Living and retirement in Medellin

[Hioctane]

Could one of you gentlemen help me with the details of obtaining a Cedula for Colombia? Where do I go? What is the first step? I want to be able to establish a bank account and rent an apartment. I will be staying in Pereira for a few weeks. Thanks in advance.

You don't need a Colombian ID to rent an apartment. You can rent with just your passport. Heck, some don't ask for any ID.

[Zing23]

.5. 5 million cop or up would be a beautiful salary, i could see myself probably speeding the most only like 1. 5 million a my monthly expenses, as i repeat i am very minimalist, and thus would have at least 4 million pesos left over a month for the ladies.

however i am not sure how realistic this dream of mine is, what i might do is simply go on an extensive vacation over there (like at least half a year) and see more in detail about it. i am going to take about $50k usd, i want to go sex crazy for at least the initial month (as like 4 services a day, multiple partners, tln's) and blow at least 10 grand.

there are plenty of qualified programmers in colombia already and they don't make anywhere near 6 million pesos a month. your best bet is to get a half-time programming job that you can do over the internet back in the high-salary first world and then do it from colombia. you can stay up to 6 months a year on a tourist visa. for longer time period, you need a visa (work, study, investment, marrriage to a colombiana, etc.). student visa is probably the easiest for you. i agree with the other poster. do not flash money around. use your atm card to get cash (citibank will give up to 1 milliion pesos at a time, servibanco will give 780, 000).

next problem: without a serious visa, you cannot get an id card (cedula) and without that you cannot rent an apartment or do much of anything like open a bank account. but you can get a cell phone with your passport, so i suggest you just keep a low profile, be a student / tourist, and get a private room in a youth hostel or a room in a private home, etc. where you won't need a local id.

spending $10000 usd in a month on sex is good way to become a target. if you go to 4 casas a day and spend an hour with each girl, that is still less than 250,000 pesos ($150 usd) , or $4500 for the month. you are young and speak spanish, you should be able to get girls to spend the night for free, or just for the odd gift. do not be over-generous, no matter how good you feel after having great sex with a girl. just be nice.

-zing

[Joe Rilla]

Been a browser to this forum for the longest time, first time making a post, I have an extremely reserved-like personality to share about intimate matters in the report sections (I know, even anonymously) So reviving the thread, how well has it been for you all expats that have moved to Colombia? Okay so a little bit about myself, I am a programming analyst for a revenue booming fiber cement company, age of 22, have 14 months of professional work experience with this company, my salary is $72k, I have no student loans (as I had received a scholarship from an institution that is walking distance from where I live) , nor do I have any sort of debt whatsoever. I have a good amount of cash saved up, mainly because I live with my parents and pay only $300 of rent (Which they don't even need, my father is an orthodontist) and also because I am pretty frugal, or more precisely I am happy simply playing Video Games and Code in my computer, and thus I barely have anything I would like to spend my money on. While I am no Mark Zuckerberg or Larry Page economically speaking, however when you have about 5 grand a month net, and you only spend a very small amount of it (only like $700-$900 a month) , digits surely add up quickly. (Yes somewhat of a brag introduction, you guys need to understand that I have never had this amount of money before, and while I have extremely good money management skills, I still feel inclined to spend some of it...

Hey, You should watch you don't get kidnapped or anything. You give way too much information! People rob and kill each other for a few hundred dollars. You are way to free with your information.

If you go down there the last thing you want to do is trust someone and tell them all that stuff.

[Questner]

this at least deserves a mention:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/w...apses/2976235/

http://vimeo.com/76818452 and

http://www.elcolombiano.com/bancocon...o_a_minuto.asp

buy a house instead.

[Chesscat]

This at least deserves a mention:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/w...apses/2976235/

[CPlusPlus]

been a browser to this forum for the longest time, first time making a post, i have an extremely reserved-like personality to share about intimate matters in the report sections (i know, even anonymously) so reviving the thread, how well has it been for you all expats that have moved to colombia? okay so a little bit about myself, i am a programming analyst for a revenue booming fiber cement company, age of 22, have 14 months of professional work experience with this company, my salary is $72k, i have no student loans (as i had received a scholarship from an institution that is walking distance from where i live) , nor do i have any sort of debt whatsoever. i have a good amount of cash saved up, mainly because i live with my parents and pay only $300 of rent (which they don't even need, my father is an orthodontist) and also because i am pretty frugal, or more precisely i am happy simply playing video games and code in my computer, and thus i barely have anything i would like to spend my money on. while i am no mark zuckerberg or larry page economically speaking, however when you have about 5 grand a month net, and you only spend a very small amount of it (only like $700-$900 a month) , digits surely add up quickly. (yes somewhat of a brag introduction, you guys need to understand that i have never had this amount of money before, and while i have extremely good money management skills, i still feel inclined to spend some of it, and the quickest and pleasurable way to put a hole in that pocket is mongering)

