to proceed with the procedure should be referred to the nearest immigration services facilitator center with your documentation.
At the address
http://apps.migracioncolombia.gov.co/registro/public/numeroGenerado.jsf
With the following login data
Cordially,
what I have to do. If I know that I have checked the website and I am required to enter a document, but I don’t know what it is and is not clear what it is
Hey Jasmine. From what I read, and since I can’t log in to see what the link is, it seems like they want you to come to the Migracion offices.
Hi Chris,
Thank you very much! I followed your guide to the letter and got approved on the first attempt!
It works better and more efficient than I’m used to (in Colombia)…
I combined the three pdf’s into one document, by the way. And the new term they gave me is the end of my current visa, +90 days.
Thanks again!
Thomas
Exito! That’s my favorite Spanish word, so thanks for giving me another opportunity to use it, Thomas. All the best with your extra 90 days in Colombia!
Hello
I’m travelling to Medellin from Canada. I purchased a round trip ticket for 5 1/2 months to avoid the winter here.
Should I have purchased my ticket for 90 days instead of 152 days? Will there be any issues entering the country?
I wouldn’t buy a ticket just to get my visa approved colombia is beaitiful country and you shouldn’t limit your time on it.
This site does the trick provide dummy ticket for visa application
dummyticket.flights
Hey Aurelio, It depends on the airline. When we flew in from Panama, they required an outbound ticket within 90 days, so we bought one and cancelled it immediately for a full refund, as explain how to do here. Enjoy your warm winter in Colombia!
Hi there,
Both my girlfriend and I received pre-aproval on our extension applications withing 24 hours, however neither of us are able to pay using the online system. All of our cards are being declined, and whenever we fill out the section “pay with somebody else’s card” we are just bunped back to the original page and then declined again. I tried 4 times and seem to now be locked out of the system as the payment page will no longer load after filling in my log in and password. Has anybody else had this problem? Many thanks.
Hello,
Thanks so much for all this helpful information. I have a question based on my unique situation… I am a US citizen who just obtained my Colombian citizenship, in Colombia, while visiting as an American, through my father who is Colombian-born (birthright). I’ve been in Colombia now for over 2 months and my 90 day tourist visa is running up.
My question at this point is this: being that I’m now a Colombian citizen, is there some way other than this process to enable me to extend my stay? Can I just go to the immigration office and say “Hey, I’m actually a citizen now… please lift my restrictions” ? Or do I have to go through with the visa extension process based on the fact that I ENTERED the country as a US citizen using my US passport, and that is what my current status shows?
Any help is much appreciated! I imagine if I can’t find a straight answer I will either visit the immigration office or just do the normal visa extension process and not mention my new citizenship (for now).
Thanks so much!
-Daniel
Wow, you’re not kidding that your situation is unique, Daniel. Yeah, I’d go to the immigration offices, like you said. Or ask any contact you have from the citizenship process.
Hi Chris.
Thanks for this great resource. I have read all the comments above to try to answer the following question: Is the 180 days (the 90 days plus 90 day extension) within a single calendar year, as you and many other blogs say it is, OR are the 180 days within any 12 month period?
I’m desperately hoping it is what you say – that the 180-day clock gets reset every January 1st – however I was told on the phone by Migracion Colombia that it is the latter – 180 days per any 12 month period. And, also when I asked the UK Consulate they directed me to the 5th para on this link https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/colombia/entry-requirements which states that it is 180 days within any 12 month period.
Does anyone know about this? I understand that it’s not unheard of to get variable information from Migracion Colombia, but is the Uk.gov website wrong? Any help with this would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Hi Piers. In one of the comments above, I quoted directly from Migracion’s documentation that it’s written 180 days per calendar year. The link I shared is now broken, but if you search those terms online you’ll find links to the updated site that says the same. It also says you can extend your 90 days once per visit, so if you’ve been in the country for 180 days, you’d have to leave and come back regardless of whether it’s a new year. (i.e. you can’t stay 270 days straight over 2 calendar years)
Hey Chris, thanks for your reply. Yes, the Migracion Colombia websites do say 180 days per año calendario… so that is great news!! I’m much reassured. I think the UK government’s Colombia travel advice page must have it wrong. Yes I am aware that I need to leave Colombia at 180 days. Thanks again!!
