The R visa, residency by investment
There are two ways to a Resident visa through property. Buy at 650 SMMLV (COP 1,138,088,250, about US$355,343) and apply directly. Or buy at 350, hold an M visa, and let time do the rest.
The direct route
Resolución 5477 de 2022 allows a foreigner who makes a direct investment of at least 650 SMMLV in Colombia, including real estate, to apply for the Resident (R) visa without first accumulating years on a Migrant visa. The R visa issued today is a five-year electronic visa that renews on a five-year cycle, aligned with the cédula de extranjería.
| Route | Investment line 2026 | Wait | Visa term |
|---|---|---|---|
| R direct | COP 1,138,088,250 ≈ US$355,343 | None | 5 years, renewable |
| M then R | COP 612,816,750 ≈ US$191,338 | Continuous years on M (five is the standard requirement for most M categories) | M up to 3 years per grant, then R |
The gap between the two lines is COP 525,271,500, roughly US$164,004 today. That is the price of not waiting.
Who the direct R actually suits
- Buyers already shopping above the line. A 200 m² apartment in upper Poblado, a good house in Envigado's Alto de las Palmas corridor, or a north-Bogotá penthouse routinely deeds above US$355K. If you were going to spend it anyway, the R is a side effect, not a cost.
- People who cannot stay in Colombia continuously. The M route needs continuous status. If your life keeps you abroad for long stretches, the M years are fragile. The R is granted once and asks only that you not be absent more than two consecutive years.
- Couples and families. Beneficiary visas for a spouse and dependent children hang off the principal. A five-year R is a calmer anchor for a family than a three-year M that needs renewing in the middle of a school year.
Who should stay on the M
- Buyers whose honest budget is between the two lines. Stretching to 650 by over-declaring the deed is fraud and it is also easy to detect, because the registered foreign investment has to match.
- Anyone still testing Colombia. The M is reversible in a way the R's price tag is not. Rent for a season first (we have a site for exactly that), buy at 350, upgrade later if the country holds you.
Losing the R
An R visa is cancelled automatically if the holder is out of Colombia for more than two continuous years. That is the rule that catches long-term expats who "went home for a while". It is also why the 2026-10-31 transfer deadline matters: R visas issued before 21 October 2022 must be moved to the electronic format or they lapse.
The 650 SMMLV figure sits in the same resolution as the 350, but public guidance on how the authority treats a direct R application when the investment is split across a company or across more than one deed is thin. Treat any confident answer you read online, including the ones that sound generous, as a question to put to counsel rather than a rule.
Source: Resolución 5477 de 2022 and Resolución 9316 de 2024, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores; SMMLV per Decreto 1469 de 2025 (29 Dec 2025), re-fixed transitorily by Decreto 0159 de 2026 (19 Feb 2026) after a provisional suspension by the Consejo de Estado.
Figures verified 30 Aug 2026. SMMLV 2026 COP 1,750,905 (Decreto 1469 de 2025 (29 Dec 2025), re-fixed transitorily by Decreto 0159 de 2026 (19 Feb 2026) after a provisional suspension by the Consejo de Estado). USD figures recompute from the live Banco de la República TRM when the page loads; if the live rate is unavailable the build rate of 3,202.79 is used.
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