What is Colombia's Digital Nomad Visa (Type V)?

Remote workers and freelancers working for companies or clients outside Colombia. Medellín's large remote-work population runs on this. It lasts up to 2 years. None. Type V is a visitor visa: time on it does not count toward the Resident (Type R) visa, which is the trap that catches people who spend two productive years here and find themselves back at the start.

What is Colombia's Migrant (Type M) visa — pensioner or rentista?

Retirees with a pension, and people living on stable passive income. It lasts up to 3 years, renewable. Yes — this is the important difference from Type V. Five continuous years on an M visa qualifies you for the Resident (Type R) visa, and Colombian citizenship becomes possible after a further period as a resident.

What is Colombia's Migrant (Type M) visa — employment?

People with a Colombian employment contract. It lasts up to 3 years, tied to the employer, renewable. Counts toward the 5-year route to a Resident (Type R) visa.

What is Colombia's Migrant (Type M) visa — investor?

People buying Colombian real estate or investing in a Colombian company. It lasts up to 3 years, renewable. Counts toward the 5-year route to a Resident (Type R) visa.

GlobeQuest

Moving from Spain to Colombia

What your passport gets you at the border — and what it takes to actually stay.

Spain

ColombiaShort stay

Visa-free · 90 days

Spain passport holders can enter Colombia without a visa and stay up to 90 days.

This is short-stay visitor policy only. It does not let you work, study or settle in Colombia — that needs a residence permit.

Passport Index · updated 17 February 2026Colombia's official immigration service

Long stay

How you actually move to Colombia

Digital nomadHigh confidenceVerified July 2026

Digital Nomad Visa (Type V)

Remote workers and freelancers working for companies or clients outside Colombia. Medellín's large remote-work population runs on this.

What you need

Monthly income of at least 3× the SMMLV — COP 5,252,715 in 2026, about USD 1,435
Each of the qualifying months must individually clear the threshold; the figures are not averaged
A contract or letter from a non-Colombian employer, or client contracts if freelancing
Health insurance covering the whole stay in Colombia
A motivation letter describing the remote work

How long it lasts: Up to 2 years.
Path to permanent residence: None. Type V is a visitor visa: time on it does not count toward the Resident (Type R) visa, which is the trap that catches people who spend two productive years here and find themselves back at the start.
Cost: Study and issuance fees, which rose by roughly 24% in the 2026 schedule.
Processing time: Commonly a few weeks online through the Cancillería portal.

Worth knowing

The month-by-month test is the detail that sinks applications. A freelancer averaging well above the bar but with one weak month can be refused — bank statements are read line by line.
Because it is a V visa, it accrues nothing toward residency. If settling is the goal, an M visa is the route even though it is harder.
The January 2026 minimum-wage rise pushed this threshold up by nearly a quarter in peso terms. Recalculate against the current SMMLV, not last year's.

Sources:Cancillería — Visas

RetirementHigh confidenceVerified July 2026

Migrant (Type M) visa — pensioner or rentista

Retirees with a pension, and people living on stable passive income.

What you need

For pensioners, a lifetime pension of at least 3× the SMMLV — COP 5,252,715 a month at the 2026 minimum wage of COP 1,750,905, roughly USD 1,380
For rentistas, verified passive income of at least 10× the SMMLV — COP 17,509,050 a month in 2026, a substantially higher bar than the pension route
Proof the income is stable and lawful, apostilled and officially translated
Health insurance

How long it lasts: Up to 3 years, renewable.
Path to permanent residence: Yes — this is the important difference from Type V. Five continuous years on an M visa qualifies you for the Resident (Type R) visa, and Colombian citizenship becomes possible after a further period as a resident.
Cost: Study and issuance fees at the 2026 schedule, plus the Colombian ID card (cédula de extranjería).
Processing time: A few weeks, though document apostille and official translation take longer.

Worth knowing

The pension must generally be a lifetime pension from a government or recognised scheme — private drawdown arrangements are frequently refused.
M visas require you not to leave Colombia for more than six continuous months, or the visa lapses and the five-year clock resets.
The rentista bar is more than three times the pensionado bar — 10× the SMMLV against 3×. People with drawdown income who assume they can fall back on rentista if the pension is refused are usually looking at a much larger number than they expect.
Every M-visa threshold moved up with the 23% minimum-wage rise in January 2026. This route became materially harder overnight, and will move again next January.