Just writing to say thanks.
I followed your instructions. I combined the three PDFs into one PDF. I am Dutch, for what it’s worth.
I received the “ha finalizado con éxito” email less than an hour after applying!
And in my case, I did get the full 90 extra days, despite having a flight sooner than that.
Good to know. Thanks Phil. Mucho mas exito with your remaining days in Colombia!
I was approved and paid the 99,000.00 but there isn’t a confirmed date of a 90 day extension. Or even at what point the 90 days starts from? I paid on 1/28/20 but my first 90 days was up 2/26/20 so do I assume I get an additional 90 days from 2/26 or it starts at 1/28/20 is there someone I can call just to know or confirm when I need to exit the country?
Yeah, it’s a bit unnerving to not have the date on paper. We had the same. It should be the 90 days from 2/26. If you want to know the exact date your extended permit expires you might be able to email them to get it. Let us know if and how you get the exact info. Thanks, Lucy!
Let me quickly share my horror story! I bought a ticket to leave Colombia after I got asked to show the ticket to leave. They granted me the extension Visa but 2 days before my flight (which I just bought for the Visa). I wasn’t even noticing it. It just got worse as I missed my connection flight in Bogota.
I asked in the Immigration if there is anything I can do, but now… Seems that I have no choice than paying the penalty fee for overstaying. Next time I buy the fake ticket and get full length as my extension was just meant for 1 more month. I feel very frustrated. Especially if nobody speaks a bit english and they blame you for trying and asking in Spanish… Again and again with patience.
Puhhhh.
They didn’t even extend you up to the date of your flight? So you didn’t get your full 180 days? Man, how frustrating. But thanks for sharing, Chris.
Lesson for everyone: Buy a fake ticket for 180 days after you arrive so you’re sure when they extend you they don’t cut you off short.
Hi. I wrote a year ago on here about how I finally managed to pay for my extension by going to the Cali Immigration Office and how neither my cc or my bank card worked and how one of the guys working there was kind enough to pay with his card in exchange for the cash which I had on hand, but why is it that most everyone else seems to be breezing through the online payment process, whereas I’m not (and my friend who is willing to use his cc to pay for my fee is having the same problems listed below)? I’m in Cali right now, but have the same problems with my two cards. After entering the number and code to get to the payment page, is everyone clicking on ‘Credit Card’ (which when I do, I repeatedly get a message saying ‘error, timed out’ or are people clicking on the ‘Place to Pay’ tab? When I click on Place to Pay, it goes to the place to pay page, but is everyone having to Join and sign up first before paying?? When I click on Join Place to Pay, it seems like it goes more to a question page as opposed to a sign up page. Did you end up going to Victoria? That’s where I’m from.
Hey Thomas. Sorry to hear about your payment issues. I don’t know how to help you. Maybe someone reading this solved the problem and can chime in?
Victoria, B.C.? Yeah! My sister and Kim’s sister and brother all live there. We’ve been multiple times and may even spend extended time there this coming summer. Maybe see you around!
I think this was a great post. BUT, not as easy as indicated. Simply put, for me, the payment option(s) did NOT work. No matter what browser, payment method etc. So I am guessing I could have saved all this time scanning and filling out forms as I need to go down to the office anyways. So please, let folks know, or I am assuming I have, this is NOT a slam dunk. It’s a pain in the butt to say the least.
Thanks Austyn. I added a warning about the payment. Sorry you had payment problems. That sucks.
Given that many others haven’t had the same problems as you, I still think it’s worth trying the online visa extension than assuming your payment won’t go through and going to migracion without even trying.
OK. to end my .02. I could NOT pay for this extension online. All good as I wanted a reason to venture out. So in Cartagena, I went to the main office. I had an appointment (Just to pay) and had the security guy check my pack. I was an hour late and don’t think the appointment mattered. Once inside the check-in guy wrote all my information (passport) etc. and handed me a ticket with a number. Kind of like a USA butcher shop ticker. That didn’t seem to matter as folks tore in front of me (seems like a Colombian thing).
