Azerbaijan and Colombia signed a mutual visa waiver for standard passports Sept. 23

Azerbaijan and Colombia agreed to eliminate visa requirements for ordinary passport holders Sept. 23, 2026, but the bilateral pact remains inactive until both foreign ministries complete formal implementation procedures.

Terms of the UN General Assembly agreement

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo signed the bilateral treaty on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly session in New York. The document formally establishes mutual visa exemptions for citizens traveling on standard passports, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed.

The agreement focuses exclusively on ordinary passport holders. It doesn't alter existing frameworks for official, service or diplomatic passports, nor does it create provisions for emergency travel documents or refugee travel certificates. The text also creates no separate residency, study, employment or digital nomad rights in either country.

Exchange conditions delaying entry into force

The signing ceremony doesn't establish an immediate visa-free travel corridor. Under the implementation rules reported by Azerbaijani and Colombian authorities, the treaty takes effect only after both governments conclude two administrative steps:

• Formal exchange of physical passport specimens

• Mutual delivery and verification of diplomatic notes (notas verbales)

Neither government has published a binding implementation date, nor have they released the final treaty text. Key operational details remain unconfirmed, including the maximum duration of stay per visit, single versus multiple entry permissions, passport validity thresholds and whether either nation requires domestic legislative ratification before exchanging notes.

Baseline entry rules across both corridors

Until the diplomatic notes are exchanged, travelers must navigate the pre-existing, asymmetrical entry frameworks maintained by each country.

Under Colombia's Resolution 5488 of 2022, Azerbaijani citizens already hold short-stay visa exemption for tourism, transit and unpaid business activities for up to 90 days, with the potential to extend up to 180 days through Migración Colombia. The newly signed treaty will eventually place this access on a reciprocal treaty footing, but it doesn't expand Colombia's existing domestic parameters.

In contrast, Colombian ordinary passport holders traveling to Baku must continue securing standard visas. Azerbaijan previously granted 90-day exemptions only to Colombian diplomatic, official and service passport holders. Anyone planning travel should review Azerbaijan's entry requirements, where standard visas require an application, payment of state fees and a passport valid for at least three months beyond the intended departure date.

Practical steps for travelers and remote workers

Airlines and border control checkpoints will continue enforcing prior visa policies until both foreign ministries issue official notices of entry into force.

Colombian travelers with upcoming itineraries to Azerbaijan must apply for appropriate entry visas rather than relying on news reports of the signed treaty. Azerbaijani passport holders entering Colombia can proceed under the standard 2022 visa exemption rules, provided their stay involves no Colombian salary or local remuneration. Remote workers in both jurisdictions must note that short-stay visitor exemptions don't authorize local employment, contract work with domestic firms or long-term residency.