This is a guest post by James Byder. The information is current as of September 2012.
To get a resident visa in Colombia based on being in a relationship with a Colombian national, you need to present various forms and documents at the Ministry of Foreign Relations in Bogota. They will then usually grant you this visa on the same day.
The visa is typically granted for a year in the first instance, but this can be renewed later, and it allows you to work, live and study in Colombia. After three years with the same visa, you can apply for permanent residency.
Essentially, this visa works in exactly the same way as being married, but rather then presenting marriage certificates, you are presenting proof of your civil partnership.
1) Declaration of relationship status in front of a Notaria. This is a legal document which declares that you and your partner live together and are in a civil partnership. It is signed my you, your partner and the Notaria. This has to be done in advance of going to the Ministry, and this document is handed in along with the other forms on the day you apply for the visa.
2) Short letter (1 paragraph is fine) from your Colombian partner to the Ministry for Foreign Relations saying you live together, and requesting that you be granted a visa. The letter needs to be signed and witnessed by a notaria.
3) Photocopy of your passport and partner’s Colombian ID card. Your partner’s ID photocopy needs to be signed and witnessed in front of Notaria; your passport photocopy does not.
4) Two forms that are on the Ministry for Foreign Relations website. Both are straightforward, and only take 5 minutes to fill out:
5) Two 3mm by 3mm photos of yourself to accompany forms and the visa that they eventually grant you.
Cost, Office Hours, and Getting There
The visa has a cost of $295 (USD), plus you have to pay a non-refundable $50 to be seen at the Ministry and hand in your papers. You cannot book an appointment in advance. You have to just show up and join the queue with your partner and documentation, so get there earlier.
Hours: Weekdays from 7:30 am to 12:30 pm
Address: Ministry of Foreign Relations, Avenida 19 #98 – 03, Edificio Torre 100, Pisos 3º y 4º, Bogota
The building is fairly obvious once you are there, and you’ll see lots of people outside. There is a Transmillenium bust stop about 5 minutes away, or you can take a taxi if you not familiar with the transport system in Bogota.
The official website of the Ministry for Foreign Relations contains all the information (in Spanish) about this marital/partnership visa, as well as all the other types of visas. If you scroll down, you can download the forms mentioned in step 4 above.
Interviews
Once they have had a look through your paperwork, they will sort it out for you and then call you for a short interview.
They ask you lots of things, including how you met, why you want to be in Colombia, where you’re living, about your partner’s family, etc. The interview is fairly intense, although short, as they are trying to verify your relationship is genuine.
They send you away, and then call your partner in for a similar interview. Assuming your answers correspond, and they are satisfied, they grant you the visa.
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About the Author: James Byder is a former UK government economist who recently moved to Colombia and started a blog focusing on themes related to doing business here. For more information, or if you would like to contact him, please see his new blog at TotallyColombia.com.
Please contact Dave with any corrections.
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I've been through the process a couple of times. A couple of notes on my experience. I was not called for an interview and my partner never accompanied me. What I applied for was the Visa Conyuge - Spousal Visa. Only thing I had to do was go in, pay and wait 2-3 hours for it all to be processed. On my recent renewal, I was only renewed for 6 months, not 12 months like my first spousal visa. When I asked why, I was told that it's the discretion of the officer working the case as to how long to give you. All in all, the process is fairly straightforward. One important thing to add is that you must register your new visa with DAS within 10 days or else you are fined. When you register, you also will receive your national ID card, the cédula extranjería.
Hi people,
My girlfriend and i looked at the requisites of this visa on the Ministry of Foreign Relations website (Conyuge o compañero permanente de nacional colombiano :
http://www.cancilleria.gov.co/services/colombia/visas/temporary/partner).
According to her, we have to provide proof of marriage first before we can apply for this kind of visa, is that true?
Also, i´m renting an appartment and she still lives with her parents but stays over every other day.
Is that OK or do we both have to live under the same roof?
