Colombia: visa and entry rules
What you need to get in, how long you may stay, and what an overstay costs
Colombia's borders: every crossing point
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Colombia's land border crossings, listed by neighbour:
With Ecuador: Ipiales — Rumichaca, the main and busiest crossing.
With Venezuela: Cucuta — San Antonio del Tachira. The route is unstable and its opening hours change.
With Peru and Brazil there are no land roads: the borders run along the Amazon, and people get there by river transport via Leticia.
With Panama there is NO road at all. The Darien Gap — a stretch of impassable jungle and swamp around a hundred kilometres long — breaks the Pan-American Highway. It is the only gap on the whole route from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego.
That means you cannot travel overland from Central America to South America. Cars are shipped by sea in a container, while their owners fly or sail through the San Blas archipelago.
Bringing a car into Colombia
You cannot enter from the Panamanian side — there is no road through the Darien Gap.
Cars are shipped by sea in a container from Panama to Cartagena; this is the standard and far from cheap procedure for anyone driving through both Americas.
Overland, people enter from Ecuador via Ipiales.
Ask specifically about the period for which a car is allowed into Colombia and about the carnet question. The rules change, and a general figure for the region will not help here.
An International Driving Permit is required, and insurance is bought locally.
Travelling to Colombia with a pet
An international veterinary certificate is required, endorsed by the state veterinary service of the country you are leaving.
The rabies vaccination must be valid on the date of entry.
Parasite treatment is recorded in the documents.
On arrival the animal is inspected by the ICA service.
Check the vaccination deadlines and the quarantine rules for entry into Colombia with your country's veterinary service before you buy tickets.
Overstaying your visa in Colombia
The fine is charged for exceeding your permitted stay and is paid at the immigration service.
Exactly how much will be determined when you leave. There is no way to confirm the sum in Colombia in advance, as the rates change. Keep cash on you and do not book a tight connection.
You have to count both limits: 90 days per entry and 180 per calendar year.
The annual ceiling is noticed on departure, and it takes by surprise those who extended their stay properly.
What else to check before you go
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Entry rules change faster than anything else on this site, and they change without notice. We cross-check every page against several sources and state the date it was verified, but that does not replace the main step: before you travel, check an official source — the country’s consulate, its immigration service or its e-visa portal. Especially if more than a couple of months have passed since our check.