Article September 21, 2020

Alert! Migración Colombia Offices Reactivation Begins

After more than five months of suspension from Migración Colombia services due to the pandemic, the offices’ activities are finally gradually resuming under the guidelines of Resolution 2223.

Reactivated services

With the Resolution 2223 of 2020, after September 21, the gradual reactivation of the following services begins:

Foreign ID Card (Cédula de Extranjería)
Foreigner Registration
Certificate of Migratory Movements
(Salvoconductos)
Extension of Temporary Permits of Permanence

Onsite attention

Personal appointments will be scheduled through the Migration system. People without appointments will not be attended to in the immigration office. This follows all the biosafety protocols and guarantees the well-being of the entity’s officials and users.

Execution time

Foreigners will have a timeframe from September 21, 2020, to December 15, 2020, to make a gradual transition, achieve the organized and progressive scheduling of appointments, and complete the pending procedures with immigration authorities.

Regarding the Temporary Permits of Permanence, the previous term does NOT apply, but the following guidelines will rule them:

The counting of time in the national territory is resumed for foreigners who have Permit to Enter and Stay (PIP), which are tourism stamps.

Foreigners with Entry and Permanence Permits whose expiration has occurred during the Health Emergency, will have one (1) month from next October 1 to renew their permit (PTP), process a visa, or voluntarily leave the country without generating any immigration offense.

Sanctions

There will be no immigration fines or sanctions for visa expiration, entry permit, extension, visa registration, and Cédula de Extranjería processing during the mandatory isolation decreed by the National Government. However, those foreigners who do not carry out the immigration processes that are pending within the terms established in this resolution 2223 will incur a cause of immigration violation and will be charged with the respective sanctions.

Here are some examples to help you understand better

Tourism Extension

If James entered Colombia with a 90-day tourism permit, and his first 90 days expired during the State of Emergency, what should he do?

James will have one month from October 1, to request the extension of stay (acquire another 90 days of tourism), apply for a Colombian visa type V, M, or R, or leave the country without paying any fine.

Cédula de Extranjería

If Elizabeth got a Colombian visa during quarantine and she currently has her electronic visa, what is the next step to complete her application correctly?

Elizabeth will have from September 21 to December 15 to request an appointment at Migración Colombia to register her electronic visa and request the issuance of her Cédula de Extranjería. Remember that the Cédula de Extranjería is an obligation for foreigners with valid visas for more than 3 months.

What about foreigners who had already requested the tourism extension before the start of the quarantine to complete their 180 days of tourism allowed in Colombia this year?

Unfortunately, Resolution 2223 is ambiguous about foreigners with expired tourist visa extensions during the quarantine. They may be limited to being in Colombia until the end of October; that is, in case they do not get a visa from another category, they must legally leave the country. Besides, we don’t have confirmation yet if foreigners leaving the country can return this year with a tourism stamp, although this would be normal if they still had tourism days available for 2020.

However, if we have different news or changes to this information, we will update this article accordingly and share the news with you.