okay so getting back on topic, i want to know how sought after is a computer programmer in colombia. i have very fluent spanish, and can write it too, so the language is no barrier, and a year of work experience. i know it may be perplexing as to why i would want to move, taking into account i am not doing too bad here, but i mean two weeks a year of vacation is not enough time to have fun and travel. i want a change of routine, it just i have been in the same house and the same lifestyle for the past 22 years, very monotonous. and i took a one week leave to medellin colombia a while back, and well you know. i was hooked lol. so it seems that there are a few barriers with foreigners working over there, but is it really as arduous as it is portrayed here in the thread? would i be naive to ask for at least 3 grand usd a month over there (which is cutting my us salary in half, and would be like 5.5 million cop a month over there) , do people with the same job as me over there make less or more than that? safety is not a worry factor to me as really i don't have "money appearance" and from what i was told by colombians over there, as long as i did not have a nice car (which if i did ever want one, it is mandatory that the windows be tainted) or walked with a a top of the line watch / cellphone / clothing, that i should be fine. only my computer gear is somewhat of value, but that wouldn't be visible. 5.5 million cop or up would be a beautiful salary, i could see myself probably speeding the most only like 1. 5 million a my monthly expenses, as i repeat i am very minimalist, and thus would have at least 4 million pesos left over a month for the ladies.

however i am not sure how realistic this dream of mine is, what i might do is simply go on an extensive vacation over there (like at least half a year) and see more in detail about it. i am going to take about $50k usd, i want to go sex crazy for at least the initial month (as like 4 services a day, multiple partners, tln's) and blow at least 10 grand.

okay guys, i hope to hear some answers for this dilemma i am facing, thank you

sincerely,

cplusplus

[Zing23]

Could one of you gentlemen help me with the details of obtaining a Cedula for Colombia? Where do I go? What is the first step? I want to be able to establish a bank account and rent an apartment. I will be staying in Pereira for a few weeks. Thanks in advance.

There are two basic types of cedula.

C. C. (cedula colombiana or more accurately I think Cedula Ciudano. Citizen). You need to be a colombian to get this. Could take you quite a while, even if you marry a Colombian girl! Jajaja.

C. E. (cedula extrenejera, which is for a foreigner. This is what you are looking for)

To get the C. E. You first need a Visa. Go to any colombian embassy web site and start reading. There are a bunch of different visas, for job, education, business (this is relatively easy if you already own a business in USA or other country that can request it for you) , living with a girl permanently, etc. You apply to the consulate or embassy that covers the area where you legally live. You may have trouble paying the visa fee, since they don't accept checks or credit cards. I used a wire transfer.

Once you have the visa you go to the DAS office in Bogota (Cll 100) and apply for the Cedula. Another 6 weeks or so to get the temporary contrasena, with which you can open a bank account.

Hope that helps.

-zing

[Orgasm Donor]

Could one of you gentlemen help me with the details of obtaining a Cedula for Colombia? Where do I go? What is the first step? I want to be able to establish a bank account and rent an apartment. I will be staying in Pereira for a few weeks. Thanks in advance.

[Ricker]

1 you can't do much of anything in Colombia without a cedula ...

-zing

Good info, gracias.

[Zing23]

1 you can't do much of anything in Colombia without a cedula. Like open a bank account. This is a national I'd card. There are cedulas for citizens and cedulas for extranjeros (foreigners). Look at any colombian embassy website for the basics: you can get a job, get a permanent girl, or have your business get you a negocia visa, or try a retired person visa (if you have a pension etc.). Even a simple visa like business visa, that they WANT to give you, can easily take 4 months, or more, including 5 weeks minimum for the issuance of your cedula. Actually, you don't get a cedula, you get a temporary Contrasena card while you wait an indeterminate time for the official cedula card. Your bank will reject the Contrasena, but you can go back to DAS and get a printed regulation that says they have to accept the Extranjero contrasena as if it were a cedula. (Note: DAS is supposed to be gone, but there is a small bit left that deals with visas.)

