Printable View
Will a cell phone purchased in the Dominican Republic work in Colombia? Also, if I remember correctly, there's a place to get sim cards as you exit the airport in MDE. I get in at 8 pm but assume that the kiosk will still be open.
Thanks for any intel.
Lance
[QUOTE=LanceManion;1612312]Will a cell phone purchased in the Dominican Republic work in Colombia? Also, if I remember correctly, there's a place to get sim cards as you exit the airport in MDE. I get in at 8 pm but assume that the kiosk will still be open.
Thanks for any intel.
Lance[/QUOTE]Yes, unlocked. For LTE see frequencies 1,700 and / or 2,600.
[QUOTE=Questner;1612420]Yes, unlocked. For LTE see frequencies 1,700 and / or 2,600.[/QUOTE]Many thanks for the quick response.
Best,
Lance
[QUOTE=Questner;1612420]Yes, unlocked. For LTE see frequencies 1,700 and / or 2,600.[/QUOTE]You can buy a new cell phone in el centro, downtown Medellin for 45 k cop, a samsung for 55 k, $30 USD a good brand and good model and well worth the extra 10 k, so I would not pay to have a phone unlocked. Several years ago a phone I bot in in the DR, would not work with a Colombian sim card. I have lost count of the number of people I know who have had a cell phone ripped from their hand in Colombia, so better to lose a samsung than a BB. It is the BBs and Iphones not the 55 k ones that are stolen. This is more of a problem in el centro than up in gringolandia, El Poblado.
I am thinking the same as Bart. I vaguely remember the cell I bought in DR not working with a SIM card in another country.
Any unlocked quad band GSM phone should suffice.
[QUOTE=BeersTerry;1612808]Any unlocked quad band GSM phone should suffice.[/QUOTE]If you use regular GSM and choose between the handsets, here are the frequencies:
Claro (GSM) 850/1900 Mhz.
TIGO (GSM) 900 Mhz.
Telefónica Móviles (GSM) 850/1900 Mhz.
[QUOTE=HanshinBaka;1610316]Hey VJ,
Supposedly in March things will change dramatically. Similar experience, no reason given. Drop me a Pm.
HB.[/QUOTE]Guys,
I appreciate the feedback.
I met with a guy who specializes in Immigration Law and he also assists foreigners with getting established and doing business in Medellin. $50 for a 30 minute consultation. We talked for almost 90 minutes.
I was surprised to find out that my situation is somewhat rare. A guy who has a girlfriend for 2 years and wants her to visit only a few times per year. I was told that it would be smart to distance myself from the situation and put all emphasis on her qualifying independently. He said that mentioning the opposite sex while applying for a Tourism Visa is a negative. It better for her to find someone she knows that has a Visa and to say she will be traveling to Florida with this person to Disneyworld for example. I was also told that it is important to wait at least 6 months before applying again which I had planned on doing anyway.
We shall see what happens going forward. If I reapply I will post my experience either way.
[URL]www.colombiavisas.com[/URL]
Beware all on Thomas McDevitt from Jupiter Florida. He trashed my apt. In Medellin. Do not rent to him or trust him. He is drug addict.
Any experience by one of the members? I'm planning a birthday party in a restaurant for my wife and intent to invite some 20 family members and friends, before leaving Medellin. I was told that it was possible to get a refund of the VAT. Is that true? If so, where do I apply for that and what are the conditions?
[QUOTE=Menteng;1619992]Any experience by one of the members? I'm planning a birthday party in a restaurant for my wife and intent to invite some 20 family members and friends, before leaving Medellin. I was told that it was possible to get a refund of the VAT. Is that true? If so, where do I apply for that and what are the conditions?[/QUOTE]Value Added Tax is for durable goods, not perishable goods. If someone was to buy her a TV there and she wanted to take it out of the country then she would need to show the TV in the original box and the receipt to customs upon leaving the country in order for the VAT to be returned to her. You can't leave the country and say you ate and drank so and so and would like the tax returned to you because there should not even be a VAT on food in the first place. There could be other taxes on perishables, but not a value added tax.
If anyone is in Bogota, got a few spare tickets for Paris Hilton, she will be DJing at a private club this coming Friday 19th Sept in Bogota.
Drop me a line if you are interested.
