Home/Immigration law/Digital nomad visa
Type V visa · Remote work
The Colombia
digital nomad visa
It lets you live in Colombia while working remotely for companies or clients abroad. It sits in Resolution 5477 of 2022 and is granted for up to two years. Here is what it requires, how the process runs and — above all — what gets it refused.
Who this visa is for
The category exists for people who earn their income outside Colombia and want to live inside it. Everything else follows from that: if the money comes from a Colombian source, this is not your visa.
It fits if…
- You work remotely for a foreign company, as an employee or a contractor
- You provide services independently to clients outside Colombia
- You are building a digital or technology venture of interest to the country
- Your passport is from a country that does not need a short-stay visa for Colombia
It does not fit if…
- You will work for a Colombian company or serve clients in Colombia
- You want to build time toward residency: this is a V visa, and that time does not count toward the R visa
- Your income falls below the threshold in any single month, even if the average clears it
- Your tie to Colombia is family or investment: there are other categories, usually better ones
What the rule asks for
Requirements
The list is short. The difficulty is not gathering the documents — it is making them say exactly what the authority needs to read.
- A valid passport from a country that does not require a short-stay visa for Colombia, with enough validity and free pages.
- A letter from your employer or clients, or the contracts, stating that the relationship is remote work and that the counterparty is domiciled outside Colombia.
- Monthly income of at least three Colombian legal minimum monthly wages, evidenced by bank statements for the recent months. The peso figure is adjusted every year with the minimum wage.
- All-risk health insurance covering Colombia, for the whole period requested and with the scope of coverage the rule demands.
- A motivation letter explaining your activity. For digital ventures, also a description of the project and the resources behind it.
- Translated and apostilled documents when they come from a non-Spanish-speaking country, as the authority requires in each case.
The income threshold is not averaged. It is checked month by month: a single month below the line is grounds for refusal, however strong the others look.
How it works
The process, step by step
It runs entirely online, through the Foreign Ministry's procedures portal. You can file from abroad or from inside Colombia, as long as your current stay is regular.
Case review first
Before touching the form, we check what can sink the application: passport nationality, whether income clears the threshold every month, and whether the working relationship can be documented as remote and foreign.
Building the file
We gather the evidence and, where needed, ask for corrected versions. An employment letter that does not say «remote», or a policy that does not name Colombia, gets fixed now — not when the request for information arrives.
Filing and study fee
We open the portal account, complete the type V — Digital Nomads form and upload the documents as PDFs. The study fee is paid on filing.
Review and requests
The authority reviews and may ask for additional documents or call an interview. The rule allows it to do so up to three times; if the applicant does not produce what was asked, the file is decided on what is there.
Decision and issuance
Once approved, you pay the issuance fee and the visa arrives by email as a PDF. It is electronic now: no sticker is placed in the passport.
Registration and foreigner ID
The cédula de extranjería is required for holders of visas valid for more than three months. It is a separate procedure, before Migración Colombia, with its own deadline.
There are two separate payments: the study fee, paid on filing and not refunded if the visa is refused, and the issuance fee, paid only on approval. Both are set by the Foreign Ministry and change from year to year.
What we see in the refusals that reach us
The five mistakes
that sink it
Almost none of the refusals we have reviewed came from an applicant who did not qualify. They came from a file that did not prove they qualified.
The employment letter does not say «remote»
If the document describes an on-site role, or simply does not state the arrangement, the authority has no way to treat the legal requirement as proven. It is the most common cause and the easiest to avoid.
Income gets averaged
Three good months and one weak one do not produce an average — they produce one month below the threshold. When income is variable, you have to plan which month the window starts.
The insurance policy, the document sent back most often
Having good international cover is not enough. Its conditions — territorial scope, included coverages and period — are checked one by one against the rule, and one mismatch is enough. It generates more requests for information than any other document.
A Colombian client shows up
A single payment from a company domiciled in Colombia inside your statements contradicts the basis of the category. If that relationship exists, the conversation is a different one: some categories do allow it.
Documents neither translated nor apostilled
Evidence from a non-Spanish-speaking country, filed in its original language or without the proper legalisation. It gets sent back, and the lost time is rarely recovered.
Our role
What we do
We do not fill in forms: we build the file that holds the application up. The difference shows in hard cases, which are the ones that usually reach a firm.
- We assess whether this is the right category. Sometimes it is not, and saying so early saves a study fee and several months.
- We check every document against the rule and ask for corrections before filing, not after the request for information.
- We file and follow the case through to the decision, answering requests within the deadline.
- We handle registration and the foreigner ID card once the visa is issued.
- If it is refused, we work out what comes next — which is not an appeal, because the rule does not allow one, but a different strategy.
What the first consultation settles
The requirements above are public. What reading cannot settle are the decisions — they depend on your case, and they are what ends up deciding the outcome:
- Whether this is the right category for you, or whether another fits better.
- When income is variable, which month the evidence window should start.
- Whether to ask for one year or two, and what evidence supports each.
- How to document a working relationship that is not currently described as remote.
- If there is already a refusal, what room is left and where you must file from.
The first consultation is free. It produces an honest read on viability and a fixed fee proposal before any work starts.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask us most
How long is the visa granted for?
Up to two years. «Up to» is the operative phrase: the authority sets the validity case by case and does not always grant the maximum, particularly on a first application. The length of your work contract and of your health policy both weigh on that decision.
Can I work with Colombian clients or companies?
No. The visa does not authorise paid activity with people or companies domiciled in Colombia. If that work is part of your plan, look at another category from the start: doing it on this visa puts your immigration status at risk.
Does time on this visa count toward residency?
No. This is a type V visitor visa, and only M visas accumulate time toward the R residency visa. It is one of the most expensive misunderstandings we see: two comfortable years, and no progress at all toward residency.
Can I bring my partner and children?
Yes. The holder can apply for beneficiary visas: spouse or permanent partner and children up to 25 years of age, or a child with a physical or mental disability with no such limit, provided they are financially dependent on the holder. Beneficiary visas are tied to the holder's validity.
Can I apply while already in Colombia?
Yes, as long as your current stay is regular. The process is online and does not require leaving the country. What is worth checking first is how much time your current permit has left — filing close to the deadline leaves no room to answer a request for information.
Will the visa be stamped in my passport?
No. The Colombian visa is electronic: it is issued as a PDF and sent to your registered email. That document is what you present, together with your passport, to the immigration authorities.
Do I need a foreigner ID card?
The cédula de extranjería is issued to holders — and beneficiaries — of visas valid for more than three months. It is handled by Migración Colombia, separately from the visa, and missing the deadline carries a financial penalty.
What happens if it is refused?
There is no administrative appeal against a visa refusal: article 100 of Resolution 5477 of 2022 says so expressly, on the basis of the State's discretionary power. Anyone refused must leave the country within thirty calendar days and cannot file a new application for six months — and that new application has to be filed from their country of nationality or permanent residence.
Does your case fit?
Tell us your situation and we will say plainly whether this is the right category for you. The first consultation is free.
Immigration law
Other procedures
This content is general and informational. It is not legal advice for your particular case and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Requirements, deadlines and fees are set by the competent authorities and may change; amounts tied to the Colombian minimum wage are adjusted every year. Before making a decision, check the current rule or talk to us. Más información en el legal notice.