Why this site exists
Colombia sets its visa investment thresholds as multiples of the monthly minimum wage — the SMMLV. In 2026 that wage jumped roughly 24% to COP 1,750,905. At the same time, the peso strengthened sharply against the dollar.
Those two moves push in opposite directions from a buyer's perspective, and the result is that almost every English-language guide on this topic is now materially wrong in dollars. Published figures range from US$153,000 to US$170,000, most of them anchored to a TRM near 3,800. The rate today is 3,157.43.
If you budgeted US$160,000 for this visa, you are short by roughly US$34,000. The legal requirement is in pesos and it has not changed. What changed is what those pesos cost you.
Everything here carries a verification date. When the January decree lands, these pages change the same week.
The three numbers that matter
| Route | Threshold | In pesos | At TRM 3,157.43 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property (M–10) Buy real estate in your own name | 350 SMMLV | COP 612,816,750 | US$194,087 |
| Company owner Visa M – Socio o Propietario | 100 SMMLV | COP 175,090,500 | US$55,453 |
| Larger investment tierVerify See note below | 650 SMMLV | COP 1,138,088,250 | US$360,448 |
On the 650 SMMLV tier: sources genuinely disagree about what it buys. Some describe it as the direct-investment route within the M – Inversionista visa; others present it as the threshold for the Resident (R) visa by investment. We are not going to pick a side we can't source cleanly. If your plan depends on this tier, confirm it with a Colombian immigration attorney before you move money. Every other site states one version flatly — that confidence is not earned.
Start where you actually are
Run your own numbers
Every threshold in pesos and dollars, plus a calculator that shows what happens to your dollar cost if the exchange rate moves.
What you actually hand in
The document list Cancillería works from, including the two items that carry almost all the risk.
The order of operations
Money in, registration, deed, then application. Several of these steps cannot be fixed retroactively.
Why applications fail
Six documentation failures that sink otherwise-qualified files — most of them created months before filing.
Buying to qualify
How the purchase itself has to be structured so the property actually counts toward the threshold.
Is this even the right visa?
Pension, digital nomad, marriage, and company routes compared against the investor route.
Fixed in pesos. Quoted in dollars. Verified on a date.
Three things every page here does that the rest of this niche doesn't.
Where we fit
We are not attorneys and we don't file visas. What we do is keep the reference numbers current and connect people with licensed Colombian professionals — immigration counsel for the filing, property attorneys for the title work, and vetted brokers if the property purchase is still ahead of you.
If you're at the stage of choosing a property to satisfy the threshold, that part happens at MedellinRealEstate.co, where the buying process, closing costs, and neighborhood research live.
Tell us where you are in the process
Whether you're still deciding if you qualify or you have an escritura in hand and a filing question, send a message. If you need a lawyer we'll point you to one; if you need a property we'll point you to a broker. No charge either way.
Message on WhatsApp →Messages go to Andrew directly. Usually a reply within a few hours, Colombia time.