You can apply in the country where you are living or in Bogota. The new Consulate in Barranquilla does not do visas.
Step 1.
The process begins with you getting a certification letter showing your benefits to be $900 USD per month or more based on current exchange rates. However, nothing is written in stone in Colombia. I have a good friend who received his Pensionado a couple months ago based on his Canadian retirement of about $600 USD per month.
In my case, US Social Security, each year I contact them at
https://secure.ssa.gov/apps6z/BEVE/main.htmlto get my benefits letter sent to me in Colombia. It takes about 2 or 3 weeks to arrive. Then I take the certified benefits letter to Federal Benefits Unit, US Embassy in Bogota so they will give me a letter in Spanish that verifies my income.
Step 2:
You need an appointment to go to FBU. Without an appointment you will be turned away at the gate.
As of January 1, 2009, the Federal Benefits Unit operates on an appointments-only-ONLY system. To schedule an appointment or to obtain information, please call (1) 315-0811 from 10:30 to 12:00 p.m. Or send an e-mail to FBUBogota@state.gov(they only answer the phone during these hours Monday through Thursday and you need to speak Spanish or have a translator make the call for you).
Trying to contact them by email doesn't work very well. I tried on March 3rd to get an appointment by email and they responded on June 28 telling me to call their number between 10:30 and 12 M-T.
On the day of the appointment, which is at 10 am with at least 100 other people at the same time, you arrive at the main gate US Embassy. There are 2 armed guards in the street who direct you to 3 armed guards in the reception area. They tell you to go to the back side of the compound to the other gate for FBU. At this gate you will find 3 more guards who will only admit you to the compound if you have an appointment. They will direct you several hundred meters to another guard who will tell you which line to stand in. If you get there a few minutes before 10 a.m. there will already be a hundred people ahead of you.
Eventually you get called in to a Conex box that has been retrofitted as a reception room where two armed guards will search you and take your electronics. They will direct you to another guard where you walk through a scanner and then a body wand. From there you go to the big double doors at FBU where another guard directs you to the big glass door at the back of the atrium. Here you will be body searched again then told to stand in one of 4 lines, each leading to a window. Eventually when you reach the window the person there will take your document and deliver it to a back room to a woman named Cecelia who actually does the translated letter. You are told to wait in the waiting room. After awhile they will call you back to the window and have you sign the translated letter and then you are free to wind your way back out of the compound, reclaim your electronics and get outside where you can go to an Internet café to do the next step.
None of the people you meet at the US Embassy will speak any English, except maybe if you get lucky and get to talk directly to Cecelia. Yes, there are people at the Embassy who speak English, the Ambassador for example, but you won't meet any of them during your FBU visit. Two of my friends did their FBU visits with a Colombiano translator who was allowed to come and go with them.
Step 3:
Go online to
Supercade MRE Legalizacion.You have to have an Internet appointment with Supercade which is part of
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. Make your Internet appointmet at their web page
www.cancilleria.gov.co. Open the web page. There is a menu on the left and one at the top of the page. At the top of the page click on the last category, “Servicios al ciudadano”. A new page with new menu will open. Click on the link that is named,
Agendamiento documentos personales. A page will open with a form you fill out. Under the heading
Documentos a apostillar/legalizar click the little arrow that pops up “Legalizacion” and next to it click on the drop down menu “certificacion”. Then click on “inscriber” which means “submit”. Wait a few minutes and check your email. You will get an email stating the date and time of your appointment. Very important in the email is the 8-digit Code which you will need when you show up at the appointed time. The email you get from MRE will look like this:
Agendamiento Apostilla y LegalizacionesSu cita ha sido agendada a nombre de: AXXXXXX WXXXXX XXE identificado(a) con número: 4XXXXXXX7 para la fecha: 01/07/2010 12:00:00 p.m.(dd/mm/yyyy) en la sede ubicada en el Supercade Calle 13 (calle 13 N°37-35) Bogotá - Colombia.Su código de verificación asignado es: 12000821 téngalo en cuenta en el momento de realizar su trámiteCordialmente,Ministerio de Relaciones ExterioresOnce you have the appointment go there and get them to legalize the letter you got from FBU US Embassy. Nobody speaks English here, either, but you are free to bring a translator.This visit to Supercade will take up most of your morning so you won't have time for Step 4 until tomorrow because MRE closes at noon.Step 4: MRE VISA Headquarters
Today you will need these documents:
Valid passport with at least 3 available pages and good for at least a minimum of 6 months.
Two copies of the passport, including the information pages as well as all used (stamped) pages.
An original Visa Application Form fully signed and completely filled out on BOTH sides.
The Correct Visa Application Form will have in the upper right hand corner CODIGO SC-FO-15, Version 2.
Three recent passport photos on a white background 1.5”x1.5”.
The Certification Letter from Embassy, properly Legalized by Supercade
The MRE where you apply for your Visa is at Carrera 13 NO. 93-68.
They are open from 7:30 to 12:00 except the last Friday of the month they close at 11:00 a.m. You do not need an appointment, just go there and get in line at the door.
STEP 5:
If you have received your Colombian Visa in another country you will have 15 days after entering Colombia to go to DAS to apply for your Cedula.
If you receive your Colombian Visa in Colombia you have 15 days from that date to go to DAS to apply for your Cedula.
STEP 6: Do it all over again every year for 5 years, then all you have to worry about is keeping your Cedula up to date.
If your Cedula expires you are illegal and subject to arrest and some pretty horrendous fines. Even if your Cedula has been renewed but you have not received the new card and your old card has expired you are illegal but less likely to get arrested and fined as long as you can confirm that you are indeed waiting for your new Cedula. The new Cedula can take anywhere from 5 days (Bucaramanga and Bogota) to 5 months in Medellin and 12 months in Pereira.
This has been my experience with steps 1 - 6 for the past two years. There may be changes and other's mileage may vary.
It all sounds pretty simple on paper but the actual process and the travel to and from can be fairly daunting, taking between 5 and 8 days each year.
Based on my experience and sharing knowledge with other expats in Colombia I am recommending that you start the process 2 months before you need the document. Even then there are no guarantees.
AL
