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Colombia’s digital nomad visa: requirements and how to apply

Colombia’s digital nomad visa is a visitor (V) visa that lets you live in Colombia for up to two years while working remotely for companies outside the country. In 2026 you need bank statements showing income of at least three Colombian minimum wages, COP 5,252,715 a month (about USD 1,660), for the last three months, health insurance and a passport from a country whose citizens don’t need a visa for short visits. It costs USD 194, the authority has 30 days to decide once your file is complete, and it doesn’t count towards permanent residence.

The rest of Legaltica is in Spanish.

Legaltica editorial team
12 FIRMS
7 OFFICIAL SOURCES

THE GUIDE · FULL READ

Which route fits you

01 You work remotely for a foreign employer or foreign clients and want to stay more than six months digital nomad visa.
02 You only want to spend three to six months in Colombia if your passport is visa-exempt, you can enter without a visa and work remotely for up to 90 days, extendable to 180 in a calendar year.
03 Your passport isn’t from a visa-exempt country this visa isn’t open to you; look at other visitor or migrant visas.
04 You want to invoice Colombian clients or work for a Colombian company you need a work-related visa, not this one.
05 You live on investment or rental income rather than work the rentista visa, with 10 minimum wages a month.
06 You want to settle and eventually become a permanent resident a migrant (M) visa, because time on this visa doesn’t count.
07 You are starting a digital content or tech business of interest to Colombia the same visa covers entrepreneurs, with a motivation letter.

Who it is for

The visa covers people who work remotely or telework from Colombia, through digital means, exclusively for foreign companies, either as employees or as freelancers, and people who want to start a digital content or information-technology business that is of interest to Colombia.

There is one condition that rules many people out: your passport must be from a country or territory that Colombia exempts from visas for short stays. The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and France are on that list today, but it is set by a Cancillería resolution (Resolución 5488 de 2022, last amended in 2026) and can change, so check it for your nationality before you start. If you have two nationalities, apply with the exempt one and use it consistently: a visa issued on one passport can’t be transferred to the other.

Immigration lawyers in Colombia who speak English

Tell a firm about your situation in English: they receive your message and your phone number, and you see theirs straight away. It’s free and you’re not committing to anything. Languages are taken from each firm’s profile. Firms marked “Registered with Legaltica” manage their own profile.

  1. Registered with Legaltica

    CITY
    Cajicá
    LANGUAGES
    DE · EN · ES · FR · IT · PT

    Abogados Sierra & Vasquez - Bufete Judicial Colombia

    5.0 · 25 Google Speaks English

    En Sierra & Vásquez Abogados — Bufete Judicial Colombia brindamos soluciones jurídicas especializadas y representación legal estratégica. Ubicados en el Centro Empresarial Sabana Park (Oficina 412, Cajicá), nuestra firma se distingue por su rigor técnico, absoluta confidencialidad y eficacia en la resolución de conflictos. Asesoramos a corporaciones y personas naturales mediante un enfoque multidisciplinario en las siguientes áreas de práctica: …

  2. Registered with Legaltica

    LANGUAGES
    ES · EN

    Mi Visa Colombia

    Speaks English

    Mi Visa Colombia es una firma jurídica especializada en derecho migratorio colombiano que ayuda a extranjeros, expatriados, familias, emprendedores, inversionistas, nómadas digitales y empresas internacionales a gestionar sus procesos migratorios en Colombia. Si buscas una visa colombiana, un abogado de inmigración en Colombia, obtener la residencia en el país o servicios profesionales para expatriados, nuestro equipo te brinda asesoría jurídica …

  3. CITY
    Bogotá
    LANGUAGES
    ES · EN · FR

    CALEC

    4.9 · 212 Google Speaks English

    CALEC ABOGADOS (fundada en 2015) ofrece en Bogotá y Ciudad de Panamá asesoría legal empresarial especializada para startups y empresas que escalan en LATAM. Sus servicios incluyen Movilidad Global (visas y permisos de trabajo), Asesoría Legal Empresarial (contratos, derecho laboral y societario, due diligence, gobierno corporativo), registro de marcas y protección de datos. La firma trabaja por paquetes de horas …

