New immigration regulations for Venezuelans in Colombia

More than one million Venezuelan citizens apply annually for the issuance or renewal of their passport. These procedures are currently almost impossible to perform because of very high costs, lack of original materials necessary for submission and Maduro’s government’s interest in stopping the departure of Venezuelan nationals.

For this reason and in line with the flexibility Colombia has given the 1.2 million Venezuelans residing in the country, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to extend the validity of Venezuelan passports, through Resolution 0872 on March 5, 2019. The new resolution applies to all Venezuelan passports that are currently expired or that are about to expire.

One element of the new resolution is in the Second Article. It allows holders of the aforementioned Venezuelan passports to enter, transit and leave the Colombian territory, during the next two years, counted from of the expiration date of the passport. The new regulation will be very helpful for expatriates who have had difficulty obtaining new passports, giving them a longer time frame to renew.

Additionally, resolution not only allows the holders of these passports to transit through the county, but can use the passport validly for other purposes. The resolution in the Fifth Article expressly states that the expired Venezuelan passport may be used for the issuance and renewal of visas. This is especially important because, by allowing access to visas, expatriates will be able to work in Colombia, and their children will be able to continue to study in Colombia.

Finally, it should be mentioned that the resolution establishes that the expired Venezuelan passport may serve as an identification document for its holder during the expatriates stay in Colombia, as long as it has the stamp of entry and permanence. This provision does not exempt Venezuelan citizens from processing and obtaining an alien identification card when the conditions in which Colombian regulations so require, as well as following all of the new resolutions procedures and requirements.

For its part, Migración Colombia announced that the automatic migration system will begin operating through biometric recognition at the border post of Rumichaca of Colombia with Ecuador, which will later be extended to the eight migration control points in Colombia. Automatic locks or doors will be created where the expatriate will be able to leave the country simply by looking at a screen, typing in his document number, data will be recorded in the database and then they will be able to leave in a matter of 10 seconds rather wait in line for 4 hours.

SRS Colombia counts on an expert team of immigration lawyers to assist multinational companies in all of their legal immigration needs to assist expatriates and their families.

References

Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. (5 de marzo de 2019) Por la cual se dictan disposiciones para el ingreso, tránsito y salida del territorio colombiano, para los nacionales venezolanos que porten el pasaporte vencido. [RESOLUCIÓN 872 DE 2019]. DO: 50.888.