I wanna move to Colombia, is it easy? (life, cost, country)

[lopsided77]

I love Colombia, I love its culture, people, music, way of life.

However as I visit more and more, I am realizing it's starting to get full of foreigners. Everywhere you turn you find Venezuelans, Ecuadorians, Europeans, an increasing number of Chinese, and of course Americans.

So my question is... is it hard to move there? Since foreigners seem to be moving there in really large numbers?

[AntonioR]

Keep in mind that the rules for moving to a country may not be always followed by the expats.

At least this is common with expats in the Dominican Republic. A good number of them, could be most, are illegally in the country. Some even think the DR immigration policy is to pay the fine when you leave the country (otherwise, they will prevent you from getting on an airplane.) Reality is that if you have to pay a fine to leave, that means you were illegally in the country from the moment your tourist card expires (I think it's 30 days starting with the day you arrive.) A tourist that leaves the country within the time limit of their tourist card, legal residents in the country and nationals (the last two don't have a time limit to be in the DR, in fact they can travel to the DR with a single oneway airplane ticket while everybody else is required to have a return ticket) don't ever have to pay any fine to leave the country.

To put it simply, a good number of expats in the DR are illegal immigrants. The actual process of legally immigrating to the DR is time consuming, costly and has to be started at the Dominican consulates/embassy in your country, not in the DR. Once granted, you have to renovate the legal residency every year and that too has a cost though it isn't as time consuming. After a few renovations, you qualify to apply for Dominican citizenship. Once that is granted you don't have to renovate every year, though you will be given a cédula (like all Dominicans) which must be renovated every 4 years (mostly because of the photo and how your appearance changes with age.) If you apply for a Dominican passport, it should be renovated every 6 years I think. The cédula is a must as it's rewuired for everything in the DR (like the social security in the USA), but passport isn't required. A Dominican passport can be handy for saving you money if you travel often to certain countries. A few years ago Brazil required visas from Americans and Dominicana, but US citizens were charged US$300 per visa by the Brazilian consulates/embassy while Dominican citizens were charged just US$20. If you had dual citizenship, it's a no brainer to get the Brazil visa for Dominican citizens than US citizens.

A similar thing could occur with expats in Colombia and in other countries.

[lluvia]

Rentista visa if you qualify.

[DAXhound]

You get six months per year as a us citizen..there are digitalnomad visas that are somewhat of a bureaucratic nightmare..and you will owe taxes in Colombia.

[elchevere]

It has become too popular for my tastes in recent years but I have a couple of friends (US citizens) who have been living there (Medellin) for several years (primarily for COL reasons) and they like it.

[lluvia]

Originally Posted by elchevere

It has become too popular for my tastes in recent years but I have a couple of friends (US citizens) who have been living there (Medellin) for several years (primarily for COL reasons) and they like it.

Popularity varies in location, too. Medellin and the climate there is far more desirable than hot and sleepy Barranquilla.

[DAXhound]

I was tempted by Medellin, but saw some advantages of Cali...been here about four months this year.

[Willy702]

Originally Posted by DAXhound

You get six months per year as a us citizen..there are digitalnomad visas that are somewhat of a bureaucratic nightmare..and you will owe taxes in Colombia.

I think a lot of the digital nomad visas are for show and harder to get approved than they should be. I am in a support circle of 10 people, all of us looking to retire in our 50s and remote work before that as possible. Two years ago it seemed like everything was aligned for us but doors are getting shut. The European visas are full of red tape because they really don't want to approve them except for Greece. The Portuguese and Spanish ones that basically replaced the investment schemes they had are rarely approved because there was a huge backlash against the prior visas. I expect Colombia to do the same.

One of our circle does go to Colombia but just 4-5 months a year. Then he goes to Ecuador or Panama, again as a tourist, then spends some time back in US. He makes 100k on a project every 12 to 18 months but because it's not a steady paycheck Colombia and Portugal denied him a visa. It's insanely ridiculous but I get it, these countries are dealing with local pressure.

Mexico is really the last good choice for a lot of the group and many just don't want to go there. It's so shortsighted by the local governments but I also blame the class of digital nomads who want to post how cheap their place is while trashing their home countries. It's a totally unsustainable attitude to hold and it's no wonder it gets pushback. I mean these people who don't learn local language or culture and just work it like it's a circuit and then whine when the locals in Medellin or Chiang Mai don't like them being around or complaining there isn't enough English being spoken are a combination of tone deaf and selfish.

[EVANGELISTTI]

Originally Posted by AntonioR

Keep in mind that the rules for moving to a country may not be always followed by the expats.

At least this is common with expats in the Dominican Republic. A good number of them, could be most, are illegally in the country. Some even think the DR immigration policy is to pay the fine when you leave the country (otherwise, they will prevent you from getting on an airplane.) Reality is that if you have to pay a fine to leave, that means you were illegally in the country from the moment your tourist card expires (I think it's 30 days starting with the day you arrive.) A tourist that leaves the country within the time limit of their tourist card, legal residents in the country and nationals (the last two don't have a time limit to be in the DR, in fact they can travel to the DR with a single oneway airplane ticket while everybody else is required to have a return ticket) don't ever have to pay any fine to leave the country.

To put it simply, a good number of expats in the DR are illegal immigrants. The actual process of legally immigrating to the DR is time consuming, costly and has to be started at the Dominican consulates/embassy in your country, not in the DR. Once granted, you have to renovate the legal residency every year and that too has a cost though it isn't as time consuming. After a few renovations, you qualify to apply for Dominican citizenship. Once that is granted you don't have to renovate every year, though you will be given a cédula (like all Dominicans) which must be renovated every 4 years (mostly because of the photo and how your appearance changes with age.) If you apply for a Dominican passport, it should be renovated every 6 years I think. The cédula is a must as it's rewuired for everything in the DR (like the social security in the USA), but passport isn't required. A Dominican passport can be handy for saving you money if you travel often to certain countries. A few years ago Brazil required visas from Americans and Dominicana, but US citizens were charged US$300 per visa by the Brazilian consulates/embassy while Dominican citizens were charged just US$20. If you had dual citizenship, it's a no brainer to get the Brazil visa for Dominican citizens than US citizens.

A similar thing could occur with expats in Colombia and in other countries.

Brazil does not request visas for entry as tourists for up to 90 days from citizens of Central American and Caribbean countries, with the exception of Haiti. You only need hold a passport different between South American countries where the transit is free, just needing show an ID.

https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/assunto...ng24MAR231.pdf