How to Get a Business Visa in Colombia
Owning a business serves as a path to residency, and before that, a visa.
Specifically, that’s a business visa in Colombia.
A friend and I were talking about it after I wrote last month about my experience getting a work visa.
On this website, we’ve already told you about work visas (twice), tourist visas, resident visas and student visas because, let’s face it, Colombia is a great place to be, especially Medellín, which last month received some pretty prestigious recognition.
The first was an award for 2012 City of the Year, after Citibank, the Urban Land Insitute and the Wall Street Journal created a competition to determine the world’s most innovative city.
Two weeks later, Yahoo! Finance named Medellín the No. 1 place in the world to retire outside the United States.
Interested? Ok. Here’s how a business visa works:
You acquire one to give yourself a year to explore business opportunities in Colombia, or if you’re ready, to open your business as soon as possible.
It could be a club, a restaurant, almost anything you want.
Here’s what you need to get the visa:
1) Valid Passport (for at least 3 months) with available blank pages.
2) 2 photocopies of passport page containing personal information.
3) 2 photocopies of passport page showing last arrival to Colombia.
4) 3 recent color photos, 3 x 3 cms, white background.
5) US $220 payable in pesos with Visa Card or cash deposit. Exchange rate: $1.810.
6) 2 Original visa application forms, filled and duly signed.
7) A letter from the entity within the national territory that promotes the visit of the foreign citizen, stating that the company is responsible for all expenses of this person while he/she is in the country.
8) Certificate of existence and representation of company providing letter of invitation.
9) Form 066 DAS.
10) Copy of last visa and ID, if necessary.
You can take your paperwork to any Colombian Consulate abroad, or the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores in Bogotá.
Check online for the office hours and addresses of consulates near you. Typically, consulates are open from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, and located in capital cities.
The office of the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores is open from 7:30 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday, Avenida 19 #98-03, Edificio Torre 100, third floor.
For help with your Business Visa, contact Adriana Gonzalez, a lawyer who specializes in Visas of all types, at (+57) 301 252 6097 or fragoto@hotmail.com.
