H-1B Visa Changes 2025: Why Nearshoring to Colombia Is the Smart Business Move

In recent months, the United States has tightened access to foreign talent. The new USD 100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications, stricter rules for international students (OPT), and changes to EAD permits are changing the rules of the game.

The result: many companies are moving their operations and teams to more agile and cost-effective countries, and Colombia is quickly becoming one of their favorite destinations.

With Free Trade Zones, active trade agreements, and bilingual talent in the same time zone as the U.S. East Coast, our country is positioning itself as an ideal destination to build full teams without the costs, delays, or immigration hurdles that are currently impacting the U.S. market.

Why Now: The “Regulatory Push” from the United States

Companies are not moving because it’s trendy—they’re moving because they have to. These are the measures driving nearshoring toward Latin America:

• USD 100,000 H-1B visa fee: Announced in September 2025 (and still being challenged in court), this measure drastically increases the cost of sponsoring foreign talent in the U.S., directly affecting startups and SMEs.
  
  
• Restrictions for students and OPT: The new rules shorten stay periods, increase monitoring, and eliminate automatic EAD extensions. This creates employment gaps and makes it harder to retain international graduates.
  
  
• H-1B visa modernization (2024–2025 rules): While improving system integrity, it also increases administrative burden and processing times.
  
  

In practice: what companies used to save by bringing talent under a visa is now lost in fees, legal costs, and bureaucracy.
That’s why moving operations to Colombia is no longer just an alternative—it’s a competitive advantage.

Why Colombia: A Clear and Compelling Value Proposition

1. Free Trade Zones and fiscal benefits:
   Colombia has a strong network of Free Trade Zones that offer tariff and VAT benefits, along with a reduced corporate tax rate for service exports. In simple terms, operating from a Free Trade Zone can be far more profitable than doing so abroad.
2. Time zone and cultural alignment:
   We share the Eastern Time Zone (EST/ET), which makes communication and collaboration in real time much easier with teams in New York, Miami, or Toronto. In addition, our cultural closeness and bilingual capabilities make working with Colombian teams natural and efficient.
3. Talent and competitive costs:
   Colombia has a growing IT and BPO talent ecosystem. Strong technical education, service-oriented mindset, and reasonable costs position the country as one of the most attractive markets for global operations in 2025.

Where the Opportunities Are (2025–2026)

Nearshoring isn’t limited to one industry. These are the sectors where demand is growing the fastest:

• Technology and Digital (software, data, AI, cybersecurity): Agile nearshore teams with bilingual Product Owners and SLAs aligned to EST hours.
  
  
• BPO/KPO (support, finance, legal ops, compliance): Fast scaling with quality control and continuous auditing.
  
  
• E-commerce and MarTech: Performance marketing, CRM, analytics, and multilingual content with short time-to-market cycles.
  
  
• Engineering and Design: Development in CAD/CAE, digital twins, and DevOps for manufacturing and energy sectors, leveraging Free Trade Zone advantages.
  
  

How to Structure a Nearshoring Operation in Colombia (Checklist)

Setting up your operation in Colombia doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are the key pillars to do it right from the start:

1. Legal and Tax Model

• Assess whether it’s better to establish a Branch or an SAS company, and consider operating from a Free Trade Zone if you export services.
  
  
• Register your Ultimate Beneficial Owners (RUB), comply with local accounting standards (NIIF/PUC), and plan properly for VAT, ICA, and withholding taxes.
  
  

2. Talent and Labor Compliance

• Hire directly with electronic payroll or through a local Employer of Record (EoR) to simplify processes.
  
  
• Implement intellectual property and information security policies from day one.
  
  

3. Operations

• Define Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and KPIs that measure business outcomes, not just billable hours.
  
  
• Manage your costs strategically: use FinOps to handle expenses in Colombian pesos, protect against exchange rate fluctuations, and invoice in USD from a Free Trade Zone when applicable.
  
  

4. Governance

• Create an executive committee between the U.S. and Colombia, meeting biweekly with a risk dashboard and continuity plan.
  
  
• Ensure compliance with data protection laws, data export rules, and sector-specific standards.
  
  

Quick Comparison: H-1B visa (in the U.S.) vs. Nearshoring in Colombia

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Which sectors are moving fastest to Colombia?
Mainly technology (development, QA, data), financial and legal BPO/KPO, and engineering/design for manufacturing and energy.

Do I need a Free Trade Zone to operate?
Not necessarily. Free Trade Zones provide VAT and tariff benefits, but their use depends on your business model and export volume.

Are the U.S. visa changes temporary?
Some are already in effect (H-1B visa modernization 2025), while others (USD 100,000 fee, EAD) are still under review.
Regulatory uncertainty remains high, and that’s why many companies are accelerating their nearshoring strategies.

Conclusion

Nearshoring to Colombia is no longer just a cost-saving strategy—it’s a smart risk management decision in response to the regulatory and immigration volatility in the United States.
If you manage critical teams in technology, finance, or compliance, Colombia offers the talent, time zone, and tax advantages to scale your operations with less friction and greater control.

✅ Expand Your Operations to Colombia with Expert Legal and Tax Support
At Nexo Legal, we help you turn the nearshoring opportunity into a solid, efficient, and secure strategy.