Yes, a US citizen can retire in Colombia on the Colombia retirement visa if a pension pays at least COP 5,252,715 a month for life. At Colombia Desk, we help retirees move to Medellín and Bogotá, and the first number we check is the pension in pesos at the current exchange rate.
The visa is the M-Pensionado, a migrant (M) visa valid for up to three years. The pension can come from a government or a private fund. The minimum equals three times Colombia’s 2026 monthly minimum wage, about USD 1,640 at around COP 3,200 per dollar in mid-October 2026. The visa does not allow you to work in Colombia.
Colombia Retirement Visa Requirements
The M-Pensionado visa requires a pension of at least three monthly minimum wages, paid for life. With the 2026 minimum wage at COP 1,750,905 under Decreto 1469 of 2025, the floor is COP 5,252,715 a month. The rule sits in article 77 of Resolución 5477 of 2022, the visa rulebook of Cancillería, Colombia’s foreign ministry.
Prepare these documents with your passport:
- A pension certificate showing a lifetime monthly payment at or above the minimum, apostilled and translated into Spanish, or certified by a Colombian consulate.
- A criminal record certificate covering the last three years.
- A medical certificate.
- Proof of health coverage or a health insurance policy valid in Colombia.
The visa runs for up to three years and can be renewed. It does not carry a work permit, so you cannot take a job or bill Colombian clients on it.
What the Pension Minimum Means in Dollars
The minimum is fixed in pesos, so the dollar amount you need moves with the exchange rate and with each January’s minimum-wage increase. For a retiree paid in US dollars, the arithmetic runs like this:
| Scenario | Monthly minimum (COP) | Exchange rate | Dollars needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 floor at today’s rate | 4,270,500 | COP 3,194 per USD | about USD 1,337 |
| 2026 floor at today’s rate | 5,252,715 | COP 3,194 per USD | about USD 1,644 |
| 2026 floor, stronger peso | 5,252,715 | COP 3,000 per USD | about USD 1,751 |
The 2026 minimum wage rose 23% over 2025, so the pension floor jumped by almost COP 1 million a month in one year. A USD 1,500 monthly pension converts to about COP 4.79 million at mid-October 2026 rates. That cleared the 2025 floor, but it falls short in 2026.
If your pension sits within about 10% of the line, file before the January minimum-wage increase and keep a margin for exchange-rate swings. A lawsuit over the 2026 minimum-wage decree is still pending, and a final ruling could move the floor again.
How to Apply for the Retirement Visa
The application is online with Cancillería, and the order matters because the apostilles must come from home before you can file:
- Order the pension certificate, criminal record and medical certificate at home.
- Get each apostilled in the country that issued it, then translate them into Spanish.
- Buy health coverage that is valid in Colombia.
- File the application online through Cancillería’s M-Pensionado visa page.
- Pay the fees within 10 calendar days of Cancillería’s request: USD 56 for the study and USD 204 for issuance, or USD 260 in total under Resolución 3969 of 2026.
- Within 15 calendar days of entering Colombia, or of the visa’s issue if you were already here, apply to Migración Colombia for a cédula de extranjería. It costs COP 294,000 in 2026.
The study fee is not refunded if Cancillería refuses the visa, so send a complete file the first time. The old USD 50 study fee on Cancillería’s English pages no longer applies.
After Approval You Need a Cédula Within 15 Days
The cédula de extranjería is the foreigner ID card that Colombian banks and the public health system ask for. Banks generally want it before they open an account, and a passport alone is often refused for health-system enrollment.
Residents who can afford it must join the contributory health regime through an insurer called an Entidad Promotora de Salud (EPS), according to the Ministerio de Salud. A spouse or children can join as beneficiaries at no extra cost. Contributions are based on income. Medellín’s Hospital Pablo Tobón Uribe holds accreditation from Joint Commission International, a US-based hospital accreditor, so a retiree in Medellín has an internationally audited hospital in the city.
Watch your time away. An M visa lapses automatically if you stay outside Colombia for more than 180 continuous days within a year counted from the visa’s issue date. Spending summers at home is fine, as long as no single absence runs past that mark.
After five continuous years on M-Pensionado, you can apply for a resident (R) visa for USD 239. Continuous means each renewal is issued before the previous visa expires. Our retire in Colombia guide covers neighborhoods, budgets and health care in more depth.
Other Visa Routes if Your Pension Falls Short
If your pension is below the floor, two other routes fit retirees. This table compares them on 2026 figures.
| Visa | Requirement (2026) | Valid for | Path to resident visa |
|---|---|---|---|
| M-Pensionado | Lifetime pension of COP 5,252,715 a month | Up to 3 years | Yes, after 5 years |
| M-Inversionista (property) | Property in your name worth COP 612,816,750 | Up to 3 years | Yes, after 5 years |
| V-Rentista | Passive income of COP 17,509,050 a month | Up to 2 years | No, it is a visitor visa |
For most retirees below the pension floor, the property route is the realistic alternative, because the rentista income test is more than three times higher. Our Colombia investor visa guide explains the property threshold and the bank registration it depends on.
Who Should Not Apply for the Pensionado Visa
The pensionado visa is the wrong choice if you retired early and draw on savings or investments instead of a pension. A brokerage account is not a pension, so look at the investor route or the rentista visa.
It is also the wrong choice if you want to keep earning. The visa has no work permission, and a remote worker with foreign income below the rentista line fits the Colombia digital nomad visa better.
Our advice would change if Cancillería amends article 77, or if a court ruling resets the 2026 minimum wage. We would then re-check every pension against the new floor.
Get the Retirement Visa File Right the First Time
Our relocation concierge handles the moving parts around the visa: the document checklist, the apostille and translation timing, the cédula appointment and the health-system enrollment after you arrive. To start, convert your monthly pension to pesos at the current exchange rate and compare it with COP 5,252,715, then gather the four documents for your Colombia retirement visa.