Migrant Visa (M) for Pensioners
Colombia's route for people living on a pension asks for three monthly minimum wages, from a state pension or a private fund. It is unusually specific about what counts: this is a pension visa, not a passive-income visa, and the certificate must show a lifetime monthly payment. Proof of health cover in Colombia is part of the application rather than something to arrange later.
At a glance
- Income threshold
- 3 monthly minimum wages
Expressed as a multiple, so it moves with the Colombian minimum wage
- What counts
- A pension, from a state or a private fund
Not passive income generally - this category is specifically about pensions
- Medical certificate
- Required
- Health cover in Colombia
- Required at application
- Counts towards permanent residency
- Yes
Requirements
- A certificate of a lifetime monthly pension of not less than three current monthly minimum wages, apostilled and translated
- The pension may come from a state or from a private pension fund
- The certificate must be issued by the competent entity, or by the diplomatic or consular mission of the country that granted the pension
- Police or judicial record certificate from wherever you have lived over the last three years, apostilled or legalised and translated
- A medical certificate of psychophysical fitness, from a Colombian authority or the health authority of your country of origin
- Proof of health cover in Colombia, or a policy covering you here
- Time on this visa counts towards the Resident (R) visa
Exceptions by origin
No exceptions recorded
Nothing we have read treats any nationality differently for this topic. The rule above applies to everyone.
What the law says
«Para el extranjero que disponga de ingresos mensuales constantes derivados de pensión otorgada por un Estado o por un fondo privado de pensiones.»Our translation - not official
For a foreigner who has constant monthly income derived from a pension granted by a State or by a private pension fund.
Compare Argentina, whose equivalent route is defined by income from assets and excludes work income, and Uruguay, which has no threshold at all. Colombia's is narrower than either: it is about pensions specifically.
Read it at the sourceAbout 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
«Certificación que reconozca el pago mensual de pensión vitalicia a favor del extranjero solicitante de la visa en monto no inferior a tres (3) salarios mínimos legales mensuales vigentes expedida por entidad competente debidamente apostillada y traducida»Our translation - not official
A certificate recognising the monthly payment of a lifetime pension in favour of the foreign visa applicant, in an amount not lower than three (3) current legal monthly minimum wages, issued by the competent entity, duly apostilled and translated.
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
- issuesResolución 5477 de 2022, art. 77
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