Considering Colombia

Dear Harry,

Welcome to the Colombia forums of expat.com ....

USA Taxes: 

USA citizens are subject to taxation on worldwide income.  It seems as though you would not be earning Colombia income, so just expect to pay USA taxes on USA-derived income.

Colombia Taxes:

This could theoretically be a major problem for you .. as Colombia officially lays claim to taxes on your worldwide income as well.  It's a "marginal" tax system, which term I won't attempt to define in this post.  There are various Colombia tax threads on this forum.

To avoid becoming a Colombia tax resident, you need to remain outside Colombia for 183 days out of any 365 (regardless of calendar year).

cccmedia

Based on your initial post and the tax situation, you might want to consider a snowbird scenario.

Live up to 180 days a year in Colombia on tourist stamp/tourist-stamp extension.  These can be 180 consecutive days.

When not in Colombia, you could live in USA AirBNB apartment(s) in different cities in successive years to "try out" different cities.

As far as your interest in potentially buying a 300,000-dollar property in Colombia, you're mentally moving too fast.  Consider doing the tourist-stamp thing to start .. and don't seriously contemplate buying anything until you have lived in the target area for at least 12 total months.

Keep in mind that mortgages are unavailable for new arrivals with no credit history in La República.

Supervising the management of a part-time AirBNB unit via long distance is not a walk in the park, especially for a non-English-speaking country.  Don't complicate your life and your tax situation any time soon by committing to that.

cccmedia

it's really not possible to "put your finger" on security in Colombia.

In recent times, Medellín and the Coffee Zone have been safe for Expats.

The country is in a transition period following the FARC treaty signing, which created a power vacuum in parts of the country that is being filled by unsavory cutthroats.  For instance, there are rural parts of the border area near Ecuador that are controlled by the infamous El Guacho .. or are a no-man's land.

However, I just spent nine months in the border city of Ipiales, Nariño, near Tulcán, Ecuador, and it seemed perfectly safe within the city of Ipiales.

You seem to know about some of the safer areas of Bogotá.  That's a good start.

Driving on intercity roads at night is a no-no in much of Colombia.  I learned about this first-hand the hard way when moto-bandits forced me off the road south of Popayán on my first day/night driving north into Colombia.  I caught a break and survived unhurt.  My rear windshield was destroyed by rocks thrown by the malditos.  That damage was fixable.

cccmedia

@CC.........Is El Guacho the leader of a renegade band of FARC or is he ELN? Cuz when I went thru there not long ago, it was the ELN who had control of that border area.......It was the ELN who took the 3 Ecuadorian periodistas prisioners...... and when the Ecuadorian military wen tin there to try and rescue them, they all  ended up dead......Now truth be told, we dont know if they were killed by the ELN forces or by friendly fire.......How many times has that happened?  But if the ELN and El Guacho are not connected, then there could be evne bigger trouble in that area..cuz as I understand it, the ELN nd the FARC dont get along very well............Supposedly it was ELN who blew up the police station in Esmeraldas......but who knows........all we know really is that chit is happening in that zone, and it is not safe.......

Gringos can go a bit crazy if they attempt to study seriously the 'inside baseball' of Colombia's breakaway groups and paramilitary .. how the government is interacting with them .. and what the future holds.

Here's what Expats need to know...

1.  The border with Ecuador is problematic.  Other than staying within the city limits of Ipiales, Nariño, or a chaperoned visit to Colombia's most famous church, Las Lajas, a few miles away, spend as little time as possible around border areas.  Gringos do not need to go to Pasto except as a brief layover en route to somewhere else.

The northern border with Venezuela near Cúcuta, Colombia -- just forget about it!

2.  There are two e-publications I recommend that provide coverage of any major happenings at the border or with respect to this topic.  The English-language site www.cuencahighlife.com out of Ecuador.  And the site www.colombiareports.com .. also in English.

3.  Stay off intercity roads at night.  We used to say that driving in the Coffee Zone was safe at night.  Now, who knows?  Unless you find a rare six-lane highway, the nighttime roads are basically unpatrolled, especially later at night. 

The 'delincuentes' know this.  Gringos need to know it too.  Stay off the intercity roads after dark -- just do it.

4.  For multi-block travel, plan to take taxis within your city at night as most buses typically stop running after early evening.  Walking, even with a partner, can feel unsafe in 'desconocidas partes' of Cali or Bogotá or whatever city.

5.  Figure out where a clinic or hospital is in a city that is new to you .. and how to get there in a pinch.  Probably going by taxi is a decent plan in many places.

6.  Colombia has long-term prospects of instability and a local Bat Signal is not going to be activated if you run into trouble.   So resist the urge to buy or build on property.  Whatever you want is probably already built and can be rented.

cccmedia