If you are a national from any of the visa exempted countries for short stay, you are allowed to enter Colombia with a passport valid for at least 6 months more, and an exit flight ticket.
Between 24 hours and 1 hour before your flight, you have to submit the CheckMig form.
You can only enter the country through a legal entry point. You can see the list of legal entrance points here. If you enter the Colombian territory through an unauthorized entry point - you will be subject to fines.
At the border control checkpoint, a MigraciĂłn Colombia officer will confront some information with you. This process is called Migratory control (Control migratorio).
The MigraciĂłn officer must verify that you are following the migratory rules.
Specially, the officer must check that you have not exceeded 180 days of stay in the country during the current calendar year. They will be also looking for wanted criminals trying to hide in the country, wanted drug kingpins, terrorists and the likes. They are constantly checking the Police and Interpol databases for red flags, that’s why they (have to) look so rude.
If the officer spots any irregularity on your migratory or legal background condition, he or she will be required to report that to his or her superior, who will take the correspondent actions: A talk off, a fine, a bigger fine, jail time, deportation or expulsion.
If everything is Ok, the officer will stamp your passport, mark the “PT” box on the stamp, and write the number of days granted with a pen. If the officer’s hand writing is illegible, remember to ask the officer “¿Cuál número es este?”.
This passport stamp is the “Permiso de Turismo” they give you when you arrive in the country.
Under a Tourism Permit you will be allowed to stay for up to 90 days (could be less). The official name of this permit is Entry and Stay Permit (Permiso de Ingreso y Permanencia - PIP) or Tourism Permit (Permiso de Turismo - PT), commonly referred to as “Tourist visa” or “Passport stamp”.
💡 This permit is not a visa. Permits are issued by Migración Colombia officers and visas are issued by Internal Work Group of Visas and Immigration (GIT - Visas y Migración) of the Ministry of Foreign Relations. Two different entities, who apply different rules. The permits are ruled by the Resolución 3167 de 2019 issued by the Special Administrative Unit - Migración Colombia.
Without needing to leave and re-enter the country, you can extend this permit for up to 90 days more through another permit called Temporary Permanence Permit - Permanence Extension or Permiso Temporal de Permanencia - Prórroga de Permanencia (PTP_PP), commonly known as “tourist visa extension” which can be applied for only once per calendar year and you must have a valid Tourism Permit to get it. This special permit can’t be granted for more time than the original Tourism Permit nor more time that would exceed the 180 days quota.
Every time you leave and re-enter the country, you will be granted a new Tourism Permit for up to 90 days, but if you have already “used” (stayed in the country) more than 90 days during that calendar year, they can only give you time for up to the remaining number of days to fulfill your permitted 180 days in that year.
Foreign nationals from short-term visa excempted countries are granted a tourism permit upon arrival, Counting your days under Tourism Permits That is, the period between January 1st and December 31st.
You will find more information about Tourism permits and their extension here.
Requirements:
This is done online by filling out this form, and paying $125.000 COP
This extension is requested online through the Unique Migration Procedures Form of Migration Colombia (Formulario Unico de Trámites). In said form, select the required procedure, which will be the Extension of Stay, and the office of the Facilitator Center for Migration Services where you want to submit the request. It is recommended to use a less congested office than Medellin for this procedure as it is 100% online. It is not recommended for other types of procedures such as the Foreigner ID or the Salvoconducto or Migration Movements since, in these cases, you must go to the office in person.
The extension must be requested at least 5 business days before the 90 days or the days obtained in the current stamp expire. It is recommended to request the extension about 10 or 15 business days before the expiration of the first permit. You cannot request it too far in advance because this is a common cause of rejection.
In that online form, you must attach your passport, the last entrance stamp and the ticket for your departure from the country.
As of 2023, it costs $125,000 COP. For citizens of the Schengen area, the value is $0.
Between February and May 2023, there has been a significant delay in the issuance of stay extensions in the Medellin office. Several delay situations have been reported in the issuance of extensions, causing great congestion and chaos. We have spoken with Migration officials from the Medellin office, and they have told us that they have a problem with the platform that they are trying to resolve.
If you wish, you can hire Capital M to carry out this procedure for you for a value of $270,000 COP.
Once you submit the form and make the payment, you will receive an email with a pdf attachment, where you will find your Temporary Stay Permit - Extension of Stay (Permiso Temportal de Permanencia - PrĂłrroga de Permanencia).