Colombia M Pensionado Visa

The M Pensionado visa is a Migrant (M) visa for foreigners with a lifelong pension from a state or a private pension fund. It's often listed as the M-11 visa, a code that doesn't appear in the current rules, Article 77 of Resolution 5477 of 2022.

• Status: active
• Pension: at least three monthly minimum wages (SMMLV), which is COP 5,252,715 a month in 2026
• Length: up to 3 years
• Work: not allowed
• Fees: $56 plus $204

Time on this visa counts toward permanent residence. The Colombia guide compares it with the other routes.

• Who: foreigners with steady monthly income from a pension granted by a state or a private pension fund.
• Pension: a lifelong monthly pension of at least three SMMLV. With the 2026 minimum wage of COP 1,750,905 a month, that's COP 5,252,715 a month. The amount rises every Jan. 1 with the minimum wage.
• Work: No. The visa doesn't allow work in Colombia or, except under social security agreements, enrollment in the Colombian social security system.

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 77):

• A certificate of the lifelong monthly pension, for at least COP 5,252,715, from the paying body, apostilled and translated, or issued by the diplomatic mission of the country that grants the pension.
• Criminal record certificates from every country where the applicant lived in the last three years, apostilled or legalized and translated.
• A medical certificate of physical and mental fitness, from a Colombian authority or the health authority of the country of origin.
• Cover within the Colombian health system, or health insurance valid in Colombia for the planned stay, covering accident, illness, maternity, disability, hospitalization, death and repatriation.

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.

Other costs: health insurance, the medical certificate, criminal record checks, apostilles, translations 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.
• Renewal: A new M Pensionado visa can be requested while the pension continues; no official cap.
• Residence: Yes. After 5 years as an M Pensionado holder the applicant can request the Resident (R) visa; an R visa held by a pensioner still carries no work permit.

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.

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 pensioners, and Colombia publishes no pensioner-specific tax guidance for visa holders. 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.