Colombia Student Visa (Visa V Estudiante): 2026 Requirements, Cost and Rules

It's the V Estudiante, one of the visitor (V) visa categories. It's for studying in person, online or at a distance at any level: arts or trades, preschool through secondary school, vocational training (educación para el trabajo y desarrollo humano) and higher education. It also covers student internships and academic exchanges under agreements between universities.¹

Not if your passport is visa-exempt for short stays and you'll be in Colombia for 180 calendar days or less (short stays: up to 90 days, extendable to 180). Art. 36 exempts those students from the V Estudiante.¹ US, Canadian and UK passports are on the exempt list, along with Spain, Portugal and many other European countries.²

Your days still count toward the yearly limit Migración Colombia applies to visitors. Read our 90/180-day rule guide before you book a long Spanish course.

You do need the visa if your course runs past 180 days, or if your nationality needs a visa even for short trips. A US F-1 student visa doesn't change this; Colombia's rules depend on your passport. Our green card holders guide explains who is visa-exempt.

Already in Colombia on another visa of 90 days or more (other than tourist or airport transit)? That visa already lets you study, so you may not need a separate student visa.¹

Art. 36 lists five specific requirements¹:

1. The general visitor-visa requirements in art. 31 (applying on your own) or art. 32 (applying with backing from an institution). See the next section.
2. A certificate of admission or enrollment (certificado de admisión o matrícula) from the school, naming the program or grade and how long it lasts.
3. For an internship (práctica estudiantil, paid or unpaid), a letter from the school approving it and giving its length.
4. Health insurance (póliza de salud) covering you in Colombia for accident, illness, maternity, disability, hospitalization, death and repatriation, for your whole stay. Our health insurance guide covers what the policy needs to show.
5. For a second or later student visa, a certificate from the school that you attended and finished the course the previous visa was for.

Every visa also needs the online application form, a digital photo on a white background, and a passport valid for at least 6 more months. If you apply from inside Colombia, add the page with your latest entry stamp.¹

Supporting documents other than your passport must be dated within 3 months of the application. Documents issued abroad need an apostille or legalization, plus an official Spanish translation if they're in another language.¹ See our apostille guide.

That depends on who backs your application.

On your own (art. 31). You write a letter explaining what you'll study, where, and for how long. You show bank statements for the last 6 months with monthly income of at least 10 minimum wages. With the 2026 minimum wage at COP 1,750,905, that's COP 17,509,050 a month. If a Colombian or a permanent resident (R visa holder) invites and pays for you, their statements can count instead, and they sign a letter, with fingerprint, taking financial responsibility.¹³

Backed by an institution (art. 32). The school or another legal entity (persona jurídica) applies for you. Its legal representative signs a letter covering who you are, what you'll do, how long you'll stay, and who pays your costs, and commits to your return home. The institution shows 3 months of bank statements; a public entity, such as a state university, doesn't need to. Art. 32 sets no minimum for the student, but Cancillería's own V Estudiante page adds that, in any case, the student must show bank statements with income of at least 3 minimum wages (COP 5,252,715 a month in 2026). Plan for that amount.¹⁴

Read literally, the 10-minimum-wage bar makes the personal route hard for most students, so ask your school first whether it will back your application under art. 32.

US$16 (EUR 12) to apply and US$51 (EUR 40) if the visa is approved. Check the fee shown when you pay. Cancillería's fee page for "Visitante - Estudiante" was posted on June 9, 2026 (shown as 09/06/2026, day first).⁵

You pay the study fee within 10 calendar days of submitting; if you don't, the application is treated as withdrawn. Once the visa is approved, you have 10 calendar days to pay the visa fee.¹

Health insurance, apostilles, translations and the cédula de extranjería cost extra.

Cancillería has up to 30 calendar days to decide once the application is complete and the study fee is paid. It can take longer if Cancillería has to consult other agencies. If you apply from inside Colombia, stay in a regular migration status while you wait.¹ Our visa processing time guide covers what happens in practice.

The visa lasts up to 2 years. Unless you study online or at a distance, leaving Colombia for more than 90 calendar days ends the visa automatically.¹

Only if you're a postgraduate university student, and only up to 20 hours a week. Your employer has to report the job to Migración Colombia and the Ministry of Labor first. Undergraduate, language and school students get no work permit with this visa.¹

Foreign students who finish an undergraduate degree with honors at a Colombian university can apply, without leaving the country, for a visa to do an internship in their field, if the university sponsors it. Graduates in fields with a shortage of skilled workers, and anyone who earns a doctorate or postdoctorate at a Colombian university, can apply for a work visa in their area.¹ See our work visa guide.

A company internship that isn't part of a study program is a different visa, the V Práctica Laboral, open only to visa-exempt nationalities and lasting up to 1 year.¹

Only if you're a postgraduate student. For every other student, the V Estudiante allows no beneficiaries.¹ If your partner is Colombian, our spouse and partner visa guide covers a different route.

Get your admission or enrollment letter and health insurance, decide with your school whether you apply on your own or with its backing, then apply online with Cancillería and pay the study fee within 10 calendar days. If the visa is approved, pay the visa fee within 10 calendar days.¹

If your visa lasts more than 3 months and you're 7 or older, you then register with Migración Colombia and request a cédula de extranjería (foreigner ID).⁶ Our cédula guide walks through it.

If you're in Colombia when the visa is refused, you have 30 calendar days to leave, and you can't file a new application for 6 months. The next application has to be made from your country of nationality or legal permanent residence.¹

Meeting every requirement doesn't guarantee approval. Cancillería decides each case at its discretion.¹

• Cancillería, Resolución 5477 of Jul 22, 2022, consolidated text on the Cancillería normograma (arts. 11 and 12 fee deadlines; art. 13 up to 30 days to decide; arts. 18 and 19 discretion; arts. 20 and 21 document age and apostille; art. 22 visa types; art. 24 general requirements; art. 28 study on other visas; art. 31 personal application and 10 SMMLV over 6 months; art. 32 application backed by a legal entity; art. 36 V Estudiante; art. 53 V Práctica Laboral; art. 99 refusal): https://cancilleria.gov.co/normograma/compilacion/docs/resolucion_minrelaciones_5477_2022.htm
• Cancillería, fee page "Visitante - Estudiante" (posted Jun 9, 2026, shown 09/06/2026; USD 16 study, USD 51 visa; EUR 12 / EUR 40): https://cancilleria.gov.co/node/32857
• Cancillería, Visa V Estudiante (art. 31 and 32 requirements as applied to students, incl. 3 SMLMV line): https://www.cancilleria.gov.co/v/estudiante
• Decreto 1469 de 2025 (2026 minimum wage COP 1,750,905), on the Cancillería normograma: https://www.cancilleria.gov.co/normograma/compilacion/docs/decreto_1469_2025.htm (read Oct 29, 2026 for the work visa guide)
• Cancillería, Resolución 5488 of 2022, consolidated text (visa-exempt nationalities): https://cancilleria.gov.co/normograma/compilacion/docs/resolucion_minrelaciones_5488_2022.htm (re-read Oct 31, 2026: US, Canada, UK, Spain, Portugal on the exempt list)
• Migración Colombia, Resolución 2061 de 2020 (art. 8 cédula for visas over 3 months; art. 9 requirements, age 7 and up): https://cancilleria.gov.co/normograma/compilacion/docs/resolucion_uaemc_2061_2020.htm