Work visa--just got mine and here's some advice:

I just made a successful run to Venezuela to get a work visa. I typed up my experiences/advice for future recruits at my workplace, but thought it could be of some use to users of this forum. It's long-winded, but I hope the details are of some help to you:



Here is the story of how I got my work visa. Everyone seems to run into their own challenges, so I’m gathering all the information I learned in the hope that my experience will be of some help to you. Feel free to make additions or corrections to this letter as you’re likely to come across unique hurdles.

Firstly, I was warned of numerous obstacles I might encounter before I made the trip across the border. Someone warned me I’d have to present a police background check, while others said I wouldn’t. Someone said my degree(s)/CELTA should be translated into Spanish by a certified translator, and others said not to worry. I was warned against going to Ecuador as one teacher’s application was declined there for no apparent reason. She had better luck in San Antonio, Venezuela. However, another teacher warned against San Antonio as they didn’t accept his documents as “originals.� Another said that San Antonio was okay, but he suggested that I call the consulate ahead of time to confirm that the appropriate visa-processing officer would be in on the day that I planned to arrive. (He had had to wait around town for three days waiting for the right person to sign his visa.) It seemed everyone I talked to had experienced different setbacks. Because the university wanted me to start teaching immediately, I had problems reaching the consulate in advance by telephone. I just gathered every single document I had (the forms the university gave me) and things like my degree, CELTA, etc. and told myself I’d cross each bridge as I came to it.

When my documents (proporcionalidad, contract, etc.) were ready from HR, I asked C. in HR for directions to the bus terminal. She seemed surprised that I was planning to leave the country, and told me I should be able to get the visa processed in Bogotá. Of course, after the various horror stories I’d heard, I thought if there were a way to avoid the trek to Venezuela someone would’ve figured it out by now. However, she seemed quite confident that because I had been employed on a student visa (which hadn’t expired yet), I could apply for a work visa directly in Bogotá. She even pulled out the file of another teacher who seemed to have had a work visa issued in Bogotá after first having a student visa. Another teacher confirmed the rumor that it was possible.

So rather than head to the bus terminal, I went to Ministerio Relaciones Exteriores in Bogotá. If you already have a work visa and just need to update the employer information, this is where you should go:
Kra. 13 #93-68, 2 piso
Hours 7.30am to 12.

Lines there always seem to be killer, so get there a bit before 7.30 if possible. Only two women appear to be running the show. You don’t want to get on their bad sides.

(I’m warned that you need a letter from your previous employer explaining that employment has been terminated.)

The Ministerio has another location on Calle 100. Don’t listen to the taxi driver (or whoever) who tells you to go there. That is the area for passaportes. I made that mistake twice. You need the visa office which is at the above address.

ANYway, I waited in line and even chatted with a Russian girl who assured me I could get a work visa in Bogotá (from a student visa). However, when it was my turn to talk to the (severe) desk worker, she grilled me on my “Spanish� studies and then told me work visas could only be granted inside Colombia to people who had done postgraduate studies for “many years.� Now I’m not sure whether Colombia distinguishes between the visas of postgraduate-students-for-many-years and other kinds of students, but it didn’t seem I was ever going to get anywhere with her, and as far as I know, she was my only shot in Bogotá. (On the Russian’s advice, I tried the DAS Extranjera--Cll 100 No. 11B-27--but they only sent me back to the Ministerio.)

Incidentally, the scary Ministerio woman also told me I was lacking a “certa. de responsibilidad,� which states that your employer will repatriate me when employment is terminated. Double check that this is in your contract. It should not be required of you in the form of a second document if it is stated in your contract. You might want to be aware of where this is stated in the contract, in case you run into trouble. Also, it seems to help to have all the important dates (of your contract, etc.) available in the front of your mind.

In the end I was on my way to Cucuta, the Colombian border town closest to San Antonio, Venezuela. I opted to take a bus rather than a plane for financial reasons, although I’m not sure how much I saved. There is only one bus terminal in Bogotá. It’s on the west side of town and is called Salitre Terminal.

The bus company that took me to Cucuta was called Berlinas. A one way ticket cost 93,000 pesos (and I think a bit less on the way back). The journey took 14 hours each way. The bus was roomy and comfortable, although they crank the air con so bring a blanket if you go over night and be prepared for lots of twists and turns as it’s through the mountains nearly the entire time. (Nice views during the day.)

We arrived more or less on time at 7am in Cucuta. I was worried that the consulate would open soon, so I grabbed the first cab I saw and didn’t haggle over the 25,000 pesos he charged to take me over the border into San Antonio. Including the inspection of the cab (and traffic jam) at the border it took us one hour to get to the Colombian Consulate in San Antonio:

Calle 5 No. 12
39 Frente a Plaza Miranda
San Antonio del Tachira VENEZUELA
Phone: 58 276 771 4189

There are also motorbike taxis that can cut through the traffic if time is a concern.

