Colombia M Socio o Propietario Visa

The M Socio o Propietario visa is a Migrant (M) visa for foreigners who have set up a company in Colombia or bought into the capital of an operating company. It's often listed as the M-6 visa, a code that doesn't appear in the current rules, Article 75 of Resolution 5477 of 2022.

• Status: active
• Investment: at least 100 monthly minimum wages (SMMLV) of paid-in capital, which is COP 175,090,500 in 2026
• Length: up to 3 years, as long as the shareholding is kept
• Work: only in the holder's own company
• Fees: $56 plus $204

Time on this visa counts toward permanent residence. Investors buying property or making larger direct investments use the M Inversionista visa instead, and the Colombia guide compares all the options.

• Who: foreigners who founded a company in Colombia or acquired a stake in the capital of an operating commercial company.
• Investment: not less than 100 SMMLV at the date of application. With the 2026 minimum wage of COP 1,750,905 a month, that's COP 175,090,500. The amount rises every Jan. 1 with the minimum wage.
• Not eligible: shares bought on the secondary market.
• Work: Yes, only in the company the holder owns or is a partner in. Regulated professions still need their local license.

Family: the main holder can request beneficiary visas for a spouse or permanent partner and for financially dependent children under 25. Beneficiary visas end with the main visa and don't allow work (Article 93).

General requirements for every visa (Article 24):

• The online form, with a recent color photo on a white background, no larger than 300 KB.
• A passport valid at least six more months, with a copy of the biographical page.
• Applicants already in Colombia: the page with the latest entry stamp, or Migración Colombia's equivalent entry record.
• Applicants in a third country: proof of legal stay there.

Specific to this visa (Article 75):

• A letter giving the company's name, address and tax number (NIT), its main activity and the number of direct jobs it creates.
• Proof of the company's formation, the stake or the registered foreign investment, worth at least COP 175,090,500, with bank statements.
• For companies with shares: a certificate of shareholding signed by a public accountant, showing the paid-in capital owned by the applicant.
• Mining and energy companies: the relevant mining title.
• Second and later visas: proof the company is active and solvent, such as bank statements for the last three months, the income tax return, social security payments, a lease or local business tax receipts.

Under Article 21, documents issued abroad need an apostille or legalization and an official Spanish translation. Bank statements are exempt when they're in an official language of the Organization of American States, such as English.

• Study fee: $56, paid when the application is filed and not refundable.
• Issuance fee: $204, paid only if the visa is approved.

Both come from Resolution 3969 of 2026, in force since April 1, 2026. Lower euro amounts apply when the fees are paid in the euro zone or Cuba. Some nationalities pay less under reciprocity: Japanese and South Korean nationals pay only the study fee. Beneficiaries apply for visas of their own, with their own fees.

The investment itself, COP 175,090,500 or more in 2026, comes on top, as do apostilles, translations, an accountant's certificate and the cédula de extranjería.

Where to apply: Online through the Cancillería visa application platform (Solicitud de visa en línea), from inside or outside Colombia.

1. Fill in the online visa form and upload the documents.
2. Pay the study fee within the deadline the platform gives. An unpaid application is treated as withdrawn.
3. Cancillería decides within 30 days of a complete, paid application, or longer when it consults other agencies. It can ask for missing documents up to three times, or call the applicant to an interview.
4. If the visa is approved, pay the issuance fee within the deadline, and the electronic visa is issued.
5. Holders of visas valid more than three months register with Migración Colombia and get a foreigner ID card (cédula de extranjería).

Applicants inside Colombia have to keep a legal status for the whole time the application is under study (Article 13).

• Length: up to 3 years. The visa lasts only while the shareholding is kept.
• Renewal: A new visa can be requested; second and later applications must show the company is active and solvent (bank statements, tax return, social security payments, lease or local tax receipts).
• Residence: Yes. After 5 years as an M Socio o Propietario holder the applicant can request the Resident (R) visa.

For the time to count, each new visa has to be granted before the previous one expires (Article 90). Meeting the five years doesn't guarantee the Resident visa, and holders must report any change in the circumstances behind their visa to Cancillería (Article 84).

Time abroad: an M visa ends automatically if the holder spends more than 180 days in a row outside Colombia within any year counted from the visa's issue date (Article 65).

The visa carries no special tax regime for the holder, and the company pays Colombian business taxes of its own. Tax residence depends on days in the country. Under the Tax Statute, a person who spends more than 183 days, continuous or not, in Colombia within any 365-day period is tax resident. When that period spans two tax years, residence applies in the second.

Residents are taxed on income from Colombian and foreign sources and on assets held in and outside the country (Article 9). Non-residents are taxed only on Colombian-source income. Anyone who expects to pass the threshold should check the filing rules and any tax treaty with their home country with the tax authority (DIAN) or an adviser.