Student visa questions

There are many types of visas tha can be aplied for, over a dozen, , but they are denying a lot of people now, even if you have had several previous visas,  meet all their rules, and  have more than adequate financial means.

Colombian visas have  a lot more restictions and rules now, espescially in the last 5 years, and even more so since October lasyt year and  the cancillería, who review the visa applications, have become a slow, inept and unresponsive bureacracy.

Here is the site where you can get a general idea, It is in English as well.

I dont know if you can get a visa for studying spanish, maybe at the advance University level.

https://www.cancilleria.gov.co/tramites_servicios/visa

If you dont have income at least 3 times the Colombian minimum wage, you have a snow balls chance in Hell of geting a visa

Also, need a police report for 3 (or 5) years , and emergency medical and evacuation insurance.

Why not just stay for 6 months on a tourist stamp?

@acpr

I can't answer most of your questions, but one thing I found interesting is the Youtube influencer Life with David made a video many months ago where he explored the avenue of studying Spanish to acquire a student visa. Apparently the requirements had changed so that the schools could only offer curriculum to beginners. Since David already knew quite a bit of Spanish, he decided to pass on going that route. I do recall somebody in the comment section saying that he should look into attending a vocational school on video editing etc.  That seemed like a good idea to me for a Youtube influencer.   

@nico peligro sorry for the late reply. I forgot to log back into the site.

Well, that doesn't bode well for me if they've changed rules and leniency. I'm also not working at the moment but I have some savings (not sure how much would be needed to show them). My main goal is avoiding as much bureaucracy as possible. The Brazilian Digital Nomad visa was super easy to get but I had to go back to the US for that. I know Colombia has one now so I may go for that, considering it can be applied for from within Colombia. I'd just need to get a job...They also require 3 months of paychecks as proof rather than the intention of getting an online job or even recently being employed to work online.

That's why I thought of the student visa where, if Spanish classes, could be applied for from within the country and rather easily, afaik. But it seems that has changed, as you mention.

I'm currently in Colombia, just arrived, and will likely be spending 6 months as a tourist but in the case I want to live here a few years, I'm looking at all my options.

Digital nomad visas are not that easy. The student visa is much easier, and faster. The digital nomad requires many foreign documents to be successful. This takes time and money. At this moment in July the system is very overloaded with many applications, so you may expect to have 3 months for the application time easily. Remember all documents have a 90 day maximum time at which they expire. This is another issue with the nomad visa.

Many people have an interpretation that nomad visas give permission to be in the country year-round. They do not. They are limited to 180 days a year. Just a reason we prefer the rentista/annuity visa.

For more info check out [link moderated]

Cheers,

James Lindzey

Many people have an interpretation that nomad visas give permission to be in the country year-round. They do not. They are limited to 180 days a year. Just a reason we prefer the rentista/annuity visa
-@JAMES LINDZEY

I take it you are not suggesting that a digital nomad can use his salary to qualify for a rentista visa, considering your website says that "This source may not be a salary or commissions."

Many people have an interpretation that nomad visas give permission to be in the country year-round. They do not. They are limited to 180 days a year. Just a reason we prefer the rentista/annuity visa
-@JAMES LINDZEY

I have to admit that I thought digital nomads had a full year to live in Colombia.

That limited stay of 180 days makes them seem to me an ideal candiate for the multi-trip traveler's one-year insurance policy  discussed in this thread:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1033373

Why buy a one-year AC 60 policy  which is intended for 365 days of presence in Colombia?

"Many people have an interpretation that nomad visas give permission to be in the country year-round. They do not. They are limited to 180 days a year."

I have spent some time researching this online. I DO NOT believe that a digital nomad visa only allows the holder to be in Colombia for 180 days per calendar year. If this is the case, then why are nomad visas issued for up to two years? Why are visa holders required to have insurance for two years (for a two-year digital nomad visa) if they are limited to 180 days in Colombia for each of the two years of the visa's validity?

