Find visa optionsFind visas
Menu

Colombia · Relocation guide

Moving to Colombia: residence and arrival guide

After visa approval, Colombia may require migrant registration and a cédula de extranjería; tax, EPS health enrolment and banking remain separate.

Content updated 11 September 2026. Individual source-check dates are listed below.

Choose V, M or R status by purpose

Visitor, digital-nomad, migrant and resident visas have different activities, duration and accumulation consequences. A visitor or nomad visa is not general Colombian employment permission. Match the employer, foreign client, family or investment facts to the Cancillería category.

Read the electronic visa for occupation, employer, beneficiary and registration conditions. Dependants must verify work rights independently, and a property purchase, RUT or bank account does not create immigration status.

Choose V, M or R status by purpose
PlanRoute
Remote foreign workVisa V Nomadas Digitales
Migrant basisVisa M (Migrante)
Colombian spouseVisa M Conyuge o Companero de Nacional
Resident eligibilityVisa R (Residente)

Prepare apostilled and translated records

Collect passport, police, birth, marriage, custody, qualification, employer and income evidence. Check apostille or legalisation and official Spanish translation requirements before upload. Scan to the portal specifications without discarding originals.

Keep the visa grant, entry evidence and proof of the address used for registration. Correct errors in the e-visa before relying on it for work, registration or travel.

Register the visa and obtain the cédula

A visa holder or beneficiary aged seven or over with a visa valid for more than three months is directed to obtain a cédula de extranjería. Start the FUT online, then book a Centro Facilitador de Servicios Migratorios for fingerprints and a photograph. The initial application deadline is 15 calendar days after entry when the visa was issued abroad, or after issue when granted in Colombia.

The appointment produces a digital contraseña with a QR code for use while the physical document is printed. Check the card immediately: Migración gives a separate period for reporting inconsistencies. Children aged zero to six register the visa but are exempt from the card; those aged seven to seventeen attend with the parent or legal representative and relationship evidence.

Create defensible housing evidence

Test transport, security procedures, water, internet, building administration and utility responsibility before a long lease. Verify owner or agent, inventory, deposit, guarantor, notice and administration-charge terms.

Keep the contract, payment trail, condition photographs and meter readings. Ask which address proof Migración, bank and EPS accept. Avoid paying from an advertisement or chat before verifying identity and authority to let.

Separate RUT, tax residence and banking

RUT registration and update obligations depend on the taxable activity; neither a cédula nor visa alone decides tax residence. DIAN’s individual-residence test includes presence for more than 183 calendar days, continuous or not, in any consecutive 365-day period, counting entry and exit days; other statutory tests also exist. Log travel, Colombian and foreign income, assets and accounts from arrival and obtain advice on the applicable tax year and treaty.

Banks perform identity, visa, cédula, address, tax and source-of-funds checks. Keep another payment method while onboarding and verify institutions through the financial supervisor. Reconcile payroll withholding and social contributions with the approved work; opening an account or obtaining RUT does not settle residence tax treatment.

Arrange EPS and interim healthcare

Residents access the health system through affiliation to an EPS in the contributory or subsidised regime according to the applicable economic and eligibility position. Formal employees and independent workers with capacity to pay use the contributory route; visa approval and a cédula application are not proof that EPS activation or contribution reporting is complete.

Choose an authorised EPS operating where you live, identify the valid identity document required for each adult and child, and retain the affiliation confirmation. Maintain interim insurance until service access is active, bring vaccination and prescription records, identify primary and emergency facilities and verify every dependant appears correctly.

Coordinate school and authorised work

Confirm the visa permits the employer and activity before work. Regulated professions may require recognition or a professional card. Preserve contracts, qualifications, payroll and contribution records.

Schools may need address, birth, vaccination and apostilled or translated academic records. Ask the local education secretariat about placement before fixing housing. Family relationship evidence should remain current for beneficiary or spouse cases.

Plan driving, pets and renewal

Check current transport-authority rules for using a foreign licence as a resident. Buying, importing or registering a vehicle, SOAT insurance and RUNT records are separate steps.

Agriculture authority rules govern pet health entry. Track passport and visa expiry, cédula updates, tax filings and reportable changes; preserve departure and entry records if residence accumulation matters.

Your moving checklist

Tick off the tasks that apply to you. The timing is a planning order, not a substitute for the deadlines on your permission or an official instruction.

0 of 12 tasks completed

Before you move
On arrival
Your first month
Later and before renewal

Sources and checks

The linked authorities set the rules. VisaAtlas explains how the steps fit together; planning suggestions are not a decision on your immigration status, tax residence or entitlement to services.

Plan your next step