[blue]===========================================[/blue]
[u][b]EDITOR's NOTE[/b][/u]: [blue]I have read several forum posts and received additional emails complaining about Aunsa's business practices, including allegations that he has been [u]"renting" apartments that do not exist or that he does not own[/u], and his repeated [u]failures to return rental reservation deposits[/u] for said apartments. Accordingly, I have revoked Aunsa's right to advertise or otherwise promote any apartment rentals or to post any other offers of commerce on the forum. Please govern yourself accordingly. Thanks, [i]Jackson[/i][/blue]
[QUOTE=MrEnternational;1620133]Value Added Tax is for durable goods, not perishable goods. If someone was to buy her a TV there and she wanted to take it out of the country then she would need to show the TV in the original box and the receipt to customs upon leaving the country in order for the VAT to be returned to her. You can't leave the country and say you ate and drank so and so and would like the tax returned to you because there should not even be a VAT on food in the first place. There could be other taxes on perishables, but not a value added tax.[/QUOTE]Thanks for the reaction! Somebody sent me the following.
Looks like food is included.
Devolucion de IVA para turistas extranjeros.
Coomeva Turismo informa a todos sus asociados que mediante el decreto 2925, del Ministerio de Hacienda why Crdito Pblico, se reglament la devoluciand del IVA a los turistas extranjeros por la compra de bienes en Colombia como confecciones, calzado, perfumes, marroquinera, discos compactos, artesanas, licores, alimentos de consumo, juguetera, esmeraldas why joyas artesanales.
El decreto permite que la identificaciand del turista, como requisito de la devoluciand, no slo sea el pasaporte, sino tambiand el documento nacional de identidad en los casos que es vlido para ingresar al pas (Ecuador, Per, Chile, Bolivia why Brasil).
Las compras se deben efectuar con tarjeta de crdito why a la tarjeta se le abonar la devoluciand.
following hernando de sotos writing, but he of course excludes the genetic and cultural components.
i agree with that.
but for the sake of reasoning; why are colombian females as they are; they have an attitude towards sex & money that are the opposite of the one in the northern europe or new england.
colombians say that i come from a part of the world where people create something, not just make a fortune by stealing from // at the very moment // the weaker ones.
europeans created what has become a worldwide institution; the private property.
but if genes and culture doesn't cope with our "natural" view of owning property?
colombian females are notorious looking for sex for money and the country's prepagos are a export product that in the end brings in an enormous quantity of $$ also fixed exportations, colombian females marrying and living permanently might give an economic loss, but it also shows how good many colombians can have it; being beautiful they draw a lot of attention and rich guys from all over the world are eager to marry those ideal latin females.
the most important cultural difference is about property;.
colombians doesn't belong to you as an anglo-saxon wife would do. she has made a deal. for her and her fellow colombians this is 100% obvious, and it is ok for them.
their indian-african-european culture does not give the same emphasis on property as do the european / northamerican.
they don't see it with the same seriousness as we do.
only the elite, about 5% of the population, pure spanish, portuguese, and even 40-130 years ago "outsourced" north-american families are using the private property right to its full extent. hence they are the dominating class in colombia, brazil ecuador, peru, etc.
it's a cultural thing. the colombians are easy to get along with, they are not aggressive like anglo-saxons or even more arabs / jews about business, they help each other out to much greater extent.
when it comes to females and p4 p sex, the colombian girls doesn't feel they make a huge cultural error; they are 100% deceptive and unreliable and are known for that as well for their beauty! they consider it being at a money paradise, primarily known for this in panama, where, a fellow isg member reported"; there are 11 out of 10 colombian females here working as prepagos, pestering everyone". they don't care, they are like that, even in colombia and it's a fixed cultural trait that will not change with a growing economy, instead it might become worse. the females earn the same $$ as do their male counterparts and are not likely to enter a marriage without proper economical benefits, hence a period of growth will create more girls looking for money. mostly among foreigners, but with much more self-confidence than used to be; they can now choose among the various prospects made of well-off men from the 1th world!
what is a normal thing for a colombian from estrato 1-2 or even 3, and in some social cases up to even 4-5, maybe not 6, is a huge error in the culture created by europeans.
colombians doesn't have this view that they make an error, it's not about poverty. they doesn't feel that they are harming you in a fundamental way.
the cultural and genetic components are so much stronger than the written law!
it's typical colombian. it's ok to being a racist against europeans or gringos and get away with it, something that media never would dare to tell us!
i need more time and discussion to put this into a whole, but this a beginning.