The requirements

  • Passport: valid for at least six more months, in good condition and with blank pages, plus a copy of the biographical page.
  • Employer or client letter: in Spanish or English from the foreign company (or companies) you work for, stating the type of relationship and how you are paid. If you have a contract, attach it. If you own or co-own a company abroad, prove it and include a letter saying you work for it remotely.
  • Entrepreneurs: a motivation letter explaining the project and the financial and human resources you have or expect to have.
  • Income: bank statements showing income of at least three monthly minimum wages (3 SMMLV) during the last three months.
  • Health insurance: valid in Colombia for the whole stay, covering accident, illness, maternity, disability, hospitalisation, death and repatriation.
  • Form and photo: the online application form and a recent colour digital photo on a white background (under 300 KB).
  • If you apply from inside Colombia: the page with your latest entry stamp or the entry permit issued by Migración Colombia.

How much you need to earn in 2026

The threshold is three times Colombia’s legal monthly minimum wage (salario mínimo legal mensual vigente, SMMLV). The 2026 minimum wage is COP 1,750,905, so you need at least COP 5,252,715 a month. At the official exchange rate of 24 October 2026 (COP 3,158.43 per US dollar) that is about USD 1,663, or roughly EUR 1,486.

A worked example: a software tester paid USD 1,800 a month by a US company earns COP 5,685,174 at today’s rate, 8% above the threshold. A designer on USD 1,600 a month earns COP 5,053,488 and falls short, even though she would have qualified with a weaker peso. Freelancers with irregular invoices should look at what actually landed in their account in each of the last three months, not at annual income divided by twelve.

A note on the 2026 minimum wage: the decree that set it (Decreto 1469 de 2025) was challenged before the Consejo de Estado, which suspended it in February 2026. The Government then fixed the same amount provisionally (Decreto 0159 de 2026), and the official compilation records that the suspension was later lifted. The amount has been the same throughout, but the annulment case is still open. The minimum wage also changes every January, and applications are assessed against the figure in force when you file.

Documents: apostille, translation and dates

Documents issued abroad must be apostilled (or legalised, if the issuing country isn’t part of the Apostille Convention) and come with an official translation into Spanish. Bank statements are the exception: they can be filed without apostille or translation if they are in one of the official languages of the Organization of American States, which includes English, and are easy to read. The employer letter can also be in English.

Every supporting document other than your passport must have been issued no more than three months before you file the application. An old letter from your employer is one of the most common reasons for a request for more documents. Marriage and birth certificates for family members do need an apostille and translation.

How long it takes: step by step

  1. Online application: fill in the form on the Cancillería visa platform and upload every document as a PDF. If you are outside Colombia, you apply to the consulate covering the country where you legally live; if you are in Colombia legally, you choose the Bogotá office.
  2. Study fee: pay within 10 calendar days of receiving the payment reference. If you don’t, the application is treated as withdrawn. It is not refunded if the visa is refused.
  3. Decision: the authority has up to 30 calendar days once the file is complete and paid, longer if it has to consult other agencies. It can ask for missing documents up to three times, usually with 10 days to reply, or call you for an interview.
  4. Issuance fee: if the visa is approved, pay within 10 calendar days. The electronic visa reaches your email within 10 business days of payment.
  5. Cédula de extranjería: register with Migración Colombia and apply for your foreigner ID card within 15 calendar days of arriving, or of the visa being issued if you were already in Colombia.

Adding up the legal deadlines, plan on six to eight weeks from paying the study fee to holding the e-visa, and about two and a half months if the authority asks for more documents.

Fees in 2026

USD 56 Visa study stage(EUR 44 in the eurozone).
USD 138 Visa issuance stage(EUR 106). Total USD 194 or EUR 150; Spanish nationals pay nothing, Japanese and South Korean nationals only the study stage.
COP 294,000 Cédula de extranjería(about USD 93).
· Stamp duty, apostilles, translations and health insurance come on top.

What the visa allows, and what it doesn’t

  • It lasts up to two years and allows multiple entries.
  • Your spouse or permanent partner and your financially dependent children under 25 can apply as your beneficiaries; you must show income to support them, with six months of bank statement averages or an employment certificate. Beneficiaries can’t work in Colombia.
  • You may not work for, or be paid by, a person or company based in Colombia.
  • It is a visitor visa: time spent on it does not count towards a resident (R) visa or towards Colombian citizenship. If you want to settle, look at the migrant (M) visas instead.
  • Visa-exempt nationals planning a short stay can enter without a visa and work remotely for up to 90 days, extendable to 180 days in a calendar year, as long as no Colombian company pays them.
  • When the visa ends you need a new one; each application is assessed afresh.

