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Colombia’s retirement visa (M pensioner): requirements and how to apply

Colombia’s retirement visa is the migrant (M) pensioner visa: it lets you live in Colombia for up to three years at a time if you receive a lifetime pension of at least three Colombian minimum wages. In 2026 that is COP 5,252,715 a month, about USD 1,660, and you also need a criminal record check covering the last three years, a medical certificate and health cover. It costs USD 260, doesn’t allow you to work, and after five continuous years on M visas you can apply for permanent residence.

The rest of Legaltica is in Spanish.

Legaltica editorial team
12 FIRMS
6 OFFICIAL SOURCES

THE GUIDE · FULL READ

Which route fits you

01 You receive a lifetime state or private pension of at least about USD 1,660 a month M pensioner visa.
02 Your pension is lower, but you are married to a Colombian the M spouse visa has no income threshold and leads to residence in three years.
03 You have no pension but live on investments or rents of at least 10 minimum wages (about USD 5,540 a month) V rentista visa, which doesn’t count towards residence.
04 You are buying property worth at least 350 minimum wages (about USD 194,000) the M investor visa may suit you better, and it also leads to residence.
05 You want to spend only the northern winter in Colombia if your passport is visa-exempt, up to 180 days a year without a visa.
06 You are an Argentine, Brazilian, Peruvian or Ecuadorian retiree the M Mercosur or M Andean visa is simpler and leads to residence in two years.

Who qualifies

The visa is for foreigners who receive a constant monthly income from a pension paid by a State or by a private pension fund. The certificate has to show that the pension is for life: temporary income, an annuity that ends, rental income or savings don’t count for this category.

If you have investments or rental income but no pension, the closest option is the rentista visa, a visitor (V) visa that requires a periodic income of at least ten minimum wages (COP 17,509,050 a month in 2026, about USD 5,540). It lasts up to two years, doesn’t allow work and, being a visitor visa, doesn’t count towards permanent residence.

Immigration lawyers in Colombia who speak English

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    Abogados Sierra & Vasquez - Bufete Judicial Colombia

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    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: …

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    Mi Visa Colombia

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    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 …

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The requirements

  • Pension certificate: confirms that you are paid a lifetime monthly pension of at least three monthly minimum wages, issued by the competent authority and apostilled and officially translated into Spanish, or issued by the embassy or consulate of the country that pays the pension.
  • Criminal record certificate: from the authorities of every country where you have lived in the last three years, apostilled (or legalised) and officially translated.
  • Medical certificate: of physical and mental fitness, issued by a Colombian doctor or by the health authority of your home country.
  • Health cover: Colombian health cover, or a health insurance policy valid in Colombia for your whole stay covering accident, illness, maternity, disability, hospitalisation, death and repatriation.
  • General requirements: the online form, a digital photo on a white background, a passport valid for at least six months with blank pages and, if you apply from inside Colombia, proof of your legal entry.

How much pension you need in 2026

The threshold is three times Colombia’s legal monthly minimum wage (SMMLV). The 2026 minimum wage is COP 1,750,905, so your pension must be at least COP 5,252,715 a month: about USD 1,663, or roughly EUR 1,486, at the official exchange rate of 24 October 2026 (COP 3,158.43 per dollar).

A worked example: a pension of USD 1,700 a month is COP 5,369,331 today, just 2% above the line. If the peso strengthens to COP 3,050 per dollar, the same pension is worth COP 5,185,000 and no longer qualifies, and the minimum wage goes up every January. A couple with USD 2,100 has a comfortable 26% margin. If you are near the line, file when the exchange rate gives you room, and check whether a second pension, such as a private plan paying for life, can be added with its own certificate.

The 2026 minimum wage has been the subject of an annulment case before the Consejo de Estado. The decree that set it was suspended in February 2026, the same amount was then fixed provisionally, and the official compilation records that the suspension was later lifted. The figure hasn’t changed, but the amount that counts is the one in force on the day you apply.

Documents: apostille, translation and dates

Every document issued abroad needs an apostille (or consular legalisation if the country isn’t part of the Apostille Convention) and an official translation into Spanish. All supporting documents except your passport must be less than three months old when you file, which is the trap for retirees who gather their papers months in advance. Bank statements can be filed in English without an apostille. For a US pension, ask the payer for a benefit letter that states the monthly amount and that it is paid for life, and have it apostilled by the competent authority.

How long it takes: step by step

  1. Online application on the Cancillería visa platform, uploading each document as a PDF. From abroad, it goes to the consulate that covers the country where you legally live; if you are in Colombia legally, choose the Bogotá office.
  2. Study fee: pay within 10 calendar days. It isn’t refunded if the visa is refused.
  3. Decision: up to 30 calendar days from the moment your file is complete and paid. The authority can ask for missing documents up to three times, usually with 10 days to reply, or call you for an interview.
  4. Issuance fee: pay within 10 calendar days of approval; the e-visa reaches your email within 10 business days.
  5. Cédula de extranjería: within 15 calendar days of arriving in Colombia (or of the visa being issued, if you were already there), apply to Migración Colombia for your foreigner ID card.