my basic thought; colombians sell themselves in colombia, and are // in // famous in other countries to just being there as prepagos, and it's true.
beauty is fundamental for the business, that is one explanation; but also the culture / genetic; they doesn't feel it's a major crime, it's like it's ok!
the families back in colombia know all about it, but negating the money that comes from their "hardworking economist daughter" is never on their minds. all are part of this societal self-deception. you as a foreigner reacts, colombians plays along.
this is also why, as hernando de soto fixed his fundamental point to, but for other fundamental reasons, that makes it hard for 3rd world countries and former communist countries to enter the motorway to "prosperity".
i would say that in eastern europe, the conditions are hard-hard. people obey and treat each other with harshness, never has a democracy worked, or conditions alike it worked on the other side of elbe!! // not true if you compare gini-coefficient though /.
and rich people are rich, poor people are poor. i say there is a genetic component that are strong, at least a cultural one, more politically correct.
latin america has the same fundamental problem; growth comes late, the rise are impressing today, but has been delayed by at least 20 years and the fundamentals has not changed at all; the whole of latin america are very vulnerable and there will be crisis, maybe at the whole "continent" simultaneously. for the moment a high growth, but still on a level around $us10.000-capita while eu has 34.500 in average. that gap must be halved to make latin america a power to count with; international affairs depend on how much you have to offer back in products, especially high-tech and we have yet not seen that "take-off" that was so classical for usa, japan, taiwan, thailand or brazil and turkey lately. just being trusted by global enterprises of take part of developing and producing high-tech is a level yet to achieve for most latin american countries; industries that give the producing country more economic feedback than the country from where the companies owners come from.
i think the progress we see today will have a swift end not to long away in the future!
argentina, a potentially economic regional power, isn't that since it's ruled by powerful families, that see to their own and their allies good. the country comes second. it's a cultural trait; argentina is simply not a country that we from the first world take for granted; it's a culture very shallow, football is a uniting cultural trait, but history or values are not so deep or creating "social capital" that is so vital for reaching that speed at which high continuously growth comes automatically.
that create even worse problems, the country is stagnating since the 60th.
back to the private property issue; i might not like gated communities, but they are a fundamental expression of how this institution function natural in the developed west, even if exaggerating here, just to make an example. ways of living in the west are very black-white, gated or formally not gated, it's an expression of our view about property.
colombians, lacking this trait, respecting the law, but doesn't have the natural urge to see everything in rights / obligations as do western people, there is a cultural / genetic trait that will create problems to move up and beyond the $us20.000 level, a classical hindrance for emerging countries, while failing to securing the rights of the growing middle class.
that pattern is cultural / genetic and is the greatest obstacle that the world has today in economics, aside the environmental issues of course. how to find a revolutionary theory as was keynes in the 1930th?
can these problems be understood to their full extent and from there the nobel prize level latin economists can start creating laws and politics that open up for a continuous high growth, without creating havoc for the upper class, since they are naturally sceptical and will ultimately bring in help from the usa if threatened to loos it's powers.
there are no real reasons why poverty must exist. communist cuba made it 1962 and onwards their proper way, giving education and health care to all the people, rising the average life expectancy from 48 to 78 years in a few decades! and this while an 100% embargo was in effect made out to bring the country on it's knees!
there must be solutions equally efficient for a market oriented economy.
colombians can learn how to respect the private property, while europeans are born into it, see life through this pattern, and therefore it's so much stronger, being an social institution, not just a legal, formal institution!
[QUOTE=CJackSparrow;1624759]Following Hernando de Sotos writing, but he of course excludes the genetic and cultural components.
I agree with that.
But for the sake of reasoning; why are Colombian females as they are; they have an attitude towards sex & money that are the opposite of the one in the northern Europe or New England.
Colombians say that I come from a part of the world where people create something, not just make a fortune by stealing from // at the very moment // the weaker ones.
Europeans created what has become a worldwide institution; the private property.
But if genes and culture doesn't cope with our "natural" view of owning property?
Colombian females are notorious looking for sex for money and the country's prepagos are a export product that in the end brings in an enormous quantity of $$ Also fixed exportations, Colombian females marrying and living permanently might give an economic loss, but it also shows how good many Colombians can have it; being beautiful they draw a lot of attention and rich guys from all over the world are eager to marry those Ideal Latin Females...[/QUOTE]If it becomes law, Colombia may become more politically liberal.
Food for thought.