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OCTOBER 2 0 0 7 Issue 9 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR H O T O F F T H E P R E S S Events, announcements and news from around the region. Que Pasa? C O U N T R Y F O C U S : COLOMBIA San Andres : An Englishman's Home Banking : For a Pensionado Visa Medellin : A Hotel Restoration Eternal Spring : & Beautiful Women S P E C I A L F E A T U R E S Mexico :Property Discovery Weekend Roatan : Free Glittering Getaways Guatemala : Coffee and Berkeley Venezuela : Vino Novello & Pecorino Climate Care : Carbon for Water Sailing : Tall Ship's Medical Officer Trinidad & Tobago : A Biodiversity P I C K O F T H E M O N T H Costa Rica, Condos in Belen Fishing and Diving business Cozumel An exotic Colombian Villa for Sale

How to Fund your Colombian Pensionado Visa
By Tim Hickman

If you have just received your ‘pensionado’ visa, you will be scratching your head over this next move – how to bring funds into the country in order to survive for the first 6 months.

More experienced folk than I written about this but it seems to boil down to this.

LOGICALLY, YOU WILL WALK DOWN TO THE NEAREST BANK OF COLOMBIA AND ASK TO OPEN AN ACCOUNT.

Logically, you will walk down to the nearest Bank of Colombia and ask to open an account. It will surprise you that they will show no interest until you have been a resident for 6 months, but by that time; it’s all too late as you will have probably made other arrangements.

Davivienda Bank are rather obliging and will open you an account but they will not accept any funds from a foreign source into your account until you have held it with them for 6 months.

So how to proceed?

Well, if there are two of you and you need to make more than one trip into the country prior to getting established, bring in the legal US20, 000 each trip. $10,000 each.

Before you leave your home country send to yourselves the equivalent of US3, 500 by both Money Gram and Western Union which they will give you in cash here.

US10, 000 is the legal limit (re WU and MG) but questions will be asked and Bogotá notified before they hand over the money plus they will pay by check/cheque.

So now you have nearly 50 grand to live on for 6 months.

You will probably rent for the first 6 months so will need to put down first, last and deposit in cash. Then deposit the remainder into your account, if questions asked, say it is funds from your monthly pension (they will see the visa).

However, the Banco de Credito in major cities is a modern international type bank (associated with Helm Financial Services) and this bank has relaxed the banking rules somehow to allow the bona fide new resident with a pensionado visa to bring funds in from a foreign source.

One needs to prove that one receives a monthly pension (a simpler exercise for those with a government pension from the USA especially or UK, it seems). One simply says that the pension has been accumulating over some months.

It is safe to have a friend send you another US3, 500 both to Money Gram and Western Union after a few weeks without Bogotá taking much interest.

Show passport rather than the visa. Or generate a Colombian colleague who makes some transactions outside the country to allow a friend with access to your funds to use his account and transfer to up to US5, 000 for you.

For instance, if you want to buy a house, then special forms need to be filled in.

Having said all this, there is a possibility that these restrictions could be eased as more foreigners come to live in Colombia.

At present, the expat community is very small but increasing steadily.

Author : Tim Hickman, ex yachting industry and now semi retired in San Andres/Providencia islands, where he runs his real estate business - Tortuga Properties

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To read more articles from this author, go to 'author' search options at the bottom of this page. You can also search magazine archives by subject, country or date.

To read more articles from this author, go to 'author' search options at the bottom of this page. You can also search magazine archives by subject, country or date.

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