Dear Trainee, Congratulations for being selected to have an Internship in Colombia! We assure you a great time full of cultural and unforgettable experiences. The purpose of this document is to provide information of the VISA PROCESS which, according to XXPs you are the sole and final responsible AIESEC in Colombia is committed to providing all the support to make the process of visa, provided you follow these instructions correctly: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Step one: Send the documents required Step two: Wait for your visa Step three: Sending your visa Step four: Get Visa Step five: Come to Colombia Step six: After your arrival in Colombia Some Useful Information
GIP VISA PROCESS Foreign nationals who wish to visit or stay in Colombia must obtain the permits necessary to do so. Such authorization consist of a Visa issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia. It is a discretional competence of the Colombian government, founded in the principle of State sovereignty to authorize the entrance, stay and exit of foreigners from the national territory. Without prejudice of international treaties, the entrance, stay and exit of foreigners from the national territory will be ruled by Decree 0834 of 2013. The national authority in charge of Visa expedition has the power to request interviews and additional supporting documents, in the case it deems appropriate. The notification of this request may be done personally or through any other form of communication. All supporting documents for visas, in Colombia or abroad, must be Apostilled or Legalized and translated by an official translator, if in a language different to Spanish. Documents issued in Colombia that support or are part of the requisites for a visa requested at a Colombian consulate abroad does not require being Apostilled or Legalized. In the event there is a mistake in the visa issued, as long as they are of typing, mechanic and/or spelling nature or those who do not affect the essential data the holder counts with a maximum of 30 days to request its correction. After the initial 30 days the holder must request the transfer of the visa which has a fee. Important information VISA Type: VISA TP6 This is a special type of visa that government provides for volunteers that come with international not for profit organizations in Colombia. VISA fee: USD $ 250 and visa study USD $50 Step One: Send the documents required In order to get this letter issued, you should send the following documents at 2 weeks before your internship start date to AIESEC in Colombia MC office. Send the following documents by the next link and completed the information:
http://podio.com/webforms/2547711/185931 A scanned copy of International Health Insurance that cover the whole internship duration; A scanned copy of your Passport (main page) Confirmation of at least 500 USD of your bank account to ensure that you are able to live in Colombia for the first month. Acknowledgement letter: is a document that ensures that you have read the letter to trainee, the memodeal, sent the documents, and that you know that AIESEC is not responsible for problems resulting from the delay in the visa process or denial of it. You need to sign it and send us the scan. (Find in the VISA PROCESS wiki-EP document need) If we don’t receive ALL the documents mentioned above we will not be able to start visa process which means you won’t be able to come to Colombia on time. If you didn’t send the all the documents in time, AIESEC in Colombia will not take the responsibility of any consequence of that. You can download some templates from the official wiki of visa process at myaiesec.net. 2. Step two: Sending your visa After we receive all the requested documents, AIESEC in Colombia will deliver 3 letters and a legal certificate so you can enclose them along with your visa application. Please bear in mind that each consulate is free to request any furrther documents that vary by country. Important information In special cases where the counties have a migratory bilateral restriction with Colombia, the embassy will need the original document, in this case the original copy of the documentation will be sent via mail to the consulate which usually takes 1 week, IMPORTANT: you need to pay the fee for mailing which will be taken out form the first month’s salary. We strongly suggest you to keep a copy or a scan of your documents as most of the embassy will keep them. However you might still need to show them when you are taking a plane out of the country or for some other situation.
PLEASE HAVE INTO ACCOUNT: 1. Don’t buy the fly ticket if you don’t have the visa yet. 2. As we mentioned before AIESEC in Colombia is not in charged for issue the visa, but will help you to get it. THE FINAL RESPONSIBLE FOR THE VISA ACCORDING TO AIESEC INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE POLICIES IS THE EXCHANGE PARTICIPANT.
