In June 2024, Colombia's national carrier Avianca will start flights from Medellín (MDE) to Buenos Aires (EZE), Lima (LIM) and Santiago de Chile (SCL). The flight schedules are as follows:

• MDE 18:10 - 21:10 LIM Tue, Thurs, Sat, from June 1
• LIM 01:55 - 05:00 MDE Weds, Fri, Sun

• MDE 17:45 - 00:45 SCL Mon, Weds, Fri, Sun, from June 2
• SCL 01:45 - 06:59 MDE Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat

• MDE 16:45 - 01:25 EZE daily, from June 15
• EZE 02:30 - 07:05 MDE daily

To Lima and Santiago de Chile you can also fly with JetSmart from Medellín, and to Lima you can also fly with LATAM. Only Avianca will have flights to Buenos Aires.

If you don’t qualify for a loan in Colombia or you don’t want to pay the high interest rates that are normal in the country, you have, depending on your nationality, several options to obtain a loan from abroad to purchase property in Colombia.

• Borrowing from Bancolombia or Viventa. Both Bancolombia and Viventa lend money to individuals outside Colombia for the purpose of purchasing property in the country. Bancolombia’s service is known as "Colombianos en el Exterior" and involves credit checks in the United States. This service is available for clients with a savings account.
• Refinancing your properties in another country. If you own properties in another country, you can leverage them to secure funds and use these funds to purchase property in Colombia.

From November 1, 2023, Canadian visitors will need to pay an entrance fee when they enter Colombia.

• The fee is 256,000 Colombian pesos. This is about $85 in Canadian dollars depending on the exchange rate.
• You can only pay this fee when you arrive in Colombia.
• Paying is possible at all Migración Colombia entry points at airports, in ports and along the border.
• You can pay with a credit or debit card.
• If you don't pay this fee, you won't be allowed to enter Colombia.

You don't have to pay the entry fee if you fall into any of these categories:

• You visiting the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina.
• You're younger than 14 or older than 79.
• You've a valid Colombian visa.
• You work for the government as a diplomat or consular staff or are a family member of such a person.
• You're part of an international transport crew.

A digital driver's license from Colombia is considered equivalent to a physical driver's license. Colombian traffic officers must accept your digital license in place of a physical one.

Requirements to obtain a digital driver's license

• You have a physical driver's license.
• You have a digital cédula (ID-card).

Steps to obtain a digital driver's license

1. Enter the page https://carpetaciudadana.and.gov.co/ and log in or register first (if applicable).
2. Enter the "Mis Categorías“ section.
3. Click on the option “Licencia de Conducción Digital".
4. Download the digital driver's license.

Costs

The digital driver's license is free to obtain.

All passengers who fly to or from Colombia must be able to show a Check-Mig form to their airlines during check-in or boarding.

Steps to apply for your Check-Mig form:

1. Go to the Migración Colombia website: https://www.migracioncolombia.gov.co/.
2. Select the ‘Check-Mig’ button.
3. Fill in the requested information.
4. Take a screenshot or download the PDF document.

You can apply for Check-Mig form from 72 hours to one hour before your flight.

One of the advantages of Colombian citizenship is that it's easier to travel to Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. It's also easier to obtain residency in these countries. Together with Colombia, these countries form the Andean Community (abbreviated as CAN in Spanish).

In 2021 these countries signed an agreement that grants citizens from these countries the right to reside, work and move freely throughout these four countries. This agreement went into effect on August 11, 2021, and is also known as 'decision 878'. It forms the core of the Andean Immigration Statute as promoted by the Andean Community. You can find a link to the agreement in the last paragraph of this article.

Free movement

As a Colombian citizen, you can enter Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru as a tourist for 90 days by only presenting a valid Colombian cédula. In other words, you don't need to show a passport. You can extend these 90 days by another 90 days.

Temporary residency

If you want to reside in Bolivia, Ecuador or Peru, you can apply for temporary residency at a consulate of that country or directly in that country itself, regardless of your migratory status.

The duration of temporary residency is two years and is extendable for another two years.

Temporary residency gives you the same rights to carry out activities as nationals of that country have.

The requirements to obtain temporary residency are:

• a formal application
• a travel document that is still valid for six months
• a current criminal record certificate
• proof of legit income that is sufficient to live in the other country
• having paid the corresponding administrative fees

Permanent residency

You can apply for permanent residency 90 days before the expiration of your temporary residency. The duration of the permanent residency is indefinite.

Text of the agreement

Here you can read the agreement between Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru that grants the rights mentioned above: Decisión N° 878 Estatuto Migratorio Andino (pdf).

As a foreigner you can open a bank account at a Colombian bank in Colombia but you'll need a visa. Sometimes a bank employee doesn't ask for a visa, but these cases are rare and are usually against the bank's internal guidelines.

Tips and recommendations

• It's best to bring your cédula, but many banks also accept passports.
• Bring a RUT with you. Bank employees may ask for proof of legit income if you don't have a RUT. You can get a RUT from DIAN, the Colombian tax authority.
• Visit a bank office in an area where many expats live. Employees in these bank offices often have more experience opening bank accounts for foreigners. This speeds up the process.

Ísimo, a new hard discount retail chain, is set to open over 420 stores in Colombia, posing competition to existing chains such as Ara and D1. The expansion plan will begin in the Atlantic coast departments and then move to other regions in the east of the country, such as Santander and Norte Santander, with the aim of covering most of the main regions in Colombia. The company plans to hire over 2,350 people in the first half of 2023.

Initially, Ísimo will offer approximately 750 national and international products, including its own brands. The company aims to differentiate itself by offering a pharmacy and a selection of perishable products to guarantee freshness.

Residents of the Las Lomas No. 2 neighborhood in El Poblado are concerned about the Mantua building, which was evacuated in 2013 due to construction flaws and pending reinforcement. The 14-story and five-basement construction is now being occupied despite not yet having undergone the required reinforcement, according to neighbors who claim that it is being used as an Airbnb. Although the administration denies the claim, several apartments are furnished and even have rental ads on the internet. The building, at first glance, appears uninhabited, but there is movement from early morning, with several vehicles entering the parking lot and some apartments having open windows, installed curtains, and even laundry hanging out. The evacuation of the building in 2013 was due to insufficient structural processes and a lack of compliance with seismic resistance standards, among other reasons. Currently, there is a license for structural reinforcement, which remains pending.