Medellín is not only a great place to live but it's also an excellent city to study Spanish in.
The Spanish spoken in Colombia is widely considered to be some of the purest and easiest to understand. This past June my six month tourist visa was expiring and I needed to obtain a different visa type in order to stay. I was already interested in improving my Spanish as well so a student visa seemed to be the best option. For some reason, I have a curious fascination with the visa process and have ended up writing a lot about visa extensions on my blog. Previously, I wrote about the current requirements for tourist visa extensions in Medellín, why I had to leave the country once, and my 12 hour border hopping run to Venezuela in order to extend a visa.
This article will focus specifically on the step-by-step process on how to obtain a student visa in Medellín without going to Bogotá by enrolling at EAFIT University. There are several other institutions in the city that offer Spanish courses but EAFIT turned out to be the best fit for me.
1. Enroll in the Spanish Program for foreigners at Universidad EAFIT.
EAFIT is a small private elite college in El Poblado that offers classes starting every few weeks. There are intensive courses that are 4 hours a day of classes for 2 weeks or semi-intensive courses of 2 hours a day for 4 weeks. One of the requirements of obtaining a student visa is to enroll at an authorized teaching institution in a program of study that is a minimum of 10 hours a week and EAFIT's semi-intensive course fulfills this requirement.
2. Choose a Visa Agency to travel for you to the Consulate in Bogota.
Unless you want to travel to Bogota yourself to turn in the documents, you will need to hire an agency to go for you. I choose Xpedite after comparing costs with a few other agencies. Also it turns out that one of the men working their is also a teacher at the salsa school I took lessons at, and the immigration lawyer is a business partner of one my friends.
3. Fill out and turn in all the applications and documents the agency requests and then you're all set. Just wait a few days for your passport and visa to return and enjoy your new student visa!
You may also be interested in these articles:
How to get a refund on the Colombian 16% IVA value-added tax.
The Best Medellin Restaurants Part 1
The Best Medellin Restaurants Part 2
The Best of Medellin Dining and Entertainment Part 3.
How to get to the Medellin international airport for cheap (under 10,000 COP).
This article will focus specifically on the step-by-step process on how to obtain a student visa in Medellín without going to Bogotá by enrolling at EAFIT University. There are several other institutions in the city that offer Spanish courses but EAFIT turned out to be the best fit for me.
1. Enroll in the Spanish Program for foreigners at Universidad EAFIT.
EAFIT is a small private elite college in El Poblado that offers classes starting every few weeks. There are intensive courses that are 4 hours a day of classes for 2 weeks or semi-intensive courses of 2 hours a day for 4 weeks. One of the requirements of obtaining a student visa is to enroll at an authorized teaching institution in a program of study that is a minimum of 10 hours a week and EAFIT's semi-intensive course fulfills this requirement.
2. Choose a Visa Agency to travel for you to the Consulate in Bogota.
Unless you want to travel to Bogota yourself to turn in the documents, you will need to hire an agency to go for you. I choose Xpedite after comparing costs with a few other agencies. Also it turns out that one of the men working their is also a teacher at the salsa school I took lessons at, and the immigration lawyer is a business partner of one my friends.
3. Fill out and turn in all the applications and documents the agency requests and then you're all set. Just wait a few days for your passport and visa to return and enjoy your new student visa!
You may also be interested in these articles:
How to get a refund on the Colombian 16% IVA value-added tax.
The Best Medellin Restaurants Part 1
The Best Medellin Restaurants Part 2
The Best of Medellin Dining and Entertainment Part 3.
How to get to the Medellin international airport for cheap (under 10,000 COP).