Once inside the big door some hot Chica patted the seat next to her and said hey, sit here. Not being completely dumb I obliged! Eventually (10 mins) some guy said ‘I help’. I showed him My Pre-Approval letter and let him know their system was not working (4 PCs and 4 browsers later). He got it. Spent 5 minutes with him and he extended it for the full time (even though I am to fly out much, much sooner)., All in all a cool guy, passport stamped and was as cordial as I can imagine. should have just gone down from the beginning bujt who knows about these Online Mess-ups!??? Hope this helps! Yes, I [aid the 103 COP on a CC and all went well
Thanks Paul for the story and info! Did you leave the offices with that woman’s phone number as well as a visa extension? That’d be a bonus and another reason not to bother with the online visa extension.
epic breakdown yall, thanks so much, [no problemo] made me laugh out loud. abrazo
Glad to hear it, Stu! Thanks. And muy bueno Spanglish. It’s seeping in well!
Hi, thanks for this article.
I am currently trying to extend my visa. I thought I’d give it a try without booking a flight first. Either way, I’ve tried it twice now, and still haven’t got an email that the application was even received. After filling out the form it just brings me to a page with a generated number for my application.
Any advice?
Thanks
Is this a legitimate site? They helped us and asked for 80 US and told us we would get the invoice once the application was submitted! We cancelled, but they now have all our travel & passport info.
https://expatgroup.co/onlinepayments/
Hi Donnalynn. Based on extensive reviews and comments over the years and the fact they’ve done events with Medellin Guru, it seems legit. Please keep us posted.
Hi
With the cuarentena is our 90-day tourist visa ‘paused’ until the cuarentena is lifted?
Not my favorite thought, BUT if my 90 days are up, then my extra 90 days are up, what happens then? 🙂
Thanks! Really like your site!
Scott in Medellin
Hi Scott. I don’t know, sorry. We’re currently in South Africa facing a similar issue. I’d check the Medellin expats groups on Facebook to see what others have found out. All the best!
Thank you so much for your information .
There is a way you can buy a onwardticket through an agency the ticket generally expires within 120hours with only $ 10 .
I have used them severant times to show proof of onward travel at airport and it works great for me .
https://www.onwardticketvisa.com
This was really helpful, thank you! I was denied the first time. I never received an email though so be sure to check the status in the link they send you. Under ‘Estado de Trámite’ mine said “CANCELADO” with no further info so I tried again.
I followed all the tips EXACTLY (adding a scan effect to my documents, booking a flight on expedia on the 180th day etc). I was pre-approved in one day and then paid the 103.000 fee online and received my visa via email almost instantly. Also worth noting: Parts of the form wouldn’t load when filling it out in English (e.g. Birth place: Neozelandesa) but it loaded fine en Español 🙂
Hey Jessie. I believe in Colombia, “cancelado” can also mean “paid” or “settled” as well as “cancelled.” Might that have been the translation in your case?
Glad you sorted it out in the end. And thanks for sharing the note on having to fill out the form in Spanish rather than English.
Thanks for the tip on changing the language to allow the birthplace to show!
I am unable to select my country of birth. There are no options when I click the drop down menu. It just says select and that is it.
I submitted on the 7th, and just received the confirmation email with my login details, but when i look up the details online it says “EN AREA DE TRAMITE” and “Trámite no facturado”. I assume it’s just sitting somewhere.
I know it’s now impossible to go to migracion to sort this out, is there any other way? I still have a while before I have to leave (I have until the 5th of feb) but it is getting closer by the day.
any thoughts?
Hi Richard,
Also submitted my extension on the 7th Jan but still haven’t received a reply either yet. Starting to get worried now too. If you happened to hear back or work out another solution, please could you let us know.
Thank you all for your invaluable help. Using all the tips here, I applied with 3 weeks before my 90 days were up. Scanning all documents and combining them into one did the trick. One thing I can mention is that once I completed the application online, I received a confirmation email stating the process was completed successfully and that I would receive a approval/denial in one business day.. I waited 4 days but never received anything. I decided to check the status link sent in confirmation email and noticed that it was waiting for payment. I decided to take a chance and pay it even though I had not received approval email and it worked out.. I received my final OK in attached PDF. So if you do not receive approval email definitely check out the status in the link provided in confirmation email. Also, as others have experienced, when using English version of site.. the drop downs did not populate.. Spanish worked 100%. Hope this helps and good luck to all.