Sources:Cancillería — Visas Migración Colombia Resolución 5477 de 2022 (visa categories and thresholds), as amended by Resolución 9316 de 2024

Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified July 2026

Migrant (Type M) visa — employment

People with a Colombian employment contract.

What you need

An employment contract with a Colombian company, which co-signs the application and assumes sponsorship obligations
Qualifications for the role, apostilled and translated; professional-card (tarjeta profesional) recognition for regulated professions
Salary meeting the published minimum for the visa category

How long it lasts: Up to 3 years, tied to the employer, renewable.
Path to permanent residence: Counts toward the 5-year route to a Resident (Type R) visa.
Cost: Study and issuance fees plus the cédula de extranjería.
Processing time: A few weeks once the employer's documents are in order.

Worth knowing

The employer takes on continuing obligations to report changes to Migración Colombia, which some smaller companies are unwilling to do.
Regulated professions require Colombian professional-card recognition, a separate and slow process outside the immigration system.

Sources:Cancillería — Visas

InvestmentMedium confidenceVerified July 2026

Migrant (Type M) visa — investor

People buying Colombian real estate or investing in a Colombian company.

What you need

Real-estate investment of at least 350× the SMMLV — COP 612,816,750 at the 2026 minimum wage, roughly USD 160,000 — in property titled exclusively in your own name
Or registered foreign direct investment in a Colombian company of at least 650× the SMMLV — COP 1,138,088,250 in 2026
Registration of the investment with the Banco de la República, which is mandatory
For real estate, the Certificado de Tradición y Libertad evidencing title

How long it lasts: Up to 3 years, renewable.
Path to permanent residence: Counts toward the 5-year route to a Resident (Type R) visa.
Cost: The investment plus visa and registration fees.
Processing time: A few weeks after the investment is registered.

Worth knowing

Registration of the investment with the central bank is not optional and is what the visa is actually evidenced against — an unregistered purchase does not qualify however large.
Because the threshold is an SMMLV multiple, it jumped with the January 2026 wage rise and will jump again in January 2027. A property bought at exactly the current bar does not stay at the bar — price and time the purchase against the figure in force on the day you file.

Sources:Cancillería — Visas Migración Colombia Resolución 5477 de 2022 (visa categories and thresholds), as amended by Resolución 9316 de 2024

FamilyMedium confidenceVerified July 2026

Migrant (Type M) visa — spouse or partner of a Colombian

Spouses and permanent partners of Colombian citizens, and parents of Colombian children.

What you need

Marriage certificate, or a registered declaration of permanent union (unión marital de hecho)
Or the Colombian birth certificate of your child
No income threshold

How long it lasts: Up to 3 years, renewable.
Path to permanent residence: The fastest route: a Type R resident visa becomes available after 2 continuous years on a spousal or parental M visa, against 5 years on the other M categories.
Cost: Visa fees plus the cédula de extranjería.
Processing time: A few weeks.

Worth knowing

Two years instead of five is a very large difference, and this is the only category that gets it.
The unión marital de hecho is recognised without marriage, including for same-sex couples, but it must be formally registered before it counts.
The same six-month absence rule applies — leaving Colombia for more than six continuous months voids the visa and resets the clock.

Sources:Cancillería — Visas

On the ground

Where you'd land in Colombia

Medellín

The City of Eternal Spring — perfect weather, paisa warmth and a booming nomad scene in the green Andes.

Full Medellín guide

Bogotá

Colombia's cold, sprawling capital at 2,640 m — the country's money, ministries and worst traffic.

Full Bogotá guide

Cali

Hot valley city that treats salsa as infrastructure — cheap to live in, and uneven street by street.

Full Cali guide

Cartagena

Walled Caribbean port living off tourism — beautiful, humid, and priced twice inside the ramparts.

Full Cartagena guide

Bucaramanga

La ciudad bonita at 959 m — Colombia's most equable big-city climate, its lowest homicide rate, and a hospital cluster that punches far above the city's size.

Full Bucaramanga guide

Cúcuta

Colombia's Venezuelan border city — three international bridges whose status keeps changing, the country's most informal labour market, and rents to match.

Full Cúcuta guide

Santa Marta

The oldest surviving Spanish city in Colombia, wedged between the Caribbean and a 5,700 m sierra — Tayrona at the door and a water supply that is the city's real story.

Full Santa Marta guide

Barranquilla

The Caribbean coast's industrial and logistics capital — Carnival, the mouth of the Magdalena, and rents priced by salaries rather than tourists.

Full Barranquilla guide