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Visas in Cartagena

Digital nomad visa
Yes

Visa V – Nómadas Digitales

Overall7/10Easier visas than about 75% of cities

Good to know

Good to Know

  • Book your Check-Mig pre-registration (free, via Migración Colombia) between 1 and 72 hours before your flight — airlines commonly ask to see confirmation at check-in.
  • Most nomads from the US, Canada, UK, EU, and Australia get 90 days on arrival, extendable once for a combined 180 days per calendar year — plan any extension application well before your stamp expires rather than waiting until the last days.
  • The tourist entry permit does not legally authorize paid local work; if you're earning from foreign clients while living in Cartagena long-term, the Digital Nomad Visa is the category actually designed for that situation.
  • Canadian citizens should budget for a reciprocity entry fee charged on arrival, in addition to normal entry requirements.
  • Frequent short 'visa run' border crossings to reset the 90-day clock are increasingly scrutinized by Migración Colombia and can lead to entry refusal — the 180-day annual cap applies regardless of how many times you exit and re-enter.
  • The Cancillería does not average income across months — each of the last 3 months' personal bank statements must individually clear the threshold, so apply with a real buffer above the minimum.
  • Only personal bank statements count as income proof; business/corporate account statements, invoices, tax returns, or payroll stubs alone are typically rejected.
  • This is a Visitor (V) visa — even after 2 years on it, none of that time counts toward Colombian permanent residency or citizenship.
  • You become a Colombian tax resident purely by day-count (183+ days in any rolling 365-day period) — holding the digital nomad visa does not protect you from this, and it applies the same way to tourists.
  • There is no US–Colombia tax treaty, so American nomads who trigger Colombian tax residency should plan for potential exposure in both countries and get cross-border tax advice in advance.
  • The 2026 minimum-wage figure underlying the income threshold was briefly suspended by Colombia's highest administrative court and then reinstated by a transitional decree — the exact peso threshold could still shift again this year.

Pre Arrival Process

Check Mig Form
All travelers must complete the free Check-Mig online pre-registration form through Migración Colombia between 1 and 72 hours before their flight to or from Colombia; airlines and border officers routinely check for it.

Entry Documents Typically Requested

  • Passport valid at least 6 months
  • Return/onward ticket
  • Accommodation address/contact number in Colombia
  • Proof of sufficient funds (at officer discretion)

Overstay Penalty Example

Notes
Fines are calculated using Colombia's Tax Value Unit (UVT, COP 52,374 for 2026) and scale with the number of days overstayed; exceeding the 180-day annual cap can lead to deportation and a temporary re-entry ban.

Fine Range Minor Infraction

Amount Local Low
COP 1,377,960
Amount Local High
COP 11,024,727

Special Fees By Nationality

Canada

Entry Fee
COP 256,000
Note
Canadian citizens must pay a reciprocity entry fee on arrival, waived for travelers under 14 or over 79.

Days Allowed

Extension Process
Extension is called the Permiso Temporal para Prorrogar Permanencia (PTP); it must be requested online through Migración Colombia, generally 10-30 days before the original permit expires, and typically takes 1-5 business days to process.
Initial Stamp Days
90
Max Total Days Per Calendar Year
180
Notes
This is a single extension of up to 90 additional days on top of the initial 90, for a combined maximum of 180 days within one calendar year (year resets January 1). The exact minimum advance-notice window (10, 15, or 30 days depending on source) varies slightly by source.

Baseline Rule

Colombia operates a broad visa-exemption regime for tourism and short business visits, covering most Western passport holders as the default baseline for nomads arriving without a prior visa.

Who Qualifies

Citizens of the US, Canada, the UK, all EU member states, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and most Latin American countries qualify for visa-free entry, among roughly 90-100+ exempt countries/territories total (source counts vary between ~90 and 102).

Official Sources

Work Restriction

Visa-free entry does not authorize paid work in Colombia; remote workers earning from foreign clients/employers are technically expected to use the Digital Nomad Visa (V-DN / V-TP-11) category rather than relying on tourist entry, though many short-stay remote workers do use the tourist permit informally.

Conditional Exemptions

Nationals of a separate list of countries (e.g. China, India, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Myanmar, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam) can also enter visa-free if they hold a valid U.S. visa or Schengen visa (or U.S./Schengen residence permit) with at least 180 days of remaining validity at time of entry.

