Colombia Expat Forum

meincolombia
Joined 2016
Posts: 159

7 years ago

Renewing Visa, trip report

7 years ago

Just renewed my TP7 pensionado visa yesterday, for another year.
A big change this year is you have to fill out the application online before going to MRE.
They wouldn´t even let me in the office. First I had to go a few doors down to an Internet cafe and fill out the online form and scan my docs and photo and get the print out invoice.
Then back to the office to pay the 154,000 study fee. Then half hour later got approved and had to pay the 628,000 visa fee. Then another half hour later picked up the new visa and headed for the terminal to go home.

Apparently this new system is working very well. When I went in there were about 70 people ahead of me, but they were getting taken care of at a lively rate. Overall my wait from time of filing online, until getting new visa in hand was one hour.

When I left the office only a half dozen or so were still waiting.

One thing to be really aware of is that filling out the application online should be fairly easy and straightforward but its not. The lady at the Internet cafe helped me scan my photo and get it just right to meet the specifications. Without her help I´d have been screwed since there are no directions.
Yet if you don´t do it exactly right they reject your whole application and you have to start over.
Once the application is approved you have 1 day to pay the study fee or you have to start all over again and get a new invoice and file number.
You can pay the thing online with a Colombian credit card, or through Servibanca ATM or you can simply pay cash at the MRE bank in their office. I paid cash, took about 1 minute.
On their web site it says you should fill out the online application before going to the office, then it says in next sentence you can do it at the office.

When I queried them about that second sentence that said what it means is you can come to Bogota and use the internet cafe next door to MRE.
Next time I do it I´ll do the online application the night before, then pay the study fee in cash at MRE bank first thing in the morning when I arrive to apply for the visa renewal.

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