With the legal deadlines added up, plan on six to eight weeks from paying the study fee, more if documents are requested.

Fees in 2026

USD 260 M visa(USD 56 for the study stage and USD 204 for issuance), or EUR 200 when you apply in the eurozone.
· Spanish nationals don’t pay; Japanese and South Korean nationals only pay the study stage.
COP 294,000 Cédula de extranjería(about USD 93) per person aged 7 or over.
· Stamp duty, apostilles, official translations and health insurance come on top.

What the visa allows

  • It is valid for up to three years and allows multiple entries.
  • It does not allow you to work in Colombia, and it doesn’t let you join the Colombian social security system unless a bilateral or multilateral agreement says otherwise.
  • Your spouse or permanent partner and your financially dependent children under 25 can come with you as beneficiaries. You must show you can support them with six months of bank statement averages or an income certificate. Beneficiaries can’t work.
  • Watch the time you spend abroad: an M visa lapses automatically if you are away from Colombia for more than 180 continuous days within any 365-day period. Long summers in the US or Europe are the classic way retirees lose their visa.
  • After five years as a holder of M visas, you can apply for a resident (R) visa, Colombia’s permanent residence. The time only counts if it is continuous: each new visa must be granted before the previous one expires. Even as a resident, a pensioner doesn’t get the open work permit that other residents have.

Where applications go wrong

  • A pension statement that doesn’t say the pension is for life, or a pension that, converted into pesos, ends up below three minimum wages.
  • Pension letters, criminal record checks or medical certificates more than three months old when the application is filed.
  • Criminal record certificates that don’t cover every country where you lived in the last three years.
  • Health insurance that excludes some of the risks Colombia requires.
  • Following older guides: the rules were rewritten by Resolución 5477 de 2022, which replaced the previous visa categories, so information about a “temporary pensioner visa” or a pensioner-rentista visa is out of date.
  • Letting the visa expire before the new one is granted, which breaks the five-year count towards permanent residence.
  • Spending more than 180 continuous days abroad.

If your application is refused

There is no appeal against a Colombian visa decision. A rejection (inadmisión), for example for missing a deadline, ends the application but you can file again once you fix the problem. A refusal (negación) comes by email without reasons: you must leave within 30 calendar days if you are in Colombia, you can’t apply again for six months, and you must reapply from your country of nationality or legal residence. If your visa is later cancelled, for instance for not reporting a change in your pension, the bar on new applications can last one to ten years.

When it is worth talking to a lawyer

Retirees usually get one shot a season: a refusal means six months out. A lawyer is useful when the file isn’t clean:

Your pension is close to the threshold or paid in a currency that moves a lot.

You have several pensions from different countries, or a document that doesn’t say the pension is for life.

You have a criminal record in any country, even an old minor one.

You want to bring a spouse, partner or dependent children.

You are buying property and want to compare the pensioner and investor routes.

You are planning the five-year route to permanent residence and later citizenship. The firms below say they speak English.

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Frequently asked questions

For the visa, a lifetime pension of at least three minimum wages: COP 5,252,715 a month in 2026, about USD 1,660. Without a pension, the rentista visa requires about USD 5,540 a month of investment or rental income.

The rule accepts pensions paid by a State or a private pension fund, so a state retirement benefit can qualify as long as it is a lifetime monthly payment of at least three minimum wages and you have an official, apostilled and translated certificate of it. Ask the consulate or a lawyer if your document doesn’t say clearly that it is for life.

No. The M pensioner visa doesn’t allow work in Colombia, and even the resident (R) visa obtained from it keeps that exception for pensioners. If you want to work, you need another category.

Up to three years. You can apply for a new one before it expires, and after five continuous years on M visas you can apply for permanent residence.

No more than 180 continuous days within any 365-day period. Beyond that, the M visa lapses automatically.

Yes, if you are in Colombia legally. You choose the Bogotá office on the platform, and you must keep a regular status while the application is being studied.

Yes. Your spouse or permanent partner and your financially dependent children under 25 can apply as beneficiaries. You must show that you can support them, with six months of bank statement averages or an income certificate.

There is no appeal. You must leave within 30 days if you are in Colombia, can’t apply again for six months, and must reapply from your home country or country of legal residence.

Official sources

Resolución 5477 de 2022 (tipos de visa), arts. 3, 11-13, 20-21, 24, 56, 64-65, 77, 87, 90, 93, 99, 100, 112 y 116, compilada con sus modificaciones 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.