Hi Alex, can I ask when abouts you sent your application? 12 days and still counting (no update on their link and of course, their phone numbers and email they listed and directly replying back don’t work :/ )
The most helpful article I’ve seen on the topic and I’ve ready MANY. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Fingers crossed it works out for me 🙂
One question though – I never received a confirmation email and I submit my form 3 times. I’m thinking that’s two too many and I might confuse the system but how would I do it went through without a confirmation email?
Hi Hiba. How long has it been? In an earlier comment, Edward said it took 3 days and 4 hours to get his. Maybe it’s “en tramite”?
Hi, what ended up happening with you? I am yet to receive a confirmation email and am thinking about doing another application with a different email. Did you have any problems with sending multiple?
Worried here too about my solicitud. I filled in the online form for extension 8 days ago now. My first 90 days will end in 6 days (February 5). Did never receive a confirmation email, but did see a screen that my solicitud went well and made a picture of the date and the 17 digits confirmation number.
As I never received an email I am unable to check the status of my solicitud. It’s impossible to go to the Migracion office in Belen as they won’t let people in according extensions for “Tourist Visas”. There is no option to make an online appointment either.
Any advice / help what to do?
Hugs, Lauren
Sorry hadn’t seen this earlier Lauren. It took 3 weeks after submitting for the status to change on their platform to awaiting payment for me (I never received an email and was checking daily). It then instantly changed to “PENDIENTE POR FIRMAR”, where it has sat for the past week.
Advice for others, if you have less than a month left on your visa, I’d strongly advise going to a visa office. The numbers and email addresses they provide just don’t work and it’s been 4 weeks and counting for me.
Hi Kris, where did you check the progress/status of your application? I also haven’t received a confirmation email!
chris thanks alot man for this article, really helped me out my visa was ending on the 27th of feb (this month) and i’ve been looking online as to any insight on renewing the visa, your article came in clutch thanks alot man. i paid today the fee any info on what happens next ???
Hi Mike. We didn’t get anything after paying, either. But if you got the “con exito” email I screenshoted in the post, you’re GTG (…or actually, good to stay for another 90 days).
Best article by far on this! Really well done. Thank you Chris!!! 🙂
Thanks Steve! I appreciate it.
hi there. I was able to successfully renew my Colombian visa online for an additional 90 days in mid january so i can stay in Colombia till mid april. Can i apply to renew again online in april for an additional eight weeks ?
Or will i have to do some sort of visa run and leave the country and return quickly? Unfortunately because of covid my original next destination is locked down and travellers not allowed in .
Thanks
Hi Sara. Yeah, I believe you’ll have to do a visa run.
Hello
Thank you very much for the article. I do have a question. I feel it’s a stupid one due to all of the effort and thought that has been put into writing this. But I will ask anyway.
Before the end of the first 90 days, is it possible to fly out of Colombia for a “holiday” and return after a week or so and have a new batch of 90 days stamped on your passport?
Queue the eye roll 🙂
Hello Justin. I would have thought someone had asked about visa runs in the past, but looks like you’re the first one. Based on what I quickly read from a search on the Medellin Expats Facebook group, it looks like it works and is a popular option for people who don’t want to deal the bureaucratic hassle of extending without leaving.
Hi im just trying to understand the 180 days consecutive day stay rule .
If i arrived mid nov 2020 and got a 3 month online extension in feb 2021
does this mean that following the 180 days consecutive rule
i must leave the country by mid may ?
However if i was to leave and immediately come back by doing doing i would reset the clock for 2021 and i would still be entitled to a total of 180 days in Colombia for a calendar year so i could return and stay till of june 2021 .
Is this correct ?
any strategy suggestions for renewing when my first visa renewal expires in April?
thanks
Hi Suzy. Here’s my understanding, which Eamon corroborated in an earlier comment: You can stay 180 straight days at a time and 180 days in a year. So you’ll have to leave mid-May. No second extension. But you can come back and complete your 180 days for 2021. Maybe even more, if they don’t keep track of the days from your previous 180-day stint (which I suspect). Though you may want to be careful of tax and residency implications of staying in any country for more than half the year. For example, if Kim and I live abroad more than 180 days, we’re no longer covered by Canadian health insurance.
I wasn’t able to enter my country of birth on the English version. In Spanish it was fine but also deleted all my information in the process.
Best to us the Spanish Version and google translate if needed.
