Applying for a TP10 Partner Visa in Colombia can seem overwhelming, especially if it takes you by surprise because you have a passport that allows you to travel worldwide without any hassle.
Colombia visa requirements
Do you need a Visa for Colombia? If you have a passport for the EU, U.K, Canada, Australia and U.S you are exempt from needing a tourist Visa for 90 days, considering you have a return ticket back home. So you don’t need a visa if you are visiting Colombia for less than 90 days and have a return ticket home.
Do I need a visa to go to Colombia?
To visit for under 90 days, no. To live? Yes, you do need a Visa. Many expats get visas through their companies, others as entrepreneurs, but the easiest is by far for love. Why? Because the TP10 Partner visa lasts 3 years, and after 5 years of being under TP10, you can apply for residency. Easy Peasy!
Like many other expats, I came here for love, so it’s only natural that my partner helps me with all the paperwork for me to live in this country!
Let me reassure you that living in Colombia for love seems to be the easiest way to get your visa. In a few easy steps, you will be on your way to becoming a resident with you shiny new TP10 Partner Visa.
1. Validate your marriage or relationship in the eyes of the Colombian government.
This means that you will have to Google a nearby ‘notario’ or notary and provide a copy of your passport along with the proof of your relationship (be it a marriage certificate or letter from the both of you stating you have been living together for x amount of time).
Call the ‘notario’, schedule and appointment and ask exactly what documents are needed as they each have different requirements and some ask for hard-to-get paperwork. I called around and went with the one that asked for the bare minimum (Passport and a personal letter stating that we were living together). For around $120,000 pesos they provided me with a notarized document validating our relationship.
2. Go to the Cancillería with your partner, passports, and notarized document.
No appointment required. The administration fee is $50 which is paid upon entering and be ready to wait quite a bit. You will be invited with your partner to a small interview to verify your relationship and be told to wait while your documents are reviewed.
If your visa is accepted, you will pay $205 or the equivalent in Colombian Pesos and receive your Visa inside your passport that same day.
I was surprised by 3 things when applying for my TP10 Partner Visa:
- From the ‘notario’ to the ‘cancillería’ everything was to be paid in cash only. No cards were accepted.
- It was extremely quick and easy.
- My TP10 Partner visa is valid for 3 years, after which 5 years of being a resident I can apply for Colombian citizenship.
NOTE: Within 15 days of having your visa you must register at the Migración Colombia for your ‘Cédula de Extranjería’ or Colombia I.d. If you bring all the correct paperwork (which I downloaded from their website) as it seemed many in line did not do, you should be in and out in 30 minutes or less.
**UPDATE June 28, 2016**
As of this year, the requirements of a TP10 Visa have changed.
Here is what you need BEFORE going to the notary and beginning the process:
1.Original birth certificate of the person asking for the TP10 Visa.
Birth certificate must be certified in home country and translated by an official translator here in Colombia (You can have the translation done at the Cancillería)
2.Visa entry stamps into Colombia.
3.Proof of living with your partner for more than 2 years.
This can be anything from a letter from the landlord that states you lived together, or if you lived abroad, matching passport entry stamps for the country you both lived in. If you don’t have this, ask what other proof can be used, notaries are flexible.
TIP: I suggest you choose a notary close to your office or home as every notary asks for slightly different paperwork and you might have to go back and forth a few times. Ah, sweet Colombia, how organized you are!
Hope this helps!
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11 comments
Hi,
I was married here in Medellin Colombia by a notary on the 31st August 2016.
I am wanting to apply for a TP-10 Visa to stay longer in Colombia with my husbands family before we go
To Australia.
Do I still need a copy of my birth certificate translated
As that was required by the notary before we
Got married or is my Colombian marriage certificate and passport enough?
Thankyou
You may have more success using a lawyer rather than a notaria, but it will probably cost more, for reasons that I can’t imagine. I used Visasamericanas.com in their Bogota office a couple of years ago and it went through quickly.
We just called every single Notaria in Bogota over the past 2 hours and ALL of them ask for original copies of both of our birth certificates, legalized and mine appostilled, single status document & passports. The same documents which are requiered for marriage which we were not able to get in time. This was our last option.
I think you need to update your blog because we have wasted so much money on our efforts. I think you have a responsibility to give accurate information to your readers. It may have worked in your case but as I sit next to my devastated fiancé, I can honestly say that applying for a TP10 visa with JUST written letters and your passports does NOT work.
Hi John, I’m sorry about your experience. As I stated in my previous response to your comment: “As of this year I have been told that there have been a few modifications and that it is not as easy as when I did it.”
Best of luck to you.
Hi there,
My partner and I (she is Colombian and I am Canadian) have planned to be married before my current tourist visa expires but due to some miscommunication, the documents were not authenticated so the wedding needs to be pushed back. We’ve been together since late 2014 so when I came across your article, it came as a sign of relief. Obviously leaving the country is last resort because we have already started a life together in Medellin. My tourist visa expires in 25 days (well, I would need to leave or get it extended) so we are going to try and tackle everything this week. Could you be so kind as to further explain the “letter” which you had written? Were you fluent in Spanish by the time you did all of this? I am not so my partner will be helping me. Did your letter need to be in Spanish? Thank you for your help – as you know, there isn’t much clear information to be found!
Another thing I wanted to add was that we are living in Medellin – would that make things different or do you think it would be generally the same?
Thanks again!
Same thing applies.
The letter simply stated that we had been together since X years and that we lived under the same address. It was signed by the both of us.
As of this year I have been told that there have been a few modifications and that it is not as easy as when I did it.
Hi,
We arrived in Bogota and have been disappointed to find out that the Marital de Hecho we received in Medellin was incorrect so now we’re desperately trying to find a notaria that will give us one but they are all asking for very hard to get documents. Such as legalized papers from Canada which we do not have. We are systematically calling all the notaries but so far we have no luck. We’ve spent lots of money on this trip – do you know which notaries to suggest? We are desperate and so tired of people saying no to us!
Thank you again if you can help us.
John
Wow, I am quite amazed it was that fast! I need to get it done as well, but in France with a PACS… I hope it’ll be as easy as yours but somehow I wonder…!!
I have many friends in France who have gotten the PACS. Supposedly very easy! I wish you luck 😉