Thanks a million,
Joseph
Joseph, you do not need to be married but you do need to have your declaration of your civil partnership status with you on the day you got to the Ministry. Its called a declaracion union marital de hecho and you do that before hand at a Notaria. Technically you are supposed to be living together under the same roof and your partner would have to be willing to sign the document saying you are (as would you). The declaration does not specify where you are living together only the date from which you are living together. Hope helpful
Jamie
totallycolombia.com
Thanks for the info!
J.
How long do you have to have been living together?
@ May : i heard 2 years but there´s no way they can check that. i went to a visa agency in medellin who told me that the notary normally doesn´t ask proof of this but heard contradicting stories too.
only 1 way to find out : go there and see what happens. i think they told me the notary cost was about 70,000 COP.
good luck
what about spanish citizens? is the same process to get a visa?
Thnaks
Hi,
Was wondering what is required to renew my visa based on Civil Partnership. First one was for 6 months. Do we just take our original documentation or is another form required?
many thanks
Barry
Great Info,
Just got back from Bogota last night (we live in Medellin). Everything went great, super efficient office, in at 8am out by 9am with a 1 year visa in hand. We moved to Medellin on Jan. 1, luckily my fiance was born here, but as we aren't going to have the wedding until later this year we decided to give this a try in the meantime.
Like a hot knife through butter. The Interviewer even spoke Spanish slowly to help me understand more. Oh yeah, and Bogota might get a bad wrap sometimes, but I throughly enjoyed the city (except for the taxi drivers/crooks, don't listen to them and count your money before handing it to them).
I'd recommend staying in both La Candelaria and Zona Rosa as both have something unique to offer.
Best,
JoeSabino
is there a translator available?
Guys, I renewed by visa on Monday. This time is was more straightforward than the first time - no interview necessary and they renewed my visa for an additional two years. I will give a full update on steps involved soon here and on my own blog.
Cheers
Jamie
Thanks James, glad to hear all types of visas are getting easier to renew, not just tourist visas.
My name is tom and I got a 1 year visa marital hecho.It expires in Sept 2013.My girlfriend and I are no longer together.Any chance of re-newing my visa without her being there?
hi Jamie,when you renewed your visa did you have to go back to Bogota and was your gal with you? was it a union del hecho visa? tom
Hi All,
Renewed my visa on Thursday. Only problem was we had a notarized copy of the Union Marital document, which was a copy of the copy, and it must be from the original, which is only available from the Notaria that issued it. And the copy must be less than 3 months old. Probably obvious to everyone else, but we didn't know.
The very charming official held on to the rest of the papers while my partner made a rush trip to the Notaria, in Chapinero, and got an official copy of the original. Got back at 1150, one year visa issued by 1205. It was the same young lady that interviewed us six months ago. I asked if we would be meeting for the next three years and she said, "just one". Seeing James' comment about getting a two year visa, I am hoping I know what she meant.
Foreigners are so well treated here. Other countries that regard themselves as 'advanced' could learn a lot.
Thanks for all the info everyone, it really helped me a lot today and everything went completely smoothly (albeit I still had to wait about 3 hours at the ministerio for my turn - I arrived about 10am).
Also, if I hadn't come across Barry's comment about the Publica Escritura being only 3 months old I think I would have shown up with my old copy and failed in my renewal mission so thanks heaps Barry :)
I went to my notaria to get a new copy as early as possible this morning but with the trancones of Bogotá (!!!) I still only managed to get there at 9am hence arriving at the ministerio about 10am even though I had planned to get there earlier to try and avoid a bit of queueing. My advice is definitely get to the ministerio as early as possible if you don't want to waste your whole day!
Since this blog post cropped up first on my Google search about renewing the spouse visa I thought I'd add my own advice too - on the website I read something like you only need a letter from your spouse when his presence is required (maybe I read the Spanish wrong but that's what I understood) but in reality the visa officer told me that you need a recent letter EVERY time you renew the spouse visa (but he still accepted the letter I had from a year ago - definitely a nice chap :D).