General Info

[AdMan32]

Heading to Bogota the 2nd week of February. I've only gotten one vaccine shot. Does anyone know the best way to go about testing? I'm sure at-home testing kits are a no go. Thanks in advance.

[SonicBoom1]

https://fb.watch/hw764bp78t/

It helps if you can understand the language.

This was super funny! Seriously though, knowing even a little bit of language helps so much in the hobby.

[MiamiSammy]

I'm heading back for another couple weeks in Heaven. I'm flying into Barranquilla, but considering a side trip. I always end up in Medellin, which I love, but I want to branch out. Bogota seems just a little too big. That being said, the possible list includes Bucaramanga, Cucuta, and Cali. Are any of the cities particularly hot right now in terms of action? Any thoughts?

[DaVinci40]

Could be a crafty way to get around it but I don't know what other ways that they are tracking your information and if they point blank ask you when you last were here and how long for are you going to be okay lying about it. You have to keep in mind you're breaking immigration law by doing this as the 180 day rule is per individual and not per passport (I'm not sure who told you that it's 90/180 days per passport). Since we're in 2023 though you don't even need to worry about it (see next paragraph). You risk being fined and / or barred from re-entering Colombia for trying to get around it by this way and you never know if you're going to get a a-hole / check everything immigration person or a "what are you here for" then stamp person. Can't say I would personally do it because I want to be able to visit Colombia in the future but best of luck with it.

You may be over complicating this though. Since you're going to leave the country though and the new year has started (we're only a few weeks into January) and because you are leaving the country for 24 hours you will stop the consecutive 180 day rule and are able to do 180 days in Colombia anyways as we are now in a new calendar year no matter what passport you use. So just cross the border or fly out, come back in at least 24 hours later get a new 90 day stamp and then apply online through check mig to extend it to 180 days and pay the 100 k cop or whatever the cost is. This way you are good until the end of June 2023 and then you can leave the country and come back in to try your passport trick to see if it works?

Let us know what happens.

There is no rule to say if you leave the country you must stay out for 24 hrs. I understand that there may be a rule that you must stay out for 24 hrs if you want to 'reset' the stamp rule. But this does not apply if you have a different passport bcos there will be no stamp there.

[OJeito]

There is no rule to say if you leave the country you must stay out for 24 hrs. I understand that there may be a rule that you must stay out for 24 hrs if you want to 'reset' the stamp rule. But this does not apply if you have a different passport bcos there will be no stamp there.

Came in to say that I was asked for my boarding pass by the immigration officer when I arrived in Bogota on Friday. The officer looked at it carefully before stamping my passport and on I went. It would totally suck to get caught trying to scam the system. Why risk a potential black listing and a hefty fine by not following the rules? Seems ridiculous to me but carry on. YMMV.

[JustTK]

But I think there is a rule you must remain outside Colombia for 24 hours. If they look at your stamp they may see your stamps are the same day. If true it may be cheaper and faster to head down to Ecuador or Panama for a night. Let us know how you make out.

There is no rule to say if you leave the country you must stay out for 24 hrs. I understand that there may be a rule that you must stay out for 24 hrs if you want to 'reset' the stamp rule. But this does not apply if you have a different passport bcos there will be no stamp there.

[JustTK]

This is a really long explanation but not knowing your exact situation I thought I'the just put it all out there. I'm not an expert in this area though but the info I'm giving is correct as of this date so you'll have to apply it to your own situation.

Yep, I am familiar with most of that thanks. But those rules only apply per passort. It doesn't apply if you have 2 passports. but based on the likely security check, seems I will need to fly bcps I cannot think of a valid reason/excuse to pass thru a security check from departures to arrivals.

[JustTK]

LOL. Man it doesn't work like that. When they ask what flight did you come in on what will you say? Everybody that comes into a country is documented by the airline they come in on. Immigration has that information.

They never ask. Sometimes they ask how long you will stay y nada mas.

[LatinaLover#1]

If there is a security check, it might not work, bcos they would be wondering. Why does this guy want to go from departures to arrivals?

Many airports in the world. The arrivals and departures are just intergrated. No issue at all. You mix immediately with both arrivers and departers in the hubs. Panama is a good example.

What I want to do is buy a flight out of Colombia, pass thru immigration for exit stamp, then come back in again and get a new stamp. Will save a flight and quite a bit of time.

But I think there is a rule you must remain outside Colombia for 24 hours. If they look at your stamp they may see your stamps are the same day. If true it may be cheaper and faster to head down to Ecuador or Panama for a night. Let us know how you make out.

[PigSavinBoy]

What I want to do is buy a flight out of Colombia, pass thru immigration for exit stamp, then come back in again and get a new stamp. Will save a flight and quite a bit of time.

Could do the land border for that, Rumichaca border with Ecuador for example. A bit more hassle though since the flights are to Pasto and then need to drive to border. Though I think there are some flights from Cali to Ipiales too.

[DaVinci40]

If there is a security check, it might not work, bcos they would be wondering. Why does this guy want to go from departures to arrivals?