Imagine that a person wants to work remotely from Colombia for two years, and bring his/her spouse and children (which the visa allows). Why would a digital nomad visa require that the visa holder, his or her spouse and their children leave the country after 180 days, go live somewhere else until the next calendar year, then allow them to return to Colombia, but only for six months, even though their nomad visa is valid for an additional year?

I believe that the goal of the visa is to allow digital nomads to live in and work remotely from Colombia for up to two years, and NOT to allow them to work remotely for a maximum of 180 days per year. Were the latter the case, there would be little reason to spend time and money getting the visa, rather than getting 90 days upon arrival, then renewing for another 90 days.

Maybe it is this: if you are out of Colombia more than 180 consecutive days your visa becomes invalid. That is the case for the M1 visa (marriage visa)

You can read about the Digital Nomad visa here, in English or Spanish (click on your desired language in the blue bar at the top of the page):

https://www.cancilleria.gov.co/v/nomadadigital

The digital nomad visa is good for 2 years.  But in plain language at the bottom of the page it says you may stay in-country only for 90 days up to the maximum extended stay of 180 days.

"NOTE: Digital nomads, remote workers and digital entrepreneurs of nationalities that do not require a short-stay visa, established by Resolution 5488 of 2022 , may enter without a visa and remain in Colombia with an Entry Permit granted by the immigration authority, in accordance with the current standard; provided that your stay in the country does not generate payments from Colombian companies and your period of stay does not exceed 90 days, which may be extended to a maximum of 180 continuous or discontinuous days in a calendar year."

@OsageArcher ""NOTE: Digital nomads, remote workers and digital entrepreneurs of nationalities that do not require a short-stay visa, established by Resolution 5488 of 2022 , may enter without a visa and remain in Colombia with an Entry Permit granted by the immigration authority..."

Two things that I think are most relevant in the above:

1) Just because you are working remotely from Colombia does not mean that you hold the Colombian digital nomad visa.

2) This is talking about people who enter the country without a visa. Someone with a digital nomad visa is in a different category, and should be able to stay in the country for the duration of their visa.

Can anyone who currently holds a Colombian digital nomad visa chime in here and set the record straight on this issue?

@OsageArcher "NOTE: Digital nomads, remote workers and digital entrepreneurs of nationalities that do not require a short-stay visa, established by Resolution 5488 of 2022 , may enter without a visa and remain in Colombia with an Entry Permit granted by the immigration authority, in accordance with the current standard; provided that your stay in the country does not generate payments from Colombian companies and your period of stay does not exceed 90 days, which may be extended to a maximum of 180 continuous or discontinuous days in a calendar year."

This is describing the process of someone who works remotely entering Colombia without a visa. The duration of stay is up to 90 days, and can be renewed for another 90.

Someone who holds a digital nomad visa--which is different from what is being described above--should be treated like everyone else with a Colombian visa. That is, they can stay in the country for the amount of time stated on the visa.

I suggest contacting the Cancillería directly with any questions.

contactenos@cancilleria.gov.co

Information on procedures and services: (+57-601) 3826999

I think they made a mistake on the requirements for digital nomad visa and are to lazy to fix it up.

Dies it say 180 consecutively or 180 days a year,?

If it is consecutively, maybe you can leave for  1 day on day 181 and then come back for another 180 day  until your visa runs out.

If it is 180 dys in a year  it is no better than a tourist stamp .

@Mr. Jones 1994 ISSUE time of a visa and time allowed in country are two seperate visas. More famous examples are the b1/b2 tourist visa to the United States. This visa is often issued for 10 years but a Colombian or other foreign visitor to the states is only allowed 6 months a year. In Colombia an older example is the Business Visitor visa, issued up to 2 years, only allows 180 days in a year.

What happened over history was that at first Migracion Colombia was not enforcing the Ministry of Foreign Relations visa rules for many years, then all of a sudden they started canceling business visitor visas. This appears to be what is happening with the Nomad visa. The nomad visa technically only allows 180 days a year in Colombia, but so far this is not being enforced.

I called the ministry of foreign relations and they said it has a limit of 180 days, but migracion in the airport has the final say on who enters with a visa.

I hope that helps understand it.