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How to renew your Colombian tourist visa in Venezuela in the same day

12/31/2019

31 Comments

 
By:  Joseph Le

A couple weeks ago my Colombian tourist visa was expiring so after a bit of research outlined here, I found myself having to take a quick border hopping trip to Venezuela.  
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Puente Simon Bolivar, the bridge separating Venezuela and Colombia
It was on Saturday, March 10th and I had a few objectives for the day:

  1. Obtain the visa in the least amount of time possible in order to...
  2. Make it back to my friends' Chad and Alejandra's going away barbeque at 7p.
  3. Test my theory of whether or not it was actually possible to do this in one day.

Before travelling anywhere in Colombia and Central and South America for that matter, I always check the flight prices vs. the bus prices first.  Oftentimes, you will find flights for close to the same price you would pay for the bus and you'll end up saving a lot of time.  These are some of the airlines I check for flights within Colombia:

  1. Avianca
  2. Lan
  3. Copa Airlines
  4. EasyFly
  5. ADA
  6. Satena

Some of these are local discount airlines which don't show up on consolidators such as Hipmunk, Kayak, and Google Flights so I suggest checking their sites individually for the best prices.

In this instance, the bus from Medellín to Cúcuta was going to take between 13-17 hours and cost $100,000 COP.  I found a flight on EasyFly for $139,000 COP that only took a little over an hour.  Around $20 USD more to save up to 16 hours.  Perfect!

So Saturday morning I woke up bright and early for the 7 a.m. flight and hopped in a taxi out of El Poblado heading to the Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport (EOH), the airport in Medellín for domestic flights.  The great thing about this airport unlike the José María Córdova International Airport (MDE) is it's located about 5 minutes from El Poblado and only costs about $5,000 COP whereas getting to MDE takes about an hour since it's in Rio Negro and costs $50,000 COP.  

After a quick 1 hour flight, I landed in Cúcuta.  Now I had to get to the border.  There are local buses that go from the airport to downtown Cúcuta for around $2,000 COP where you can then transfer to another bus (an additional $5,000 COP) that drops you off at "Puente Simon Bolivar", the bridge which passes over the Tachira River and marks the border between Colombia and Venezuela.  Taking the local buses would take around an hour while a taxi was about 20 minutes, so in the interest of time I negotiated a taxi fare to the border for $15,000 COP.

Before crossing the bridge, I stopped at the C.E.N.A.F. building (Centro Nacional de Atencion en Frontera).  It is the white building on the left just before the bridge and where the DAS (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad) office is located.  Here you will obtain your Colombia exit stamp in order to properly leave the country.  
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Obtain your Colombian exit stamp at this white building on your left side before crossing the bridge.
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The DAS office inside the CENAF building.
Now I made my way across the bridge.  You can either do it on foot or hire a motor-taxi for $2,000 COP.  This is an open border meaning that you need to announce your arrival and departure at the appropriate offices.  There are no customs, immigration or border agents who will manually stop you from entering Venezuela.  You can simply walk right in.
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Crossing the border
Once you cross the bridge, you are now in the city of San Antonio del Táchira, Venezuela.
Picture
Now I needed to obtain my entry stamp to Venezuela.  There's a little office called SAIME right at the border which I stopped at.  This is not the office you want.  I waited in the line at the left for about 10 minutes before an agent appeared in the window on the right.  I asked him about obtaining an entry stamp and he told me that the office is not actually at the border but in the middle of the city.  
Picture
Not the office you want
This was going to be a little more complicated than the simple in and out mission I expected but I was down for the challenge!  I was told to ask for the ONIDEX office so I made my way into Venezuela. I passed an intimidating looking military checkpoint and really wanted to snap a photo but I'm always wary of photographing soldiers or police.  So I decided to hide behind a van and try and take a stealth photo.  Just as I peeked around the corner to take the shot, of course at that moment a soldier walked into the frame and scolded me, informing me that photos were not allowed.  Whoops, my bad!
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Getting my wrist slapped for taking this photo
I stopped and asked for directions a few times and finally found the nondescript office about 6 blocks up and 5 blocks to the right from the bridge.  It is located on Carrera 9 between Calle 6 and 7.
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As I walked into the office I was surprised to be welcomed by the grinning Hugo Chavez himself!  
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After filling out the customs form and talking briefly to the immigration officer, I received my entry stamp into Venezuela.  However, he looked at my form and asked me why I was only spending one day there.  I told him what I was trying to do.  I asked him if this was the same office where I would get my exit stamp from Venezuela.  He replied that I would need to come back in about 3 or 4 hours to allow my information to get into the system.  I told him I was trying to catch an early afternoon flight out of Cúcuta and if there was any way to expedite the process.  He paused for a second, shrugged and told me to come back in an hour.   (Please read D.J.'s comment in the comments section below for updated information regarding the exact process in this office.)

