Moving to Cerritos, Colombia - Pereira

hey !

what your girlfriend is saying about scammers is absolutely true.
also be aware that just because an area is wealthy doesn't mean its safe. it can actually be the opposite because thats where thieves target the most, take for example el Poblado in Medellin... its pretty bad at the moment and its wealthy.

I have spent quite a bit of time in Colombia and I just got my visa approved. Im moving this Thursday. what's helped me a lot was the Facebook groups for expats in Colombia. There are a few of these groups depending on which area of Colombia you want to live in. You should join and get in touch with other expats. I advise checking it out, I find it more resourceful than here.

Call this guy viaWhatsApp ***
Congratulations and best wishes.

Dear Decadude,

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

--

You are moving too fast, Dude!

You should not be working with a real estate sales person until you have lived in the target area for at least one year.  Especially in an area where it may not be safe to go out at night.  That goes for any Expats arriving in South America.

Anything you would want to buy should be available to rent .. that or a reasonable substitute.

The only Tejanos who should buy property upon arrival in any area South of the Border ..
are those
with money to burn.

cccmedia

I know this area very well.  Sounds like a scam.  You put money in there for real estate, you will never see that money again.

First visit ; rent something . Test the waters
Then get a reputable “inmobiliaria “ ( real state
Agency) and buy .
Will never do it in any other way
Hopefully you have actually meet this woman in person and not in the internet

I want to be clear I am not looking to buy immediately upon arrival no I plan on renting and this is a new relationship.  I want to see if I like the country and if we can even legit live together and get along.  We have only stayed together for a week.  I guess maybe I should rephrase from saying move to LONG visits.  My first will be early November to mid December then back to the U.S. for a short while and hopefully back with her in Colombia.

I like to research upfront and preplan.  It is just me doing my due diligence but I can see where my post reads as if I am jumping to buy immediately.  Also to the one poster you are correct according to the one realtor I was speaking with that works the Cerritos area they mentioned most all sellers would be willing to rent.

mchinese13 wrote:

First visit ; rent something . Test the waters
Then get a reputable “inmobiliaria “ ( real state
Agency) and buy .
Will never do it in any other way
Hopefully you have actually meet this woman in person and not in the internet

We had gone on two dates and stayed together for a week.  I am going to visit her again for another week this Saturday.  We both have came to the consensus we like each other a lot and want to be together.

If I were you I would do an Airbnb for your stay.  Cerritos is out in the countryside far from everything except the Country Club.  I would rent or even stay in a hotel in Pereira, the best hotel is the Movitch.

Sonesta is also out there and it's great or a small country beautiful place El Lugar Nordic owned by a Norwegian

Thanks for the clarification of your situation
Keep in mind when thinking in running your business from home that the internet in Colombia is still pretty weak
In bogota and medellin you can get at best 300 mbs ; Cali only 100 mbs and the rest of the country is much worse …
Nothing much in smaller towns
So you would struggle in Cerritos

Good point, another reason to stay at either the Sonesta or Movitch.

You are funny /;colimbia women will.eat you alive / found a new latino honey / reevaluate stupid

ernietorricelli9 wrote:

You are funny /;colimbia women will.eat you alive / found a new latino honey / reevaluate stupid

Wow this seems pretty straight forward.  I mean you could be right I don't know hell I don't even know how to check and see if she is married I do want to visit Colombia and stay with her though.  Her coming to the US is a bit more complicated.

Everything thus far checks out but you never know there could be a man in Colombia waiting to slit my throat.

Welcome to the forum.  I hope you find that you are as taken by Colombia as you are by your Colombian girlfriend.
As one who has been spending 6 months a year in Colombia since 2017, and who has just been granted his resident visa my advice to you is:
Be patient in all things, do your due diligence!!!  Be prepared for some major cultural shocks and practice your spanish like a madman
Don’t commit to ANY major expenditures until you have spent at least 12, or better yet 18 months in Colombia.
Be aware that buying real estate or a car, or even renting an apartment in Colombia without a Cedula is difficult….but not impossible.  Like most places, if you throw enough $$$ at a problem you will probably find some sort of solution. 
Good luck, if you decide to check out Manizales, that’s where I hang my hat and I can’t recommend this area highly enough!

I am been immersed into the Latin American culture and been to Colombia a dozen times and use to married to a Colombian. How long have you known her and does she live in Colombia or Texas? Why do you feel you need to buy anything at this point? I would suggest renting a house in the area you may be thinking of buying and then seeing if you like it first. Think first before you make that type of commitment toward buying.

Exactly how I feel. Just rent man!!!