Where applications go wrong

  • Income that doesn’t appear in your own bank statements, or statements that don’t cover three full months.
  • Income that falls below the threshold once converted to pesos.
  • Travel insurance that excludes some of the risks Colombia requires, or that doesn’t cover the whole stay.
  • A letter that doesn’t say what kind of relationship you have with the company or how you are paid.
  • Supporting documents more than three months old, or foreign civil documents without apostille or translation.
  • Planning to invoice Colombian clients: this visa doesn’t allow it.
  • Applying from inside Colombia after your permitted stay has run out: you must stay in a regular situation while your application is being studied.
  • Missing the 15-day deadline for the cédula de extranjería after you arrive: it is fined.

If your application is refused

Colombian visa decisions can’t be appealed. If the application is rejected (inadmitida), for instance because you didn’t answer a request in time, you can file a new, corrected one. If it is refused (negada), you are told by email without reasons, you must leave Colombia within 30 calendar days if you are there, you can’t apply again for six months, and the next application must be filed from your country of nationality or legal residence. That is why it pays to get the income proof and insurance right the first time.

When it is worth talking to a lawyer

Many people apply on their own. Because a refusal can’t be appealed and blocks you for six months, a lawyer is worth it when the file isn’t straightforward:

Your income comes from several clients or countries, or is close to the threshold.

You were refused before, overstayed or have a fine from Migración Colombia.

You want to bring a partner or children, especially from a previous relationship.

You are thinking about staying for good and need to choose between this visa and a migrant visa from the start.

You have Colombian clients or plan to set up a company in Colombia. The firms below say they speak English.

Talk to a lawyer who speaks English

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Immigration lawyers in Colombia who speak English

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Frequently asked questions

Yes. It is the V digital nomad visa created by Resolución 5477 de 2022. It lasts up to two years and requires remote work for foreign companies, income of three minimum wages a month (about USD 1,660 in 2026) and a passport from a visa-exempt country.

Yes, if you entered legally and your permitted stay hasn’t run out. You apply online and choose the Bogotá office instead of a consulate. Make sure your stay remains regular for as long as the application is being studied.

Up to two years, with multiple entries. When it ends you need a new visa; the time doesn’t count towards residence.

The authority has up to 30 calendar days once your file is complete and paid. With the payment and issuance steps, plan on six to eight weeks, or longer if they ask for more documents.

The rule asks the main applicant to show at least three minimum wages a month. For beneficiaries, the main applicant must show enough income to support them, through bank statement averages for the last six months or an employment certificate.

No. The visa only allows remote work for companies outside Colombia. To work for a Colombian employer or client you need a different visa.

Yes. Holders of visas longer than three months must register with Migración Colombia and get the card within 15 calendar days of arriving or of the visa being issued in Colombia. It costs COP 294,000 in 2026.

No. It is a visitor visa, and time on it doesn’t count towards the resident (R) visa or citizenship. For that you need a migrant (M) visa, such as spouse, pensioner, investor or worker.

Official sources

Resolución 5477 de 2022 (tipos de visa), arts. 3, 8, 11-13, 20-21, 24, 29, 32, 46, 93 y 97-101, compilada con sus modificaciones Cancillería de Colombia · checked
Resolución 5488 de 2022 (nacionalidades exentas de visa de corta estancia), modificada por la Resolución 12189 de 2026 Cancillería de Colombia · checked
Resolución 3969 de 2026, art. 4 (tarifas de visa) Cancillería de Colombia · checked
Decreto 1469 de 2025 (salario mínimo 2026) Cancillería de Colombia, compilación jurídica · checked
Decreto 0159 de 2026 (salario mínimo transitorio y nota de vigencia) Cancillería de Colombia, compilación jurídica · checked
Cédula de extranjería Migración Colombia · checked
Tasa de cambio representativa del mercado (TRM), 24-10-2026 Superintendencia Financiera, datos.gov.co · checked

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules and amounts change: check the official sources below or ask a lawyer about your own situation.