I made my way across the street to a little refresqueria where I noticed a big FC Barcelona poster on the wall.  I grabbed some lunch and chatted with the owner about soccer for a bit.  When travelling almost anywhere in the world, bring up the subject of soccer and you'll instantly make a new friend.  We both agreed on the prowess and work ethic of Messi and how overrated Cristiano Ronaldo is.  
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Stop by this refresqueria while waiting to get your exit stamp for a delicious smoothie
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FC Barcelona...holla!
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A scrumptious empanada washed down with a delicious strawberry smoothie
After the lunch break, I went back into the office and was informed that I needed to buy stamps (impuestos de salida) at a small office across the street before getting my actual exit stamp.
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Buy your stamps here
The stamps cost 90 BsF or $20,000 COP (prices as of March, 2012)
Picture
After obtaining my exit stamp from Venezuela it was time for the last and most important step and what I had come for...my entry stamp and new visa for Colombia.

I made my way back to the border and hopped on a motor-taxi to cross the bridge.  I could have walked it but I thought what the heck, it was only a dollar and would make for a fun photo.
Once across I went back into the DAS on the Colombian side and walked up to the booth for my entry stamp.  The immigration agent slowly looked through my passport and started asking me a bunch of questions.  "Why have you spent such a long time in Colombia?" "What have you been doing here?" "Why do you need more time?"  I told him the truth - that I loved Colombia, I had a lot of friends in Medellin and needed more time here to explore this beautiful country.  He walked away for a little bit and talked to another agent.  I started to get nervous.  Had I traveled all the way out to the middle of nowhere just to be denied a visa back into the country?  

The agent came back.  I held my breath.  He looked down, stamped my passport, wrote something in it and handed it back to me.  As I walked away, I peeked inside.
Picture
Success!
A 3 month extension...great success!  Alright, now time to get back to Medellin.  

I hopped in a taxi and made my way back to the airport.  Because I didn't know how long it would take to get across the border, find the appropriate offices and account for any delays for the bureaucratic process I hadn't bought my return ticket back yet.  I stopped at the ticket counter and inquired about prices.  The ticket was going for about $250,000 COP.  I pulled out my phone and went online to see if I could beat the price.  I found a cheaper one online and went back over to see if I could just buy it at that price at the counter instead of wading through the screens on my phone.  As I walked up the agent informed me that the lady in front of me had just bought the last ticket back.  Doh!  Then I looked up and saw that I was in the line for ADA and not EasyFly which was right next door.  Pulled out the phone again and was able to snag a ticket back for $190,000 COP on EasyFly, not bad.

Wasn't quite done with the fees yet though.  Paid one last airport tax of $4,500 COP before boarding the plane.
Picture
Airport tax
The flight left at 4:20 p.m. and got me into Medellin just before 6 p.m.  As we landed I texted my friend Joel telling him I'd be at the bbq at 7p.  He couldn't believe it!

I had left that morning at 7 a.m., made it across the border to Venezuela, received my new entry stamp and was back to Medellin in less than 12 hours...just in time for my friends' barbeque!  A very productive day indeed! 
A summary of how to obtain a visa extension by crossing the border at Cucuta:

  1. From Medellin, take a bus or flight to Cucuta, Colombia.
  2. Obtain your exit stamp before crossing into Venezuela.
  3. Locate the Onidex in San Antonio del Tachira and get your entry stamp to Venezuela.
  4. Purchase "impuestos de salida" stamps from the small office across the street from the Onidex. 
  5. Go back into the Onidex and obtain your exit stamp from Venezuela.
  6. Cross over the bridge and go back to the DAS office to receive your entry stamp back into Colombia. 

If you're just looking to renew your tourist visa in Medellin and you still have extensions remaining, click here for the current requirements and how to do it.


If you've been in Colombia for 6 months already and you're not sure if you have extensions left or what to do, check out this post, which might help.

You may also be interested:

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).

About the Author:

Joseph is an avid traveler who's goal is to share inspiring photos and stories from around our beautiful world.



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31 Comments
Steve McKenna
4/2/2012 11:25:49 am

Hi. I was very interested to read this piece as I'm over-landing it from Venezuela to Colombia tomorrow (San Antonio-Cucuta) and I've been trying to find out the impuesto de salida price. The Lonely Planet says 55Bs. Some people here say it's 240Bs. I've only got about 200Bs left. So I was encouraged by your 90Bs price. Let's hope it hasn't changed in the last week. Thanks

Reply
JosephLe.com link
4/2/2012 01:36:09 pm

No problem, I'm glad you found the information useful. The small 'impuestos de salida' office right across the street from the Onidex gave me the 90 BsF price. I have a photo of the stamps above, the first one is 50 BsF and there's four 10 BsF stamps behind it. Hopefully the price has not increased within the last few weeks. Good luck and happy travels!

