Colombia Expat Forum

wittea
Joined 2015
Posts: 1

8 years ago

Student v. Tourist Visa options

8 years ago

Hello all- hoping to gain some insight on what might be the *best* option for me given my plan for being in Colombia for up to about a year as a US citizen.

I'll be arriving in Medellin in mid-October and I want to take Spanish classes part-time (at least 10 hours per week, less than 15 per week). EAFIT has classes beginning Nov.

So the question is, is it better for me to come in on a tourist visa for 90 days, and then extend for another 90 days, then apply for a student visa for the remaining 6 mo (or so)?

Or is it better for me to start on a student visa, say for 6 mo, and then either extend the student visa for up to another 6 mo, or transfer to a tourist visa at that point)?

I'm not sure how easy it is to transfer/extend the 2 types of visas, or if it's even possible to go from a student to tourist.

My considerations are

1) ability to do either option
2) hassle involved i.e. having to leave country to get different visa
3) costs - ex. I know that I need to have paid for at least 50% of classes I intend to take for student visa upfront, ex. I think it's $50 to apply for different visa
4) other - ex. if I apply & pay for a 6 mo. student visa beginning mid-Oct, but the school doesn't hold classes in Dec., does that impact my visa at all?

Apologies for the long 'question', haven't been able to find the info anywhere and hoping someone can provide sound advice! Thanks for the help.

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