Many airports in the world. The arrivals and departures are just intergrated. No issue at all. You mix immediately with both arrivers and departers in the hubs. Panama is a good example.

What I want to do is buy a flight out of Colombia, pass thru immigration for exit stamp, then come back in again and get a new stamp. Will save a flight and quite a bit of time.

This is a really long explanation but not knowing your exact situation I thought I'the just put it all out there. I'm not an expert in this area though but the info I'm giving is correct as of this date so you'll have to apply it to your own situation.

The short answer is that even if you could go from departures to arrivals it may not help with your stamp issue. I'm assuming your goal is to just get a new stamp for 90 days so that you can stay in Colombia. Don't want to make this post ultra long so I'll try to keep it to the point. A tourist stamp / permit is different than a visa. There are all sorts of visas but for most of us coming into Colombia we will just get a tourist stamp in our passport and it's up to the discretion of the immigration agent whether they do it for the full 90 days or a shorter amount. You can get your 90 days extended to 180 days.

1. Did you extend your 90 day stamp to 180 days? It's fairly easy to do and you should be able to do it online though sometimes the online part has been glitchy. If you haven't extended your original 90 days to 180 days then that would be your 1st start though there are time limits to do it before the end of the 90 days. Search google, you'll find plenty of info. There's a fee I believe.

2. If you've already got the 180 day extension then there are rules associated with it that may stop you from doing what you want. In short, you are only allowed to stay in Colombia for a maximum of 180 days per calendar year and only 180 days consecutively even if those days go over into a new year on a tourist stamp.

3. In order to get around the 180 consecutive day rule but take advantage of the 180 day max rule you have to leave the country for at least 24 hours to restart the clock.

4. In theory the longest time you could game the system and stay on a tourist permit of 180 days is a total of 12 months spread out over 2 years with you leaving the country for at least 24 hours and hoping the immigration officer upon entering back into Colombia stamping your passport for the full 90 days and then paying the fee and getting your extension approved for a total of 180.

The 180 day thing is sorta confusing. So as an example if you arrive in Colombia on 1st October 2022 and you got your extension then you can't spend more than 180 consecutive days there so you'the have to leave on 1st April 2023 (that's 180 consecutive days) but since you're also allowed a maximum of 180 days per calendar year and 1st April is roughly 120 days into the 2023 calendar year you could leave for a period of 24 hours to reset your consecutive countdown and in theory come back into Colombia where the immigration person would stamp your passport for a 60 day tourist stamp (180 calendar year days - 120 days you've already spent in 2023). In theory the immigration person wouldn't stamp your passport for any longer and in theory you are not able to re enter Colombia as you will have exceeded your maximum of 180 days in Colombia during 2023 and you may need to apply for a visa instead. But who knows what the immigration officer could do?

A bit confusing but I imagine in order for you to get a stamp back in your passport you would need to leave the country to make sure you don't run foul of the 180 consecutive day rule and I'm imagining if you were only there on a 90 day permit and you wanted to come back in and get another 90 day permit you would also need to leave the country for 24 hours to get a new stamp and you'the need to keep in mind where you're at with your 180 days amount.

If you overstay your 180 day totals, whether that's through a combo of 2 x90 day permits in a calendar year or having your 90 days extended you will pay a fine when you leave Colombia and potentially impact your ability to renter the country. Hope this helps. Depending on your situation maybe a visa may be better? Good luck.

[Mr Enternational]

What I want to do is buy a flight out of Colombia, pass thru immigration for exit stamp, then come back in again and get a new stamp. Will save a flight and quite a bit of time.

LOL. Man it doesn't work like that. When they ask what flight did you come in on what will you say? Everybody that comes into a country is documented by the airline they come in on. Immigration has that information.

[JustTK]

I did the other way around recently. Came in to Bogota (on Avianca) and out to Costa Rica. I think I had to go through security, but not through immigration (migracion). Not sure about the reverse though. Seems unlikely. Not sure why one would go from departures to arrivals.

If there is a security check, it might not work, bcos they would be wondering. Why does this guy want to go from departures to arrivals?

Many airports in the world. The arrivals and departures are just intergrated. No issue at all. You mix immediately with both arrivers and departers in the hubs. Panama is a good example.

What I want to do is buy a flight out of Colombia, pass thru immigration for exit stamp, then come back in again and get a new stamp. Will save a flight and quite a bit of time.

[CatBert55]

A number of years ago (2018?) I arrived from Panama and left for the USA. Went through security but not immigration. Fairly standard setup, like most of the world. The US and Mexico are the outliers when it comes to international transfers.

[Zeos1]

Does anyone know if its possible to pass from the international departures zone of the airport to the international arrivals zone? I mean once you are in the transit area, obviously not when you are in the general public area.

I did the other way around recently. Came in to Bogota (on Avianca) and out to Costa Rica. I think I had to go through security, but not through immigration (migracion). Not sure about the reverse though. Seems unlikely. Not sure why one would go from departures to arrivals.