Reply
Steve McKenna
4/5/2012 01:32:03 pm

Everything went fine, thanks. It was still 90 bolivars, fortunately. I had just enough money left to buy a Pepsi before I crossed to Colombia! all the best

Reply
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7/9/2012 04:13:11 am

Was just taking a break and wanted to post here

Reply
JosephLe.com link
7/9/2012 08:11:24 am

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoy the site.

Reply
biogetica link
12/31/2012 03:32:16 pm

We went here in April 2011 and had an amazing time. Don't have really high expectations but you won't be disappointed either.

Reply
Paul
1/3/2013 07:24:20 am

Very informative and clear. Thanks!

I have to do the same in the next few days. Where did you get your Bolivares? Is it better to swap my COP in San Antonio or Cúcuta or maybe here in Medellin?

Reply
JosephLe.com link
1/3/2013 02:54:12 pm

I actually did not need to exchange any currency. I was only there for a few hours and COP was accepted at the small cafe I ate at as well as for the exit stamps. It seemed as if both are commonly accepted because it is a border town. If you're only there for the visa run you should be alright with COP. However, if you decide to travel longer in Venezuela, I would pick up some Bolivares. I did not have to do this so unfortunately am not able to advise on the best method for doing so. Hope that helps and good luck!

Reply
jessica
1/22/2013 11:27:01 am

Did you cross the border on the same day that your visa expired? Do you (or anyone else reading this blog) know if you can do this whole process one or two days prior to the expiration date of your tourist visa?

Reply
JosephLe.com link
1/22/2013 02:51:20 pm

I crossed the border 2 days before my visa expired. So yes, you can do it prior to the expiration date and I would actually highly recommend that just in case there are any delays for any reason. Let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck!

Reply
D.J.
7/29/2013 11:06:43 pm

I'm writing both to thank you, Joseph, for the great info and also to provide an update. I found this page online and used it as my template when I flew from Bucaramanga to Cúcuta yesterday and crossed the border there to get my visa extended.

Coming from Bucaramanga, EasyFly had the cheapest fares, so I bought a round-trip ticket leaving Bucaramanga at 11:15 am and returning from Cúcuta at 6:30 pm (both flights took about 45 minutes), for a total of about 248,000 pesos Colombianos, or $132 (USD). I could have taken the bus for much less money, but that would have taken me 6 hours each way and the road from here to Cúcuta is pretty bad. EasyFly is definitely no-frills, but seems reliable and safe.

The first taxi driver I talked to tried to charge me 35,000 COP (Colombian pesos) to get from the airport to Puente Simón Bolívar, but when I told him I'd have to take the bus then, he quickly lowered the fare to 20,000 COP and I accepted. I probably could have gotten him down to 15,000 but he actually seemed like a nice guy so I was cool with 20,000.

The taxi ride to the bridge does take awhile, in my case close to 30 minutes. The taxi driver and I had a good conversation and he dropped me off right in front of the C.E.N.A.F. building (I had told him why I was in Cúcuta). The big DAS sign in Joseph's original post isn't there now, but you just go into the C.E.N.A.F. building and go to the left once inside, where you'll probably have to wait in a line (it wasn't long when I was there, and moved quickly) to get up to the window. The guy there didn't give me a hard time, but just asked where I was going (I said San Antonio de Táchira, the name of the town right across the bridge).

I got my Colombia exit stamp and headed out of the building and across the bridge (the Venezuela side is to the left after you leave the building). It only takes maybe 5 minutes to cross the bridge (definitely not more than 10), and it's an interesting walk. There's plenty of traffic, but you'll see many other people making the same walk, so it's a common thing to do. You'll pass a big aduana (customs) checkpoint, where cars and trucks queue up to get inspected during the border crossing, and, as Joseph says, you'll go up and to the right some distance to get to the SAIME office you need.

Things there have changed a bit from when Joseph made his original post. Once inside, you go straight ahead to the guy in the red cap, and he'll give you a small form for you to fill out in order to get your entry stamp to Venezuela. You fill that out and wait in line (the right line is for entry stamps, but when I got there it was lunch time, so everyone was in one line). As of this writing there's no waiting for anything to be put into the system. In fact, there's no waiting at all (other than waiting in the lines to get the stamps). As soon as you get your entry stamp, you can get your exit stamp, but you have to fill out an exit form in order to do so. And in order to get the exit form, you have to pay red cap Bsf 107 (the fee has gone up from the Bsf 90 of last year). If you have Venezuelan currency, you're in luck, but if not, just cross the street and go a bit to your left and you'll find a casa de cambio (it's the closest one to the SAIME office). The owner, Oscar, is a great guy. We chatted about L.A. (my home town), since he had been there, and he introduced my to his son and daughter and bought me coffee. Tell him Daniel de Los Ángeles says hi if you stop by to exchange money.