I filled out my application this morning but am yet to receive a confirmation email (I have a screenshot of the page saying it was sent, with the application number). Do you think it’s best for me to fill out another application using a different email, or just to go in to the Bogota migration office?
Thank you so much! Though there is one more thing perhaps you can help me with. I will be traveling onward (with my dog) to Ecuador, Peru and Chile. But I will need to pass through these countries again to get home. (Within a year or so). Can I get another 90 day visa within that year? Basicly on the return travels I need to give my dog a break from the air travel. Say a week to a month in each country.
Hi Leeds. Sorry, I don’t know. I imagine that as long as you spend less than 90 days in each country at a time, and less than 180 days total in any given country, you’ll be fine. But don’t take my word for it.
Today I channeled my inner éxito and did my application for extension. Filed it at 2 pm on the Spanish site and got the “received” email shortly after. At 5 pm I got the pre-approval email. I had to try 2 different credit cards for the 105,000 COP payment – I think the first was rejected because I needed to enter my mobile number which is Colombian, and that bank in Canada doesn’t have the new number attached. Then I tried another one which does, different Canadian bank, and it worked fine. I also experienced not being able to choose my city of Calgary so changed the province from Alberta to Canada in both places and that worked. One other thing – you need to add an emergency contact on the form – I tried one in Canada but it wouldn’t accept a Canadian phone # so I changed it to a local friend and that worked. Thanks for such a complete, useful outline of the process – it was practically painless!
Update – the next morning at 9 I received the final email with the doc I need to carry with my passport in paper or digital form. 🙂
Exitooooo! And thanks, Karen, for sharing your payment and province workarounds.
Hi everyone
Similar to Skyler’s experience, I also applied for “Permiso Temporal de Permanencia para Prorrogar Permanencia” online, got a registration number but no confirmation e-mail. I went to the Immigration office two days later without an appointment, took a print off the “code generated” screenshot as well as a copy of all my other documents. At the immigration office there was a huge queue, however, some guy luckily told me that the long waiting line was for Venezuelan immigrants only. Instead he guided me straight to the main entrance where I waited on the left hand side for a couple of minutes until they invited me in. I got my visa extension within 15 minutes and the woman who served me was very nice, clear and friendly.
I didn’t get an e-mail but have the stamp in my passport instead.
Many thanks for this clear and super helpful blogpost. It is much, much appreciated. Enjoy beautiful Colombia everyone!
Gracias!
Applied visa prolongation for me and my husband.
My application was approved totally online and I only sent photo of my passport and entry stamp, without any ticket. Received confirmation email and a bit later link to pay. I could pay online and got full 90 days prolongation.
For application of my husband we had to pay offline in a bank, because all our cards were rejected. That was the only difference – only photos of passport and entry stamp, full 90 days renewal.
So chevere!
Hi, I applied and paid (I’m from USA) and got my email saying my extension was successful. HOWEVER, in the attached PDF there appears to be an end to the validity of my visa which is NOT totaling 90 days. It says:
Válido desde: 2022/01/09 (the date my current visa will expire)
Válido hasta: 2022/02/19 (this is only a 40 DAY extension if this is the end of my visa)
So I’m wondering if that is indeed the day they are expecting me to leave, and if so, why did I not get the full 90 days?
I should mention also that my current visa is actually the 3rd entry I’ve had into Colombia in 2021, I have entered twice before and in those trips I stayed a combined total of about 48 days. I’m wondering if they are NOT assuming that my 180 days for the calendar year should reset on Jan 1? That’s the only reason I can think of for why they would not give me the full 90 days, unless it’s common for them to randomly give you less time.
Also, I will note that I did not submit any flight out of the country, I was successfully approved with just my passport scans. Maybe if I had shown a ticket out at the full 90 days would that have made a difference?
Thank you for this super helpful information. And thanks to the commenters who added their hacks and tips!
Hi Chris and everyone!
I was wondering if someone has more up to date information on some of the “reset the counter” cases that other users have mentioned here in the forum?
I currently have an EU passport with a 180 days (aprox. 6 months) tourist permit to be in Colombia.
This year I have already used 160 days of the permit, and I am currently in the EU.
My question is: if I go back to Colombia, for example, on the 22nd of December and use the remaining days of my permit, will it reset itself on the 1st of January 2023?