2. In any new country, renting for a year is always a smart move. Once you have a home, people will start to treat you like a local instead of a tourist, and tell you useful truths (that are hidden from tourists if negative, or just never come up in conversation if they are good). Also, the world is deleveraging (I. E, reducing debt) which means that most real estate in the world is on the way down. There are exceptions, but I don't expect Colombia to be one of them, when the Chinese economy slows, so will Colombia. So renting is best.

3. You can wire money into Colombia from other countries, but the source account must be in your name not the name of a company, like your bank account in Colombia. If the amount is over 10 million pesos (about $6000) you have to go to the branch and explain the source of funds.

4. If you buy a car, you can't use it in the city for 2 days out of Mon-Fri each week (Pico y Placa). This is to reduce congestion. There are car plates (white) that are good for every day, but I have never seen one on a non-commercial vehicle.

5. I don't think you can get medical insurance without the government EPS and I think you need to be a resident for that. Still working on this detail.

6. If you buy a new house, you have one year to pay the deposit of from 40% to 60% of the price. No zero down mortgages here!

7. Utilities are not the same price for everyone. They go up in price as your home gets more fancy. Cheapest is Estrato 1. Very poor area. Highest I have ever heard of is Estrato 10 (giant mansion on the hill outside Bogota overlooking the city). People love to rent apartments that are Estrato 4, but for some reason nicer than Estrato 5.

8. You better speak Spanish pretty well, because not many people speak English.

-zing

[Member #4394]

thanks for the info, chesrep001. sounds like he had a lot of enemies. rip.

they have closed the thread on cr, so on my personal forum here on isg i will write a little about noah. as you know, he was killed a few days ago, by assassins, perhaps also friends, on la 70. noah was, like most of us, a mixture of good and bad. he was very intelligent, and personable when he wanted to be, but he was obsessed with mafia and drive-by killings, and of course he had a drug habit. i spent a day with him, maybe 2 days, and we had fun. anyone who knew him had at least one day of fun with noah. but he had no goal, no final cause, and combined with his drug abuse, that led him to his early fate, at 46 or 48 years of age. the things he said to me that put me off, were these: he told me, on several occasions in conversation, that he could "see that in me". i don't think he could or did. he used multiple ids on discussion websites, a trifling act of dishonesty that nevertheless put me off. i just don't tell those kind of little lies. in short, to me his primary defect was dishonesty. and then, if you crossed him, or even disagreed with him, he was capable of divulging your secrets, or whatever he knew about you, in a hateful manner, on the internet in an intentional effort to hurt you. strange! ultimately, though, i think, suspect, that noah had his personal demons. perhaps he listened to them at night, alone. we could have been friends, but lots of people who knew noah feel that way. descansa en paz, noah!

[Chesscat]

They have closed the thread on CR, so on my personal forum here on ISG I will write a little about Noah. As you know, he was killed a few days ago, by assassins, perhaps also friends, on La 70. Noah was, like most of us, a mixture of good and bad. He was very intelligent, and personable when he wanted to be, but he was obsessed with mafia and drive-by killings, and of course he had a drug habit. I spent a day with him, maybe 2 days, and we had fun. Anyone who knew him had at least one day of fun with Noah. But he had no goal, no final cause, and combined with his drug abuse, that led him to his early fate, at 46 or 48 years of age. The things he said to me that put me off, were these: He told me, on several occasions in conversation, that he could "see that in me". I don't think he could or did. He used multiple IDs on discussion websites, a trifling act of dishonesty that nevertheless put me off. I just don't tell those kind of little lies. In short, to me his primary defect was dishonesty. And then, if you crossed him, or even disagreed with him, he was capable of divulging your secrets, or whatever he knew about you, in a hateful manner, on the internet in an intentional effort to hurt you. Strange! Ultimately, though, I think, suspect, that Noah had his personal demons. Perhaps he listened to them at night, alone. We could have been friends, but lots of people who knew Noah feel that way. Descansa en paz, Noah!

[Chesscat]

Well I went to Sabaneta, courtesy of Fernando the taxi driver, and even in Sabaneta the tower construction continues at a heated pace. In other words, what I thought was the sleepy pueblo of Sabaneta is actually about equivalent to our capital city of Columbia, South Carolina. From the heights of Sabaneta, I looked back over Medellin to Bello, and the size of this city is staggering. In elementary school we were taught the word Megalopolis, and that is Medellin. So for my sleepy retirement, I am at a loss.

[Chesscat]

http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.p...s-for-old-age/

with a little explanation.

http://answers.google.com/answers/th...id/235402.html

[Chesscat]

http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.p...s-for-old-age/