How Long Can Tourists Stay in Colombia? The 90-Day Permit and 180-Day Limit

If your passport is visa-exempt (US, Canadian and UK passports are, at the time of writing), you can usually stay in Colombia as a tourist for up to 90 days on the entry permit Migración Colombia grants at the border. You can then apply for an extension, keeping your total within 180 days per calendar year. The count runs January 1 to December 31, continuous or not, and starts fresh each January 1.

That's the short answer. The details are where people get caught out. The officer decides how many days you get. Extensions aren't automatic. And trips that straddle New Year are planned differently from trips that don't. Here's how it works, and how to use the January reset if you're planning an early-2027 stay.

The two permits: entry and extension

Visa-exempt visitors don't get a visa. They get permits from Migración Colombia, the immigration agency that runs the airports and land borders. Two names matter:

Neither permit lets you work for a Colombian employer. If your plans go beyond tourism, look at the visa options in our guide to Colombia visa types.

How the 180-day calendar-year limit works

Migración Colombia's own description of the extension says your time in the country can't exceed 180 days within the same calendar year, whether the days are continuous or spread across several trips. Three things follow from that:

• It's a calendar year, not a rolling year. The window is January 1 to December 31. It doesn't run 365 days back from today.
• Every day counts, on every trip. Leaving for a weekend in Panama and coming back doesn't reset anything. The days you've already spent still count toward the year's total.
• Some days need an extension. The entry permit covers the first block. Getting past it requires an approved extension, and the total still can't pass 180.

Example: you arrive March 1 and receive 90 days. If you want to stay through summer, you apply for an extension before your permit ends. If you leave in July and want to come back in November, you only have whatever remains of your 180 for that year.

Extending your stay with Migración Colombia

Migración Colombia describes the extension as a fully electronic process. You fill in its online form, called the e-FUT, on the official Migración Colombia website, pay the fee, and receive the approved extension by email. Its published service portfolio lists a processing time of up to three business days from payment.

1. Check your dates. Find the last day of your current permit and count how many days you've already spent in Colombia this calendar year.
2. Apply before your permit expires. Don't wait until the last day. Migración's page states the current application window, so read it when you apply.
3. Use only the official site. Go to the e-FUT form on migracioncolombia.gov.co directly, not through a link someone sent you.
4. Pay the fee. Migración sets its fees each year and publishes them. Some nationalities are exempt, including nationals of Schengen countries covered by a visa-exemption agreement with Colombia.
5. Save the approval. Keep the email and a printout or screenshot. You may be asked for it when you leave.

If the online route doesn't work for your case, Migración says the extension can be handled in person at one of its offices with your original passport. In Medellín, that means booking ahead at the regional Migración office rather than just turning up.

Planning an early-2027 trip around the January 1 reset

Because the count runs January to December, the start of the year is a natural planning point. If you used most of your 2026 allowance, your 2027 allowance starts again on January 1. A few practical points:

• Arriving on or after January 1, 2027 puts the whole trip in a fresh calendar year, which is the simplest case.
• If you arrive in December and stay into January, the days fall across two calendar years. How Migración counts that particular stay, and how it affects an extension, is a question to confirm with Migración Colombia before you rely on it.
• If you've used nearly all of your 180 days in 2026, don't count on squeezing in a late-December visit. The border officer will see your history.
• If you expect to need more than 180 days in 2027, plan a visa now instead of hoping extensions will cover it.

Rules can change from one year to the next. Before you book, follow the steps in our guide to checking current Colombia visa requirements, and confirm the stay rules for your passport on Cancillería's and Migración's sites.

Before you fly: Check-MIG and what to carry

Migración Colombia runs an online pre-registration form called Check-MIG. It collects your trip details and can be filed from 72 hours up to one hour before departure. Recent reporting says it isn't mandatory for air travel, but Migración recommends it, especially at busy times. These requirements have changed more than once, so check the Migración site the week you travel.

Officers can ask questions on arrival. Have answers and documents ready:

• A passport valid for your whole stay. Check your airline's passport-validity rules too.
• A return or onward ticket.
• Where you'll be staying, at least for the first nights.
• A rough idea of your plans and how you'll support yourself.

Three common planning scenarios

Most long-stay questions we get fit one of these patterns. Use them to sanity-check your own dates, then confirm the specifics with Migración Colombia.

The single long winter

You arrive in early January and want to stay into June. Your entry permit covers the first block. Before it ends, you apply online for an extension. As long as the whole stay fits within 180 days in that calendar year, this is the cleanest pattern, because all the days fall in one year.

Two or three shorter trips

You come for a few weeks in spring, a month in summer and again before the holidays. Each entry gets its own permit, but every day counts toward the same 180-day total for the year. Keep a simple log of entry and exit dates, since the border officer can see your history even if you've lost track.

The trip that crosses New Year

You arrive in November and want to stay until March. This is the case where people get confused, because the stay spans two calendar years. Don't assume the January reset hands you a fresh 90 days mid-stay. Ask Migración how your days will be counted and whether you'll need an extension, and get the answer before you book a non-refundable return flight.

What happens if you overstay

Staying past the days you were granted, without an approved extension, puts you in an irregular immigration status. Migración Colombia can impose fines and other sanctions, and an overstay can make future entries and visa applications harder. Cancillería's visa process also requires you to be in a regular status if you apply from inside Colombia.

If you realize you're about to overstay, act before the date, not after. Contact Migración Colombia directly about your options. If something serious happened, such as a medical emergency, Migración has an exceptional document called a salvoconducto (a temporary safe-conduct permit) for specific situations. It's for real emergencies, not a routine way to stay longer.

When a tourist permit isn't the right tool

Tourist permits are for visits. If you're starting to plan your life around Colombia, the permit system will feel tight quickly. You might be working remotely full-time, living on a pension, or wanting to rent a place for a year. A visa gives you a clear legal basis, a longer stay, and after registration a cédula de extranjería (foreigner ID card) that makes daily life much easier. Our guide to getting your cédula after visa approval explains that step.

Visa applications have their own pitfalls. Reading up on why Colombian visa applications get rejected before you apply can save you a non-refundable study fee and months of waiting. Not sure whether to keep extending or switch to a visa? Tell us your plans and dates.