Colombia retirement visa: requirements, cost and time

Cancillería has up to 30 calendar days to decide once the application is complete and the study fee is paid (Resolution 5477 of 2022, art. 13).
It can take longer if Cancillería consults other entities.

No. The retirement visa does not allow you to work in Colombia (Resolution 5477 of 2022, art. 77).
If you plan to work, you need a different visa, and we help you choose it.

No. The regulation sets no age: what it asks for is a lifetime pension (art. 77).
If your pension is paid for life and is 3 minimum wages a month or more, your age does not matter.
An early retirement pension counts the same way, as long as it is for life.

Yes. It is a state pension.
You get the benefit letter apostilled by the Secretary of State of the state where it was issued, and translated into Spanish.
We do not process apostilles ourselves. For U.S. documents, we can refer you to a company that does.

Yes, if it is a lifetime disability pension.
Like any pension, it has to be paid every month, for life, by a government or a private pension fund, and be 3 minimum wages or more (art. 77).
The certificate from the entity that pays it has to show that it is for life.
If your benefit is temporary, one that ends or is reviewed to continue, it does not count.

No. Withdrawals, dividends and rent are not a pension.
The rentista visa may fit instead: it is a visitor visa (Resolution 5477 of 2022, art. 56), and we review it with you.

Only another pension.
You can add a second lifetime pension, for example Social Security and a pension from Europe, if together they are 3 minimum wages or more.
Each one needs its own certificate from the entity that pays it, apostilled and translated (art. 77).
Rent, investments and savings withdrawals do not count, even if you add them to a pension.

The rule asks for the one from the country where you have stayed in the last 3 years (art. 77).
In the cases we handle, Cancillería asks for your home country's: for U.S. citizens, the FBI check.
Cancillería may also ask for the Colombian one.
If you have lived here, we can request it for you too, so your file is complete.

You need to stay in the country where you applied until Cancillería decides: in Colombia if you applied from here, or abroad if you applied from there.
In Colombia, your status has to stay regular the whole time, with a valid visa, a stay permit or a safe-conduct (Resolution 5477 of 2022, art. 13).
We check your dates before filing, so your permit does not run out midway.

In the cases we handle, almost all come down to 3 things: the pension certificate, the amount after the exchange rate, and documents from abroad.
Some are in the rule itself: the certificate states a monthly lifetime pension of 3 minimum wages or more, and the health policy covers repatriation (Resolution 5477 of 2022, art. 77).
Others are details Cancillería checks closely that are not written anywhere. We review each one before filing.
If we handle your visa, the second application carries no professional fees: we review what led to the decision and fix it before we file again.