The Truth About How Long Colombian Visa Approval Takes
2025-07-23
Last Updated: February 20, 2026
Written by: Camila Ocampo, Immigration Lawyer and Founder of Colombian Passport
At Colombian Passport, we have the experience of processing hundreds of cases, allowing us to give you a clear, realistic perspective.
If you want the quick answer:
If you are going to do it yourself (DIY): start 3 to 4 months before your trip or before your current permit/visa expires, depending on the complexity of your case.
If you hire experts like us to design your immigration strategy, audit your documents, and manage the government platforms: start 7 weeks (less than two months) before your trip, or before your current tourist permit/visa expires.
If you want to know why it takes this long, here I reveal the true visa process, breaking down the 9 real steps—from the moment you start gathering paperwork until you have your electronic visa in your inbox and your Foreigner ID (Cédula de Extranjería) in your hands.
The Real Visa Process & Colombia Visa Processing Times in 2026
Step 1: Immigration Strategy
What it is: Deciding which visa type to apply for, what documents are needed, where to apply from (a specific consulate or from within Colombia), and when you should travel.
Time:
DIY (if your case is straightforward): 1 week.
DIY (if it’s not easy to identify the right visa): 2 weeks of trying to figure it out using ChatGPT, Gemini, Google, and reading expert blogs.
With us: 1 hour during a strategic consultation with me.
Step 2: Document Collection
What it is: Gathering bank statements, letters, apostilles, certificates, official translations, etc.
Time:
DIY (no marriage certificates, apostilles, or translations needed): 4 weeks.
DIY (apostilles, translations, or foreign marriage registrations required): 6 weeks.
With our legal firm: 2 weeks.
Step 3: Submitting the Application and Paying Fees
What it is: Logging into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Cancillería) system—known as SITAC—and uploading your documents. It is an extremely unfriendly platform with hidden "tricks" to make it work properly. It’s not impossible to learn, but it requires patience and time.
Time:
DIY: 1 to 2 days.
With us: 1 hour.
Step 4: Visa Study by Cancillería
What it is: The government evaluates all your documents to verify you meet the requirements. By law, they have up to 30 days to respond. The truth: It heavily depends on the consulate, their current workload, and your specific profile. Some consulates tend to hinder processes due to a lack of knowledge of the law (the regulations changed radically in 2022, and some officials still misinterpret them), understaffing, or geopolitical reasons. Other consulates handle thousands of applications, while some handle very few. Furthermore, if you have a criminal record, made a complex corporate investment, have been fined by Migración Colombia, are flagged on the US Angel Watch, have name discrepancies across your documents, or mistakenly registered in the Colombian healthcare system (EPS) with a V or M visa, the consulate will take much longer than usual.
Time: If you are wondering how long the visa takes to be studied, there is no single answer. Let me break it down:
If your case is simple and you apply DIY:
Applying from a country with a low Colombian population (except Costa Rica and Egypt): 2 weeks.
Applying from a country with a normal Colombian population, or applying from within Colombia: 3 to 4 weeks.
Applying from Miami, Orlando, New York, San Francisco, Atlanta, or Madrid: 4 weeks.
Applying from Costa Rica, Mexico City, or Santiago de Chile: 4 weeks, but you will almost certainly receive "Requerimientos" or "Inadmisiones".
If your case is complex (criminal records, hard-to-explain investments, previous fines, etc.) and you apply DIY:
Applying from a country with a low Colombian population (except Costa Rica and Egypt): 4 weeks.
Applying from a country with a normal Colombian population, or applying from within Colombia: 4 weeks, but you will definitely face requests for more info or inadmissions.
Applying from Miami, Orlando, New York, San Francisco, Atlanta, Madrid, Mexico City, Santiago de Chile, or Cairo: Your visa will likely never be approved. You should strongly evaluate applying from within Colombia.
If you do it with us: Between 2 and 4 weeks.
Step 5: "Requerimientos" (Requests for Additional Information)
What it is: Official communications from Cancillería requesting more documents or further explanations.
Time: You must reply within 10 days. However, this request does not pause the 30-day study clock. If you don’t reply quickly to give the official enough time to study your new response, they can mark your application as "abandoned" (desestimada), forcing you to start over and pay the study fees again.
Step 6: "Inadmisiones" (Inadmissions)
What it is: Your application is returned. This happens to us in highly complex cases or at notoriously difficult consulates, and it will very likely happen to you at least once if you apply on your own.
Time: The clock resets. You will have to reinforce your application based on the reasons for the inadmission and pay the study fee again. Note: Often, no explanation is given. To get one, you must file a legal "Derecho de Petición" (Right of Petition), which can also be answered vaguely, as Cancillería officials have discretionary power to approve, inadmit, or reject any application.
Step 7: "Rechazo" (Visa Rejection)
What it is: Cancillería strictly rejects your application. You will be banned from applying for ANY Colombian visa for 6 months.
Time: If this happens, you must add a 6-month penalty to your Colombia relocation timeline.
Step 8: Visa Registration
What it is: Once your visa is approved and you pay the government issuance fee, you must register your visa with Migración Colombia (a completely different government entity with another unfriendly platform).
Time:
DIY: 1 day.
With us: 1 hour.
Step 9: Cédula de Extranjería (Foreigner ID) Appointment
What it is: You now have your E-Visa (visas are no longer stamped in passports; they arrive via email) and you have entered Colombia. Now, you must pick up your physical Foreigner ID card (Cédula). To do this, you must book an in-person appointment on yet another glitchy platform. (Insider Tip: Appointments for the following week are released on Sundays at 5:00 PM).
Time: 1 week after entering Colombia.
The Verdict: How far in advance should I plan my trip?
As an expert, my direct recommendation after seeing hundreds of successful and failed cases is this:
If you work with our Legal Firm: Start your process 7 weeks before your planned travel (or before your tourist permit/current visa expires). We audit your paperwork, avoid requests for extra info, and optimize the consular phase.
If you apply on your own (DIY):
If your strategy is straightforward: I suggest adding at least 7 extra weeks (14 weeks in total). You need a massive buffer for the high risk of rookie mistakes, suffering an inadmission, or dealing with difficult consulates.
If your strategy is complex or confusing: I strongly suggest adding at least 10 extra weeks (17 weeks in total).
Do not leave your life in Colombia at the mercy of bureaucracy. Use our interactive calculator below to profile your specific case, and if you want to save months of frustration, book your strategic consultation today.