Colombia Marriage Visa
We are Visas y Tramites Internacionales, a Colombian company with our primary office located in Medellin, Colombia. Visas y Tramites Internacionales offers commercial and immigration legal services through our offices in Medellin, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Bogota. Our company offers a full range of commercial & immigration legal services for immigrants migrating to the United States or Colombia. We have licensed attorneys in Medellin, Colombia and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
These services are complemented by professionally licensed accounting and messenger services which are designed to help expats moving abroad to Colombia, or helping Colombians move to the United States. Visas y Tramites is owned and managed by James Lindzey, who is an american expat living in Colombia for since 2005. We have lawyers on available in our offices in Colombia, as well as with partner law firms in the United States.
Important Transparency Disclaimer:
We do not sell immigration, tax, or any application forms or services which are available for FREE by government agencies. As part of our commercial and immigration services we legally assist our clients complete immigration, tax, or business forms FOR FREE. As a client who has paid for one of our qualifying visa, immigration, or commercial services you qualify for this free service. As we are a PRIVATE company and not afilliated with a government agency, goverment and other 3rd party services such as translations, notary, messenger and mail fees are charged apart from our legal and document services. Complete quotes and contracts are provided for our services upon being hired.
Expat Tips – Colombia Cedula Extranjeria:
Tips for expats – Colombian ID Card / Colombia Cedula Extranjeria:
We like to remind everyone that most everything that involves a contract in Colombia becomes more complicated if you do not have a Colombian ID card. The Colombian ID card is called the cedula, and the ID card for foreigners is referred to as the cedula para extranjeros. In order to get a bank account, banks will usually insist on you having a cedula first. Additionally getting a cell phone plan or signing a rental contract with a real estate company for a non furnished apartment requires a cedula in most cases. Migracion Colombia issues cedulas after you obtain a visa from a consulate or the Ministry of Foreign Realtions in Bogota.
Cedulas have the same time length as the Colombian visa. They are also required when you get a visa for 3 months or longer. Visas y Tramites Internacionales provides free assistance with obtaining the cedula with all visa applications we process.
Colombian Marriage
You can certify a common union in Colombia, or conduct a civil marriage, at your local notary. Colombian notaries are similar to the clerk of court office in the United States. Large cities like Medellin and Bogota have many notaries and finding one is relatively easy, but you need to be very careful in selecting a reputable one (we have long standing relationships with many notaries). Notaries also store many public documents for marriages and divorces
Before a marriage in Colombia takes place, notaries need to verificate the Colombian birth certificate for single status. Legal eligibility to marry is determined by examination of Colombian nationals birth certificate by notaries and judges. Full versions of Colombian citizen’s birth certificates note current marriages and divorces.
A citizen of Colombia cannot be married to a foreigner (in Colombia) if their birth certificate still shows them as being married to another person. This is how Colombia tries to keep people from being married to more than one person at the same time. In turn, when foreigners get married in Colombia they need to prove they are single (by providing a variety of documents) before the marriage license is approved.
American Marriage
To get ready for a marriage in the USA you need to be sure that the foreigner has a translated marraige certificate plus an apostille. If the person has any divorces these must have an apostille and translation as well. The cost varies depending on the number of pages. If this is part of a visa process then additional apostilles and translations should be on hand. Marriage licenses are issued before the marriage takes place. Once a date is set and the marriage takes place, the official marriage certificate will be produced in as little as 1 day. However be prepared for certificates to take up to 1 week in certain states or counties.