Digital Nomad Visa And Tax

Visa Name
Visa V – Nómadas Digitales (Type V Visitor Visa, Digital Nomad category)
Legal Basis
Resolución 5477 de 2022, Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Cancillería)
Visa Ease Tier
moderate
Application Path
Application is submitted entirely online through the Cancillería's visa portal (select Visa Tipo V, activity 'Nómadas Digitales'). Documents not in Spanish, English, French or Portuguese must be translated, and certain corporate/civil documents apostilled. Official decision window is stated as up to 30 calendar days, though real-world processing commonly runs 2–6 weeks. After approval, holders must register with Migración Colombia and obtain a Cédula de Extranjería, generally within 15 days of arrival.
Validity And Renewal
Granted for up to 2 years at the discretion of the Cancillería; the exact validity period is not guaranteed to be the full 2 years and is tied to the length of the health insurance policy submitted. It is a Visitor (V) category, so time held on it does not count toward permanent residency or citizenship. Renewal follows the same application process (fresh income documentation, health insurance, background checks) rather than a simplified extension track. The visa is cancelled if the holder is absent from Colombia for more than 6 consecutive months, and it strictly prohibits paid work for Colombian companies or clients — income must remain entirely foreign-sourced.
Visa Ease Tier Rationale
Colombia offers a genuine, clearly-defined digital nomad visa path with an achievable income bar (~3× minimum wage) and a generous baseline visa-free tourist stay for most Western passports, but 2025–2026 reporting points to tightening discretionary review, a strict no-averaging bank-statement rule, heavy documentation/apostille burden, no route to permanent residency from this visa category, and an automatic 183-day worldwide-income tax-residency trap that applies regardless of visa status.

Tax Notes

Registration
Foreign nationals who cross into tax residency must register with DIAN, obtain a NIT/RUT, and file an annual return declaring worldwide income and foreign assets.
Special Regime
The digital nomad visa itself carries no special tax regime or exemption — Colombia's tax authority (DIAN) applies the same day-count presence test to every visa type, including this one.
Tax Residency Trigger
An individual becomes a Colombian tax resident upon spending 183 or more days in Colombia within any rolling 365-day period (not necessarily consecutive, and not necessarily the calendar year).
Consequence Of Residency
Tax residents are taxed on worldwide income under Colombia's progressive UVT-based system; non-residents are taxed only on Colombian-source income, generally at a flat 35% rate. Most nomads earning purely from foreign clients owe little or nothing on Colombian-source income if they stay under the 183-day line.
US Specific Note
Colombia and the United States have no bilateral double-taxation treaty as of 2026, which can create real double-taxation exposure for US citizens who become Colombian tax residents.

Government Fees

Study Fee
COP 178,200
Issuance Fee Approx
COP 660,000

Documents Required

  • Valid passport (at least 6 months' remaining validity) from a nationality exempt from short-stay visas for Colombia
  • Passport-style photo (white background, taken within last 6 months)
  • Letter from foreign employer/client(s) or a motivational letter (for entrepreneurs) describing the remote work arrangement, in Spanish or English
  • Personal bank statements (not business account statements, payroll stubs, or invoices) for the last 3 months showing income individually above the threshold each month
  • Criminal record certificate from country of citizenship/residence (apostilled and translated); US applicants are typically asked for an FBI background check valid only 3 months
  • All-risk health insurance policy covering the full requested visa duration, including accident, illness, hospitalization, and repatriation
  • Proof of accommodation/address in Colombia

Income Requirement

Rule
Applicants must show net monthly income of at least three times Colombia's minimum monthly wage (SMMLV), verified via personal bank statements for the last 3 months, with no averaging allowed — each month must individually clear the threshold.
Amount 2026
COP 5,252,715
Notes
The threshold moves each year with the SMMLV. For 2026 the government set the minimum wage at COP 1,750,905/month, but Colombia's Council of State provisionally suspended that wage decree in February 2026 over a procedural dispute; a transitional decree issued days later kept the same figure, so the visa income threshold is currently unchanged but sits on a legally provisional footing.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026

This section has no cited sources.

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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.