The Visa Transfer Procedure and Transition Regime Set by Resolution 5477 of 2022 | Colombia

The Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs modified the visa regime in the country through Resolution 5477 of 2022. This latest regulation, in addition to repealing the previous Resolution that regulated the issuance of visas in the country, and including significant modifications in terms of visa categories, conditions for obtaining them, requirements for submitting an application, scope, and the procedure for processing applications, also established a relevant change regarding the validity of Permanent Resident (R) visas. This change refers to the obligation of R visa holders to complete a procedure called Visa Transfer every five years.

Under the previous visa regime, established by Resolution 6045 of 2017, the validity of R visas – formerly named Visa type R – was indefinite, and the visa transfer procedure was only applicable when the holder of this visa type wanted to renew the visa label or electronic visa after five years. Thus, it was an optional and facultative procedure.

In this sense, with the entry into force of the latest Resolution, the indefinite validity of Permanent Resident visas was modified, and now its validity period is five years. Additionally, the visa transfer procedure becomes mandatory before the expiry date.

It is vital to highlight that, according to the local regulations in Colombia, the Visa Transfer is a procedure by which the holder of a visa requests the re-issuance of a previously issued visa when meeting specific reasons established in the regulation, such as:

Moreover, Resolution 5477, in its Article 123, includes a transition regime setting, among other things, a specific provision related to the visa transfer procedure for foreigners holding valid R visas issued under the previous visa regime. As part of this transition regime, the rule establishes that they must complete the visa transfer within two years after the entry into force of Resolution 5477 of 2022, meaning that they must complete this no later than 21 October 2024, which, up to that point, seems to be quite understandable. The visa transfer procedure must be started at least one month before the expiry date.

However, Article 106 of the same Resolution, related to the requirements to be able to request the Transfer of Visa, establishes that the holders of R visas issued prior to the current Resolution and who do not request the transfer of the visa before its expiration, must provide an additional document called Salvoconducto Migratorio.

This provision has generated enormous doubts regarding the application of the Salvoconducto requirement because, in the first place, as established by the local migratory regulation, the Salvoconducto Migratorio is a temporary document issued by Migración Colombia to foreigners needing to leave or remain in Colombian territory with lawful immigration status and, considering that, for this visa transfer procedure, the Salvoconducto that would apply will be the one to stay in Colombian territory, it is not clear if this would imply that the holders of these visas would be in a lawful immigration status by not completing the visa transfer procedure previously in order to renew the label, and would have to complete an administrative sanctioning process, prior to requesting the Salvoconducto, or if it is simply a mere formality, to apply for a Visa Transfer.

In any case, this is something that the firm is reviewing directly with the immigration authorities and that the authors hope will be resolved soon in order to comply in a timely manner with this obligation established by Resolution 5477 and its transitional regime.

For information purposes only, the referred transition regime also establishes that all the visas issued prior to the entry into force of Resolution 5477 will remain valid and that the holders of any visas that allowed accumulating time to meet the requirement to obtain permanent residence in Colombia, will have such time accounted for if they have accumulated at least two years of effective permanence in Colombian territory under their previous visas, by the time the latest Resolution entered into force.