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Colombia: visas, tax & cost of living

Move to Colombia with a real digital nomad visa, the 183-day tax rule explained, and a low cost of living for remote workers.

Colombia: visas, tax & cost of living
Your passport

United KingdomColombia

Your move to Colombia on a United Kingdom passport

  • VisitEasyVisa-free entry
  • NomadEasyNomad visa, likely eligible
  • RelocateFairly easyClear residence route

Visiting

Visa-free for up to 90 days. Travel on a passport valid for your whole stay, with a return or onward ticket and proof you can support yourself.

Passport validity: Valid on entry; authorities recommend at least six months beyond planned departure, with a blank page for the stamp.

Heads-up: Check-Mig online form is no longer mandatory and now treated as optional; since 2025 a yellow-fever certificate is required for some land and river travel and entry to many natural parks.

At the border: Onward or return ticket, plus proof of funds and accommodation for some travellers.

Working remotely

Visa V Nomadas Digitales.

Income needed: COP 5,252,715/mo, about US$1,650 (3x the 2026 minimum wage), Visa V Nomadas Digitales (estimate)

Duration: 24 months

Fee: Two payments, set by nationality: a non-refundable study fee when you file, then an issuance fee if it is approved. You get 10 calendar days to pay each one. (estimate)

Who qualifies: Visa V Nomadas Digitales, for remote work done from Colombia exclusively for foreign employers or clients, or your own foreign business. The first gate is your passport, not your salary: article 46 opens the category only to holders of a passport from a country or territory Colombia exempts from a short-stay visa, so nationality decides eligibility before income does. You then show bank statements for the last 3 months with income of at least three times the monthly minimum wage, which is COP 5,252,715 a month in 2026, plus a health policy valid in Colombia covering accident, illness, maternity, disability, hospitalisation, death and repatriation. It never lets you work for or be paid by anyone domiciled in Colombia. If you are visa-exempt and only staying a while, you can skip the visa and enter on a Permiso de Ingreso instead, capped at 180 days per calendar year.

Tax and residency

Staying more than 183 calendar days (days of entry and exit included) in any rolling 365-day window triggers tax residency on worldwide income and worldwide assets; no special nomad regime. Where the stay falls across two tax years, you count as resident from the second one. (estimate)

The UK decides residence with its Statutory Residence Test (days in the UK plus your ties). As a non-resident you are usually taxed only on UK income; where one exists, a double-tax treaty with the destination decides who taxes what.

Double-tax treaty: yes, in force since 2019

Practical

Currency: COP. Cost of living: low.

Healthcare: There is no reciprocal healthcare agreement for foreigners, so you pay for treatment yourself and need private or travel health insurance covering Colombia.

Driving: A foreign licence is generally accepted for short tourist stays up to 180 days, and carrying an International Driving Permit is recommended as a Spanish translation.

Sources: Resolucion 5477 de 2022, art. 46 Visa V Nomadas digitales (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores) · Tipos de visa, including Visa V Nomadas Digitales (Cancilleria) · Countries Colombia exempts from a short-stay visa, per Res. 5488 de 2022 and 3717 de 2023 (Cancilleria) · Visa fees by nationality and activity (Cancilleria) · Decreto 0159 de 19 de febrero de 2026: 2026 monthly minimum wage set at COP 1.750.905 · Estatuto Tributario arts. 9 and 10, tax residence and worldwide income (Gestor Normativo) · Tasa Representativa del Mercado (TRM), official daily rate series · GOV.UK: tax on foreign income · HMRC: double-taxation treaties

Estimates, not advice. Confirm with the official sources before you act.

Should you move to Colombia?

If you earn in dollars or euros, Colombia stretches it a long way. Medellin pulls the biggest nomad crowd thanks to its spring-like weather and walkable neighborhoods like Laureles and El Poblado. Bogota suits anyone who wants a bigger, faster city, and Cali runs cheaper still. A comfortable month usually lands around $1,200 to $2,000, and that covers a good apartment, eating out and ride shares without much thought. Come here if you want warmth, value and a real community without flying to the other side of the world.

Colombia digital nomad visa and entry

Colombia has a real one: the Visa V for digital nomads, created in 2022 for people working remotely for clients or employers outside the country. Check your passport before you check your bank balance, because that is the order the rules work in. Article 46 opens the category only to people who hold a passport from a country Colombia already exempts from a short-stay visa, so if your nationality needs a visa just to visit, this route is closed however much you earn. Clear that gate and the income test is three times the Colombian minimum wage, shown with bank statements covering the last three months. That wage jumped 23% for 2026, which puts the floor at COP 5,252,715 a month, roughly $1,650 at the early September rate. The peso figure is the one fixed in law, and the older dollar numbers still floating around understate it badly. You cannot work for or be paid by anyone based in Colombia on this visa, and it can keep you here up to two years. Plenty of short-stay nomads skip it entirely and come in visa-free instead, which is capped at 180 days per calendar year.

Tax residency and what to check

Here is the line to watch, and it is worth getting the wording exactly right. The statute says more than 183 calendar days in any rolling 365-day window, counting the day you arrive and the day you leave. So 183 days stays on the safe side and 184 tips you over. Cross it and you are generally treated as a tax resident, which pulls your worldwide income and assets into scope, and if the stay straddles two tax years you count as resident from the second one. The nomad visa brings no special tax break of its own, so a lot of people keep their stays short on purpose. The 180-day visa-free cap conveniently sits just under the line. Treat all of this as an estimate, especially the day-counting and any double-tax questions tied to your home country.

Figures are estimates. Always check the official source linked below.

At a glance

Currency
COP
Cost of living
Low
Digital-nomad visa
Yes

Frequently asked questions

Colombia: is there a digital nomad visa?
Visa V Nomadas Digitales. Visa V Nomadas Digitales, for remote work done from Colombia exclusively for foreign employers or clients, or your own foreign business. The first gate is your passport, not your salary: article 46 opens the category only to holders of a passport from a country or territory Colombia exempts from a short-stay visa, so nationality decides eligibility before income does. You then show bank statements for the last 3 months with income of at least three times the monthly minimum wage, which is COP 5,252,715 a month in 2026, plus a health policy valid in Colombia covering accident, illness, maternity, disability, hospitalisation, death and repatriation. It never lets you work for or be paid by anyone domiciled in Colombia. If you are visa-exempt and only staying a while, you can skip the visa and enter on a Permiso de Ingreso instead, capped at 180 days per calendar year.
Colombia: when do you become a tax resident?
Staying more than 183 calendar days (days of entry and exit included) in any rolling 365-day window triggers tax residency on worldwide income and worldwide assets; no special nomad regime. Where the stay falls across two tax years, you count as resident from the second one.
Colombia: what is the cost of living?
The cost of living is low and the local currency is the COP. Treat any figures as estimates.
Colombia: do you need health insurance?
There is no reciprocal healthcare agreement for foreigners, so you pay for treatment yourself and need private or travel health insurance covering Colombia.
Colombia: can you drive on a foreign licence?
A foreign licence is generally accepted for short tourist stays up to 180 days, and carrying an International Driving Permit is recommended as a Spanish translation.

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