107 BsF is only about 6,750 COP at the current exchange rate, so I exchanged 7,000 COP. After chatting with Oscar and his family for about 20 minutes, I went back across the street, paid red cap, and he gave me the exit form to fill out (again, very short). He won't give you any stamps or anything; you just get in the Salida line with your form and they'll stamp your passport with a Salida stamp right beside the Entrada stamp from your first pass through the line.

Now you're all set to cross the bridge again, back to the Colombia said, and go back to the C.E.N.A.F. building. You get back into the same line you were in before, on your left hand side, and they'll give you your new entry stamp into Colombia. There is one caveat here: The new law is that foreigners can spend a maximum of 180 days in Colombia during any given calendar year (which the guy at the counter told me). I don't know how strict they're being with enforcing the law, but the guy helping me seemed pretty serious about checking my passport for violations. Just be aware that the government may well be starting to check for that infraction.

After receiving my new entry stamp (replete with 90 days written on it), I found a taxi outside the C.E.N.A.F. building. The taxista quoted me 15,000 pesos, and I agreed. The ride back to the airport took about 25 minutes, I'd say.

All told, for me this was the quickest, slickest and easiest visa renewal

Reply
D.J.
7/29/2013 11:11:43 pm

Oops. My last post was got cut off. Here's what I was saying:

All told, for me this was the quickest, slickest and easiest visa renewal I've ever gotten, anywhere in the world. My flight landed in Cúcuta a bit before noon and I was done and had my new entry stamp and was back at the airport before 3 pm. I had lunch at the airport and talked to a few locals and caught my flight back at 6: 30.

Thanks, Joseph, for the post! I hope this update helps someone as much as the original post helped me.

Reply
JosephLe.com link
7/30/2013 05:07:03 am

Hi Daniel, I'm glad the post was helpful and that everything went smoothly for you. I always find border crossings and visa renewals a little bit stressful so the more information we can share with others the better.

Thanks for your detailed comment with the updated information. I will add a note in the original post directing readers to your comment in regards to the current requirements.

Cheers and happy travels! Hope you're still enjoying Colombia, one of my favorite countries.

Reply
RCR
4/21/2014 11:29:12 am

Thank you Joseph and Daniel for all your info regarding getting the passport renewed at Cucuta. We arrived in Medellin in Oct 13 and renewed our visas at Migracion in Belen in Jan 14. When we went back in April attempting to renew, the officer quickly saw our entry to the country in Oct 13 and said that it can not be renewed again. This now required leaving the country and Cucuta appeared to be the closest option. After reading all the info from Joseph and updated by Daniel, we were prepared for a quick renewal. The interesting kink in our process was that we arrived to the bridge on Good Friday, April 18/14 (our visas were to expire on Easter Sunday) After getting the exit stamp on the Colombian side, we continued with our taxi to the SAIME office on the Venezuelan side of the bridge and we're very happy we did. The SAIME office was closed, we presume due to the holiday. Our taxi driver spoke with someone at the border, got directions and he drove us to the center of town to the official office. Once inside, we filled in the small form and got our entrance stamp into Venezuela. Next we proceeded across the street and a little to the right to get our Exit stamps. The man took COP and we paid 10,000 COP for 2 stamps (seems like the price is somewhat variable). Then we went back to the SAIME office to get our Exit stamp and this is where the next kink appeared. The officer said that we must be in the country for 24 hours in order to get the Exit stamp. We looked at each other, and even with my wife pleading to give us the stamp, the only concession the officer would concede was to come back after midnight. This was not much of a solution since we had a hotel booked in Cucuta. Even the taxi driver could not convince either of the officers to bend at all. Once we got back to the taxi, the driver told us we did not have to wait in Venezuela, we could go back to our hotel room and go through the Exit stamp process the next day. This is exactly what we did...we had no idea that the border was that loose to allow travel back and forth without showing anything. The process went quite smoothly with the same officer on Saturday. Getting our 90 stamp on the Colombian side was straight forward, maybe partially because the Venezuelan stamps were on a new page and the Colombian officer didn't look to see how long we had been in the country. Looking back at the Friday evening, I'm not sure sure we were legally in Colombia, having a Venezuelan Entry stamps in our passports, however, all's well that ends well. At this point, we are not sure if the 90 day stamp actually allows us to stay the full 90 days, since this will take us to July 19 which is 19 days past the 180 day maximum for the calendar year rule. Anybody have any info on this?

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