Marquezdl wrote:

Welcome to the forum.  I hope you find that you are as taken by Colombia as you are by your Colombian girlfriend.
As one who has been spending 6 months a year in Colombia since 2017, and who has just been granted his resident visa my advice to you is:
Be patient in all things, do your due diligence!!!  Be prepared for some major cultural shocks and practice your spanish like a madman
Don’t commit to ANY major expenditures until you have spent at least 12, or better yet 18 months in Colombia.
Be aware that buying real estate or a car, or even renting an apartment in Colombia without a Cedula is difficult….but not impossible.  Like most places, if you throw enough $$$ at a problem you will probably find some sort of solution. 
Good luck, if you decide to check out Manizales, that’s where I hang my hat and I can’t recommend this area highly enough!

Identification card so my US identification card is not good enough?

Decadude,  do you communicate in Spanish with your new gf? Dude have you dated other Latin women? I want to tell you something about the Colombian culture, the women are conditioned to use their bodies and language to seduce men. If you don’t speak Spanish then it is even harder to discern if these women are legit or simply trying to manipulate you. Take your time and you need to realize that you are in the drivers seat and that there are many many Colombian women out there that would be interested in you.

Casilatino wrote:

Decadude,  do you communicate in Spanish with your new gf? Dude have you dated other Latin women? I want to tell you something about the Colombian culture, the women are conditioned to use their bodies and language to seduce men. If you don’t speak Spanish then it is even harder to discern if these women are legit or simply trying to manipulate you. Take your time and you need to realize that you are in the drivers seat and that there are many many Colombian women out there that would be interested in you.

I am glad I found this forum she is very attractive but a lot of Colombian women are.  I am well off so I would be lying if I did not think that played a factor right now.

Is there a way that you can find out if someone is married in Colombia?

I would like to chat with you in whatsapp ***. I have a lot of experience with traveling to Latin America countries, about 50 trips and I speak fluent Spanish. Look me up.

decadude wrote:

Identification card so my US identification card is not good enough?

You will be carded at checkout in most businesses that are larger than a mom-n-pop grocery.  They will want to see your cédula or your passport.  The cédula or national ID will be granted to you shortly after you obtain a true visa -- not a tourist stamp.

Nobody gets to do most official stuff without a cédula.  Figure on obtaining it before getting national health insurance, driving a car, opening a savings account.

My cédula never leaves the house unless I am traveling out of town, going to the bank for a substantial withdrawal or expecting to encounter a government agent.  I take my laminated two-sided cédula copy with me .. and it is honored just about anywhere else I go.

I treat my passport in a similar way -- leaving it at home whenever possible and carrying a copy of the key pages instead.

cccmedia

I may want to start a new thread for this because this one is growing and I may be getting off topic from my original post.

I don't want to be taken advantage of from the best I can tell she seems genuine but you never know two dates and living together for a week.  I just want to make sure I have done everything I can to make sure I am not going on a ride.

Can someone tell me how can I look to see if someone is married in Colombia?

In the United States it is relatively easy, but in Colombia I have no clue and I cannot find a decent website online to search records.

You never mentioned your age and her age? A very important piece of information, Older younger only works so far. Many people in emerging countries take advantage of foreigners.I hope things work out for the best, love is hard to find and it is what keeps the world going on.

Wow .
That is just a prejudice .
If you think that about Colombian woman you should not live or want to live in Colombia

Why buy, I rent a nice 3 bedroom 2 bath with security in Funza for 250 usd a month. That is about 20 miles from Bogota. I never travel anywhere in Colombia after dark.

mchinese13 wrote:

Wow .
That is just a prejudice .
If you think that about Colombian woman you should not live or want to live in Colombia

I want to be clear here I am not the one who has said anything negative as far as Colombian women there has been some people on the thread that has though.

Me wanting to know how to check marriage records in Colombia is simply doing my due diligence.

We have gone on two dates and lived together for a week.  I will see her this weekend for another week.

To answer some of the other questions people are asking about age disparity etc yes there is an age gap, but she has not once asked me for money.  I have offered and given money but nothing crazy.  She knows I am well off yes and money will play a factor in any relationship I don't care what anyone says money matters most divorces are caused because of it.  The age gap between us is 15 years.  I am an extremely good judge of character and if she is faking liking me just to gouge money out of me then she should straight up win an Oscar.

I have her Facebook the profile shows single.  All I see is pictures of her and her daughter we both only have one child.  I have a daughter as well.  She is actually from La Virginia and even told me we cannot stay there because it is dangerous.  She said we could visit during the day but at night it would be a bad idea all around.

The crime statistics in Pereira seem very low.  She wants to stay in Cerritos because her mom is in La Virginia and staying in Pereira is further out.  If I cannot conduct business and work my 9 to 5 because the internet is too slow in Cerritos than I will undoubtedly have to stay in Pereira.