So, 20 days left of the current permit – 10 days to be used from 22.12 until 31.12, would still leave me with 10 days left. Since I want to stay for another 90/180 days in 2023, will I have to leave the country on the 31.12.22 and come back again on (or after) the 1.1.23 for the permit to reset and get the 90 days, or will it “automatically” reset itself?
Thank you!
Side-note for those interested in “visa runs”: while I was in Colombia I went to Costa Rica for one week and upon arrival back in Colombia the immigration officer had a very accurate counter of the remaining days in my EU tourist permit.
Great article. f you could not compress your file, try this! https://miniimagesvideos.com/pdf go there to compress your 3 pages once (passport pg 1, visa pic pg 2, then flight proof pg 3), then compress the minimal setting on ilovepdf.com to reach around 760MB. I was not able to get to 1MB using only ilovepdf.com even compressing over and over or on max compression.
edit: 730 kb** so less than 1 MB
Great writeups and suggestions but I have a question for you. Do you hsve any info on what has happened to “Medrllin Guru”? Their weekly mailouts went inactive last April. I’m glad to find another site for Medellin info.
Thanks Richard. No idea what happened to Medellin Guru. Now I’m curious. The guy who runs (ran?) it, Jeff, seemed to have a good thing going on. I hope everything’s ok.
This article is still so so so helpful in September 2022, thank you! I just wanted to give an update that I didn’t notice mentioned in the article: they won’t process your request more than 5-8 days before your 90 days expire. I just got off the phone with a Migración officer in Bogotá who laughed and said, “We punish you for applying early, wait until your 90 days is about to expire, no more than 5-8 days before.”
We arrived in August and thought we’d get the jump on extending because we already know we are staying until the end of December, but our extensions were rejected today. I guess now we’ll be waiting to reapply until the end of October!
Ooh, this is helpful ! We are in a similar situation. Arrived in August and staying more than 3months. I was about to apply. Thanks
Hey Ian, thanks for sharing this. It’s still relevant in May 2023. I just had the same experience when calling the Bogota office. They said apply 10-5 days before your visa expires. This makes sense considering I applied 3 times (over a month prior) and was rejected. I will start trying again 10 days before.
Great read but your map is wrong, went in without an appointment after waiting a week with no response after registering online. Total time was 20 minutes luckily wasn’t in the Venezualan line out front. Received email with payment info and payment went through the first time unlike last year, people where kind at immigration office. Thanks for the information!
FireShot extension lets you screenshot a section, the visible part or the entire page. So that’s better than the first suggestion from this post.
Hi
Great blog i found it very helpful, do you have any advice on applying for a spouse visa, they say i need a letter of invitation from my wife but not sure if there is a template for this. Agencies want 600 dollars to do it!!
This post is still relevant in 2023. Medellin office application still pending after 3 weeks. The Piedras office application got a response the next day with payment link and extension was received the same day. However, that was 1 of the 4 applications I sent. Doing the 3 applications again today and hoping I get lucky with all of them.
Is there any regulations on how much time is left till your passport expires? I went to migracion in cartagena and they said it didn’t matter but some other sources say that you need at least 6 months till your passport expires to qualify for the extension.
Some people in this comment section are saying that you can only apply 8-5 days before your expiration date, is that true or can you do it sooner like the article suggests? I don’t want to buy plane tickets too early nor too late for cancelation reasons
lovely spot, i follow your steps however the email i received stated “Registrado en Fut” and there is only a button finished to click and it brings you back to the login page. I havent received a new email or form of payment.
sorry lovely blog and informative post
Thank you so much for this detailed report of what it takes. It took me so many times and I wanted to give up often Point 4 was so important. I prayed, crossed my fingers and did everything else I knew to do. Eventually I got the form to submit and after 3 days of waiting got the approval even without proof of onward travel. Then another 6 attempts to pay the fee even though it’s meant to be free for Shenghen countries
I was so happy I went out immediate to get my phone unblocked and registered so I can use it here but that’s another story altogether!
Hey, thanks for this article and many helpful others about travel in Colombia. It’s all still relevant in May 2023. I will just add, as others have recently, that it seems they don’t approve your visa extension until about 10-5 days before it expires. I called the Bogota Migracion office and the agent said my previous 3 attempts were rejected only because they were too early (LOL). I will try again 10 days before expiration and update with my status.