Had I known ahead of time, I would’ve stopped at the Colombian DAS just over the border to get an exit stamp. Point is, get a “salida� and “entrada� stamp, proving you’ve left Colombia and entered Venezuela. Whether going through the airport or over land, GET YOUR PASSPORT STAMPED.

There was a line outside the Colombian consulate, but the gate was open and no one was going inside. I just waltzed right past them and no one seemed fussed. Go upstairs for visas. There’s one office wallpapered in pink that says “visas.� Inside a woman named Zaida seems to do all the visa processing in between instant messenger chats. She’s a tough nut to crack, but do your best. Your fate is in her flamboyantly manicured hands.

My documents were all in order—originals in one hand, copies in the other. She dispassionately flipped through the stack of originals, shaking her head. At one point she said, “This isn’t the original� about the proporcionalidad. I took it from her and inspected it. After a moment of what passed for consideration I said, “Yes it is.� That seemed good enough for her, and with that I avoided the ordeal some other teacher experienced when he had to stay around town for a few days waiting for something to be sent by DHL from the university.

At one point Zaida took me to some boss guy’s office where he printed out an email he’d received from BMW about a discount offer for diplomats. They asked me to translate it into Spanish. Despite my pathetic Spanish, I thought my efforts would endear me to him. But no visa run is free of pitfalls. They wouldn’t continue processing my visa without the appropriate stamps in my passport. I hopped on a “moto taxi� (5,000 pesos, again no haggling) back to the border (DAS). Then I hit up the Ministerio Interior y Justicia de Venezuela, which was just around the corner from the Consulate, for the “entrada� stamp. I took a photocopy of the page with these stamps and headed back to Zaida, triumphant.

This time I was missing the “formulario� (application form). To get this I had to go across the street into a tailor shop (that apparently also specializes in selling official documents). It was easy enough to fill out.

Finally things seemed to be in order. By this point it was about 10am. Between a few more instant messages and other visa-seekers popping their heads in, she managed to shuffle my papers around enough times to satisfy her. Stay as patient as possible. It could take hours, but as long as you get there first thing in the morning, hours you will have.

After a tidy payment of 265,000 pesos my visa was granted. She told me to wait until ‘mas tarde’ until it was ready. I asked her if it would be that day, and she gave a half-hearted nod without making eye contact. She told me the consulate closes at 1pm. I went back to the waiting room along with a peppering of other foreigners tapping their feet—a couple Koreans, a Costa Rican, another English-teacher-looking-type… At 11.30 the guards closed the front gate. We waited patiently as the diplomats ate lunch, laughed and chatted, walked back and forth in front of us empty-handed. At around 1pm they told us all to leave and come back at 2.30pm. The Koreans missed their flight back to Bogotá. I wouldn’t recommend booking anything ahead of time unless it can be changed.

Skip forward. 2.30ish and the visas were done. She handed each of us a stack of papers and instructed us to photocopy all of them and return them to her. So I walked a couple blocks, got the photocopies (there was no problem using Colombian pesos), had to turn it all into her, and then was on my way with a visa signed and stuck in my passport.

Forms Zaida needed:
Contract/Contrato de Externado (from your employer)
‘El subdirector de inspeccion superior…’ (from your employer)
Proporcionalidad (from your employer)
A letter from Maite which explained in Spanish my qualifications (Degree, CELTA) (from your employer)
Formulario solicitud de visa (from the secret tailor shop)
3 3x3 cm photos (mine were white backgrounds, and they should all be the same photo)
copy of every used page in visa (including entry and exit stamps for Colombia and Venezuela)

I was never asked for my degree or CELTA (translated or untranslated). I was never asked for a police background check. Everything from the university was good enough for them. However, they kept the originals of EVERYTHING. So I’d recommend making an extra copy of your contract and anything else you’d like for yourself.

Then it was into a cab, across the border, back to the bus terminal, and fourteen hours later I was pulling into Bogotá.

Compared to other teachers, I think my visa-getting experience was relatively hassle-free.

Make sure to go to the DAS Extranjera (Calle 100 No. 11B-27) within two weeks of getting your visa, because you need to get a cedula.

By mononoaware on Aug 2, 2008, 10:40 in Visa & paperwork.

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guacharaca says on Aug 2, 2008, 15:42: Thanks for the info. Your descriptions of how things operate within the Colombian Consulate are way too familiar. Colombianos: Las armas os han dado independencia, las leyes os daran libertad. (Santander) 0 funny, 0 helpful.

Philly says on Aug 6, 2008, 03:41: Very good, my experience was kind of similar without the waiting until 2:30pm. 0 funny, 0 helpful.

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