I am not fluent in Spanish and her not fluent in English but with our powers combined we have made it work also we occasionally dive on Google translate.  Texting I do the gentleman thing and convert everything to Spanish.

I would stay in the hotel Sonesta, it is very good and International.  Don't rent any cars, just take the hotel taxi everywhere, they are very good and reasonable in price and have air conditioning.  You don't need much money, just use ATM's.  There is a fair amount of crime in Pereira and it is worse now with 2 million Venezuelans living in Colombia.  There is a pretty good night life in Pereira lot's of restaurants, bars etc.  In the Sonesta you are out in the country with nothing to do.  Sonesta and Movich both use the same taxi service.

You should listen to everyone's cautionary tales - but of course realize that everyone's situation is different.  It could work out for you and for her, but it's just as likely not to work out.

You need to learn more about Colombia.  You do that by learning the language and making many visits, staying as long as you can and immersing yourself in the culture to try to understand it better.  Work on your Spanish always.  You can get familiar with many colombianismos which can help reveal the nature of the culture.  Here are some.  You can ask your potential pareja what they mean if you don't get them:

https://refranes.top/refranes-dichos-colombianos/https://lexicografiaunisalle.wordpress.com/https://adenamar.blogspot.com/p/dichos- … _7746.html

No need to get married.  If you stay together with her for as little as two years, it can be considered a common-law marriage, an unión marital de hecho, and she can be entitled automatically to half of what you have earned/bought since the relationship began.

Many Colombian women could win Oscars.  Ones like Sofía Vergara just skip the Oscars, it's too small-time for them to bother with...

You can find out some about internet in Pereira here, for one:

https://www.tucable.net/

They offer plans up to 100Mbps but no cost is given.  Other providers offer 8Mbps starting around 80,000 COP per month (just over $20 USD/month or so).  You can do a search for
colombia pereira internet
...and see other offerings.  Just insert a different city name to see others.  Whether you can actually get the speed promised and have reliable service availability may be another story...

When you marry in Colombia - or just shack up - you are still linking yourself to family which includes cousins and friends.  Make sure you get to know them as they can and most likely will play a large part in your relationship, whether you want them to or not.

As far as marriage records, try searching the Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil:

https://www.registraduria.gov.co/-Regis … onio-.htmlhttps://www.registraduria.gov.co/-Regis … onio-.html

Do a search for
colombia registro civil de matrimonio
...to see other links that may be helpful, including divorce records.  But for a common law marriage that may never have been registered, no records may exist.

In all things go slowly and with patience.  The payoff for both you and her can be a good one - but also you can both lose.  And always remember, you both have to be open and honest - but it's Colombia, so it's always better to no dar papaya.

OsageArcher wrote:

As far as marriage records, try searching the Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil:

https://www.registraduria.gov.co/-Regis … onio-.htmlhttps://www.registraduria.gov.co/-Regis … onio-.html

Do a search for
colombia registro civil de matrimonio
...to see other links that may be helpful, including divorce records.  But for a common law marriage that may never have been registered, no records may exist.

In all things go slowly and with patience.  The payoff for both you and her can be a good one - but also you can both lose.  And always remember, you both have to be open and honest - but it's Colombia, so it's always better to no dar papaya.

I do not see a place where I can search marriages by anything on that website but thanks for the heads up on all the information.  It seems the consensus is a lot of negative cogitation.  Most say Colombian women will mainly use you for money.  Colombia is dangerous.  Cerritos internet is going to be too slow for work and business, but we want to live close to La Virginia.  I like this girl but gez man this is a bit overwhelming.

hey dacadude you have a Facebook page?
I would like to chat with you or you can email me ***

I know exactly how overwhelming it can feel to hear all this I think I can offer some advice based on my experience.

Regarding car rentals, I rent fairly frequently from Localiza (hertz affiliate) and i have been quite pleased, although the rates have jumped 50% in the past year.  I always get the total coverage insurance package and I try very hard to stay mellow and relaxed.  Colombian traffic can be downright hazardous, particularly the behavior of the motos.  An international DL is not required but I thing its a good idea, just in case.
Localiza has a phone app and the best rates are to be had by using the app.

Colombian city traffic is total chaos, you could not pay me to drive there.  The main risk is not just a collision which can be handled with money and insurance, the reason I do not drive is I do not want to be the gringo involved in a car accident where somebody is killed, Colombian jails would be a very unpleasant place to live in.

Pack your patience and take it slow. Enjoy your time with your Sweetheart and get to know each other better. I've know my fiancee 4 years come November and I'm flying to Cali next month to spend a couple of weeks with her and hopefully bring her back with  me to the US. Thank goodness we were patient and eventually she was granted a visa to travel to the United States. Best of luck to you and your Sweetheart!