Mercosur Residency in Colombia
This replaces the general rule for you
Migrant Visa (M) Mercosur - Among the Associated States, Only Chile Is in the Agreement
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.
By default this route does not exist for a given applicant: it is open only to nationals of the states party to the Mercosur Residence Agreement, plus Bolivia and Chile. If that is you, the requirements are among the lightest Colombia offers - but the visa is granted once and once only.
What applies to you
Migrant Visa (M) Mercosur - Among the Associated States, Only Chile Is in the Agreement
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
- issuesResolución 5477 de 2022, art. 71
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores (Colombia)
About this source
Colombia's foreign ministry, which sets the visa regime by resolution. Resolución 5477 de 2022 is the instrument itself, not a summary of one: it defines every visa category, its requirements and its validity in numbered articles.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Resolutions are amended by further resolutions rather than reissued, so the consolidated version carries notes about articles added or repealed by later instruments - article 80 of 5477, for example, was repealed by Resolución 10434 de 2023. Reading a category without checking those notes can mean reading a rule that no longer applies.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source