Migrant Visa M (Real Estate Investor) (Colombia): Requirements
Colombia residence route
Migrant Visa M (Real Estate Investor)
Retirees buying Colombian property, which at Colombian prices is an accessible route.
- Income threshold
- No income test
- Minimum age
- None
- Validity
- Up to three years.
- Permanent residence
- Five years of M status
- Processing
- 1 to 3 months after the purchase completes
The financial test in detail
A real estate purchase of at least 350 times the minimum monthly wage, roughly 155,000 to 165,000 U.S. dollars, registered in your name and with the foreign currency inflow properly declared to the central bank.
What the status gives you
- Work rights
- No general work authorisation.
- Citizenship
- Ten years
- Government fees
- Visa: 282 USD.
Your document checklist for this route
6 documents in total, of which 0 need authentication: 0 through the U.S. Department of State and 0 through a Secretary of State.
- U.S. passport Identity and the physical book the visa is placed in. Lead time: Routine renewal takes weeks; check current published times
- Passport-format photographs Every application. Specifications differ by country and are enforced strictly. Lead time: Same day
- National long-stay visa application form The core filing. Almost always country-specific and often only valid if printed from the consulate portal. Lead time: Same day
- Bank and brokerage statements Proof of savings or liquid assets, used either instead of income or alongside it. Lead time: 1 to 10 days
- Private international health insurance certificate Nearly universal. Schengen countries usually require a minimum of EUR 30,000 of coverage valid across the zone; other countries set their own floor. Lead time: 1 to 3 days
- Certified translation of the authenticated set Non-English-speaking destinations require the document and its apostille translated by a translator they recognise. Lead time: 2 to 7 days
Why applications on this route fail
- The foreign exchange declaration to Banco de la República at the time of transfer is mandatory and cannot easily be fixed afterwards. Get a Colombian lawyer involved before you wire funds.
Apply here
- Cancillería visa portal Investor requirements.
- 1 Obtain the record Order certified copies from the issuing authority. Do not use photocopies, scans or hospital souvenir certificates.
- 2 Notarise if required Letters and affidavits need a notary acknowledgement before any state can authenticate them. Government-issued vital records do not.
- 3 County clerk (some states) A handful of states require the county clerk to certify the notary commission before the Secretary of State will act.
- 4 Authenticate State-issued documents go to the Secretary of State of the issuing state. Federal documents go to the U.S. Department of State Office of Authentications.
- 5 Apostille or legalise Hague Convention destination: an apostille finishes the chain. Non-Hague destination: the document then goes to that country embassy or consulate for legalisation. For Colombia the apostille ends the chain.
- 6 Certified translation Translate the document together with its apostille. Translating first means paying twice.
- 7 File with the consulate Book the appointment at the consulate with jurisdiction over your state of residence and bring originals plus copies.
The expensive mistake: translating before the document is authenticated. The apostille or legalisation certificate is itself part of what the receiving government reads, so it has to be inside the translation. Do it the other way round and you pay for the same translation twice.
Migrant Visa M (Real Estate Investor): common questions
How much income do I need for the Migrant Visa M (Real Estate Investor)?
There is no published income test on this route. A real estate purchase of at least 350 times the minimum monthly wage, roughly 155,000 to 165,000 U.S. dollars, registered in your name and with the foreign currency inflow properly declared to the central bank.
Can I work on this visa?
No general work authorisation. This is the field applicants most often misread, and in several countries remote work for a U.S. employer counts as work performed locally.
What documents need an apostille?
For this route we count 0 documents needing authentication: 0 federal, through the U.S. Department of State, and 0 state-issued, through the Secretary of State of the issuing state. Colombia is a Hague Convention country, so an apostille completes the chain.
How long does it take?
1 to 3 months after the purchase completes Among the fastest retirement visa processes in the world, because the entire application is filed online and decided centrally.
Does it lead to permanent residence?
Permanent residence: Five years of M status. Citizenship: Ten years.
Verified Sep 7, 2026
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This resource is provided free by Federal Apostille as an educational tool. It is not legal, tax, immigration or financial advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by using it. Immigration rules, income thresholds, fees and processing times change frequently and often without notice, and consulates apply them differently. Always confirm current requirements with the official government source and the specific consulate that has jurisdiction over your U.S. state of residence before you act. Every figure on this site carries the date we last verified it and a link to the primary source.
