Colombia investor visa (M Inversionista)

Foreign direct investment: you provide the foreign investment statements obtained from the Banco de la República's foreign exchange information system showing a registered foreign direct investment in your name worth more than 650 Colombian legal minimum monthly wages (SMLMV) on the date you apply. The central bank explains on its website how investors or their representatives obtain these statements.

Real estate: you provide the property certificate (Certificado de Tradición y Libertad) showing that the property is owned exclusively by you and is worth at least 350 SMLMV on the application date, together with the Banco de la República foreign investment statements for the purchase. In both routes you also prove, with bank statements for the three months before the application, that you can support yourself in Colombia, and you show health coverage in Colombia or a comprehensive health insurance policy.

Register with Migración Colombia and obtain the cédula de extranjería within 15 calendar days of entry. The M visa lapses automatically if you spend more than 180 continuous days outside Colombia within any 365-day period from issue, so investors who travel often should plan their absences.

The visa remains valid only while the investment or property is maintained. Any change affecting the investment during the visa's validity must be reported immediately to the Visa Authority through the Cancillería's service channels so that it can review the visa. For a second or later investor visa you must prove that you kept the investment or the property throughout the previous visa.

Beneficiary visas can be requested for a spouse or permanent partner, children up to 25 and children of any age with a disability, if they depend economically on the investor. After five years as principal holder of valid M Inversionista visas you can apply for a resident (R) visa by accumulated time. Colombia also has a separate migrant visa for partners or owners of a Colombian company (M Socio o Propietario), which requires capital of at least 100 SMLMV, and a resident visa for foreign direct investment; this page covers the investor migrant visa.