The threshold: COP 612,816,750
The investment visa line is not a dollar figure. It is 350 minimum wages, and the minimum wage rose 23% on 1 January 2026. That single decree moved the line by COP 114,591,750, about US$35,779 at today's rate.
The arithmetic
| 2025 | 2026 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SMMLV | COP 1,423,500 | COP 1,750,905 | +23.0% |
| M visa (350×) | COP 498,225,000 | COP 612,816,750 | +COP 114,591,750 |
| R visa (650×) | COP 925,275,000 | COP 1,138,088,250 | +COP 212,813,250 |
| M visa in USD (today's TRM) | US$155,560 | US$191,338 | US$35,779 |
A guide written in 2024 that said "about US$120,000" was right for its day at a weaker peso. It is now wrong twice over: the line rose in pesos and the peso strengthened against the dollar. Anyone who budgeted off that guide is short by tens of thousands of dollars, and they will find out at the notary.
Why the decree is in court, and what that means for you
The 2026 minimum wage was set unilaterally by the government in Decreto 1469 de 2025 after the tripartite wage commission failed to agree. On 12 February 2026 the Consejo de Estado provisionally suspended that decree, finding it may not have followed the criteria in Ley 278 de 1996 for unilateral fixing, and ordered a replacement. The government issued Decreto 0159 de 2026 on 19 February setting the same value, COP 1,750,905, on a transitional basis until the court rules on the merits.
For a visa applicant the practical reading is: the number is COP 1,750,905 today and every calculation on this site uses it. If the court ultimately orders a lower figure, the visa line would fall with it, and nothing you have done at the higher figure is harmed. If it upholds the decree, nothing changes. Do not plan a purchase below today's line on the theory that the court will lower it.
Deed value, not purchase price
The visa authority does not ask what you paid. It reads the acquisition value on the certificado de tradición, which comes from the escritura, and checks it against the foreign investment registered in your name. Three numbers, all of which must clear 350 SMMLV and all of which should match:
- The amount registered with Banco de la República as your foreign investment.
- The value on the escritura pública.
- The value shown in the registry's certificado.
The under-declaration trap
Notarial fees, registration tax and the seller's capital gains exposure all scale with the deed value. Sellers and sometimes their agents will suggest declaring a lower value and settling the balance separately. Aside from the legal exposure, for a visa buyer this is self-sabotage: the deed value is the visa value. A COP 652,816,750 purchase deeded at COP 552,816,750 is a non-qualifying purchase, and the "saved" fees are trivial next to the cost of a second property to make up the gap.
If anyone in the transaction proposes a deed value below what you are actually paying, the correct response is the one your lawyer gives, and the correct next question is whether you want that person in the transaction at all.
The line is the line, in pesos
Budget in pesos with a margin above COP 612,816,750, then convert to dollars for your own planning. The TRM moves daily; the peso line does not. The calculator on the homepage uses the live central bank rate so the dollar figure you see is today's, not last year's.
Two questions we are asked constantly and will not answer from a blog post: whether more than one property can be aggregated to reach the line, and how a renewal is judged if the SMMLV has risen past your original deed value. Both come up in practice, both have anecdotal answers in expat forums, and both belong with a lawyer looking at your file.
Source: Decreto 1469 de 2025 and Decreto 0159 de 2026 (Ministerio del Trabajo); Consejo de Estado, Sección Segunda, auto de 12 de febrero de 2026; Resolución 5477 de 2022.
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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