3. The only entity that can respond to the time of your visa is through the national office of the coordinator of national visas. Any other time information provided by any other person is not valid. 3. Step three: Apply for your visa After you receive such letters, it’s time for you to apply online. You must follow the instructions given by the Online Visa Application System from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We have enclosed the guidelines for such system. 4. Step four: Get your Visa The ministry will contact you afterwards every documentation is received, please make sure you bring any further documentation requested. You can usually pick up your visa after a week at Colombian consulates abroad. We strongly suggest you email or telephone the consulate to make sure about the application process and the required documents before you head out to the consulate. The consulate has a maximum term of 30 days to respond to the request. We advise you to be very friendly but also have constant communication because the applicant will always be the end responsible for visa issuance. Generally you will need the following documents: (http://www.cancilleria.gov.co/services/colombia/visas/courtesy) VISA application form; 2 or 3 pictures with white background, size 3x3 cm; Photocopies of Passport (main page and all used pages) The organizational Acceptance Note ( Original copy or printed version) Flight reservation (This is optional, various according to countries) – not the tickets a reservation. The required documents could change according to countries even consulates, for more information please feel free to consult the one nearest your current location. When you are applying for the visa, please DON’T MENTION THAT you come to work for a company. If you do you will be asked to apply to get a WORK VISA which requires additional documents and a fee approximately of 500 USD. It is important to understand that you are accepted by AIESEC to do an INTERNSHIP for self-development. You will not gain a salary from the company but AIESEC in Colombia will give you a support by providing a monthly allowance to maintain your
life in Colombia (which will be as agreed on TN FORM). The visa only allows you to do the internship in the company or institution where you applied for and you cannot take any other work besides that. Please be careful on this matter, if national authorities know you are working in any other job your visa will be void and you will be asked to leave the country. Please be very clear about this information, otherwise it would bring confusion to the consulate and that will bring problems to ensure your visa issuance. 5. Step five: Come to Colombia Please confirm to your LC when you´re going to arrive to Colombia. Check out Colombia online booklet and inform you more about Colombia. http://issuu.com/anavela11/docs/colombiab 6. Step six. After your arrival in Colombia: The foreigner that has obtained a visa must observe the limitations imposed by national laws in regards to his/her establishment in determined areas of the country and exercise activities. There are some things related to legality that you need to accomplish when you arrive in Colombia: Register in the immigration office: Any traveler possessing a Colombian visa with more than three months’ validity must register the visa at a Migración Colombia (Immigration office of Colombia) within 15 days of arrival in Colombia otherwise you will face fines when you are leaving Colombia. (i.e you arrive the 2nd of July, you must appear in Migracion Colombia until de 17 th of July). Get foreigner ID: Once the visa is registered, the immigration office will issue a foreigner’s identity card to the foreigner. This document serves the foreigner as identification within Colombia and allows him/her to open a bank account and carry out different operations. You will pay around 80 USD for this. The foreigner must keep it with him at all times during his stay in the country as it could be asked by police officers. Your local committee will accompany you to get the foreign ID but it’s fee its your responsibility. To obtain the ID card, you need the following documents: O Valid Passport and one (1) photocopy of its main page with biography. O Two(2) photocopies of the Visa and one (1) photocopy of the entrance to
the country stamps (note: One photocopy of the Visa is for the application of foreign ID and the other one is for the certificate which you will need to get the ID card as a receipt). O Request Form O Three (3) photos 3x4 cm, blue background O Blood Grouping Test (Rh) and a photocopy of the results o Application forms Apply for a local Health services organization: this will help you have immediate assistance in case of emergencies and avoid long paper work from the International Health Insurance which will be used in extreme cases; this does not mean that you do not have to get one International health insurance card. This service will be paid by the trainee and we are going to take it from your salary. It cost around 50 USD monthly. Please consider it is mandatory by law that all people in Colombia have one, despite of the fact they are national or foreign citizens. The Host Local Committee in agreement with the National Committee will help you to get a VISA debit card the next week after you get your foreigner ID card. Memo-deal signed: When you get to Colombia you have to sign the MEMODEAL. Read the MEMODEAL a requirement in order to align expectations before coming to Colombia. You will find this document in AIESEC WIKI. 7. Some Useful Information AIESEC in Colombia Visa coordinator: visas.aiesec@gmail.com Migración Colombia Bogotá office: Calle 100 No. 11B-27; Working hour: For Bogotá and Medellín: Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Rest of the Country: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Place to get blood tested near the Migración Colombia in Bogotá: Cr 14 No. 98-95, 2nd floor As you will not get your payment until the first days of second month in your internship, you’d better bring enough money to pay your rent and other life expenses. We recommend you to take between 500USD to 900USD. The visa can be issued for everybody for one year. If it is issued for a shorter term and your internship requires you to stay longer, it can be easily prolonged for the same fee, but the whole period of the visa validity and extensions can't exceed 1 year in total. So also AIESEC Internship could be prolonged only until 1 year in total. In such case, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly recommends to request a new visa with a minimum of 30 days before the expiry of your current visa. If you would like to stay in Colombia longer and work for your, or other organization you need to apply for normal working permit, and AIESEC in
Colombia won’t and can’t facilitate your visa process for that. OUR BEST REGARDS FOR YOUR STAY IN COLOMBIA!!!