Mercosur Residency in Colombia

Migrant Visa (M) Mercosur - Among the Associated States, Only Chile Is in the Agreement

Why this applies to you

Colombia does not publish a list of nationalities for this visa. Its visa article grants it to nationals of the states party to the 2002 Residence Agreement, on reciprocity, and the agreement names its parties individually: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay as Mercosur members, Bolivia and Chile as associated states. Of the countries associated with Mercosur today, only Chile is in that signature block. Peru and Ecuador are widely said to have joined the agreement later and we have not read an instrument confirming that Colombia treats them as parties; both are covered in Colombia anyway by the separate Andean route, which is the safer answer for them. For Guyana, Surinam and Panama there is no route under this heading at all. Being associated with Mercosur does not, by itself, put a nationality inside this visa.

• Nationality of a state party to the 2002 Residence Agreement - among the states associated with Mercosur, that is Chile
• Peruvian and Ecuadorean nationals should use the Andean Migration Statute route Colombia publishes separately, which does name them
• If the nationality was acquired by naturalisation: five years must have passed, under the agreement's own definition of a national of a Party
• A letter requesting the Temporary Resident visa under the agreement, explaining the activity you will carry out in Colombia and your means of subsistence
• Passport valid for at least six months
• Police, judicial or criminal record certificate from wherever you have lived for the last three years, apostilled or legalised and translated
• An image of your entry stamp

Migrant Visa (M) Mercosur - The Agreement's Signatories, Which Leaves Venezuela Out

Why this applies to you

Two years of temporary residency on requirements lighter than any other Colombian route: a letter explaining what you will do and how you will support yourself, a passport valid six months, a police certificate and an image of your entry stamp. No income threshold, no employer, no medical certificate. Who it reaches is decided by the 2002 Residence Agreement rather than by Mercosur membership, and the agreement names its parties individually - Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and Chile. Venezuela is a full member of Mercosur and is not one of them, so on the face of this article Venezuelan nationality does not open this visa. Two further conditions: a naturalised citizen of a party state is inside the agreement only five years after naturalisation, and the visa is granted once only, which makes the deadline for what comes next unforgiving.

• Nationality of a state party to the 2002 Residence Agreement - among the full members, that is Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia
• Venezuela is a full member of Mercosur but is not a party to the agreement this article points to
• If the nationality was acquired by naturalisation: five years must have passed, under the agreement's own definition of a national of a Party
• A letter requesting the Temporary Resident visa under the agreement, explaining the activity you will carry out in Colombia and your means of subsistence
• Passport valid for at least six months
• Police, judicial or criminal record certificate from wherever you have lived for the last three years, apostilled or legalised and translated
• An image of your entry stamp

Migrant Visa (M) under the Andean Migration Statute

Why this applies to you

Up to two years of residency for nationals of Andean Community states, on reciprocity, and it comes with an open work permit - you may carry out any lawful activity, which the Mercosur route does not say. Requirements are a passport, an entry stamp, a police certificate covering the last five years and a written statement of why you are coming and how you will support yourself. Like the Mercosur route, it is granted once only.

• Nationality of a state party to the Estatuto Migratorio Andino
• Passport valid for at least six months
• A copy of your entry stamp or migration card if you are already in Colombia
• Police, judicial or criminal record certificate from your country of nationality or wherever you lived in the five years before applying, apostilled or legalised and translated
• A written statement of your intention to establish temporary residence and of your means of subsistence