Colombia Forum

JasonWriter
Joined 2016
Posts: 493

8 years ago

Visa questions, sorry

8 years ago

I know visa questions are stultifying as all heII, but here goes.

Right now I'm thinking I'm moving to Medellin this July, or October at the latest. In July my good friend, a Medellin native, is going back to Medellin for his yearly 4 months back home, possibly staying there for good as he's tired of Chicago and wants to go back to his home city. I'll probably just fly down with him. He owns property there so I'd have an apartment waiting, friends, etc. etc.

The only thing that worries me about Colombia is that it seems pretty damn hard to stay there for more than 6 months. I'm 35, not eligible for any of those retirement visa options, and I don't have the tens and tens of thousands necessary for a lot of those investment visas. I've read there's a business visa you can get, whereby I would "form an LLC, show documented proof that I have a business thing going," etc. I'm simplifying this for the sake of brevity.

Basically, I'm a writer/journalist/blogger. Degrees in writing, with teaching experience at university. I can show tons of proof that I'm a freelance writer trying to do my thing, in earnest, in Colombia. Do you think I'd have a chance at getting an...entrepreneurial business visa, I think it is? I found one online writer who did just that, after a whole lot of consultation with an attorney in Bogota.

Basically, the one thing I would hate, hate, hate to have happen is that I really fall in love with Medellin, want to stay for a year, say, and find myself in the position of having to leave early. I adored Medellin when I was there for 2 months, a few years back. I know there's a good chance I would be in Medellin for a few months and say, "Eh, OK adventure over, ready to go home." But I've also come across a LOT of people who went to Medellin having never been there before, fell in love with it (and the people, ahem) and realized 6 months wasn't enough. I'd prefer to have all my stay-longer options in front of me, instead of getting there and realizing "Oops, visa's up. Panic time"

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