posted 9 years ago
Hi Miles,
Yes, anybody from anywhere can own land in Colombia. Also, anybody can get ripped off trying to buy land, you have to know the process or get help from somebody who does.
To stay here permanently is a bit more complicated and might require more investments depending on your personal situation. For example if you're a pensioner with a fixed income above I believe (have to check it) 1200 USD per month you can easily get a visa. If you have 100.000 USD or more to invest either in property or a business you can also easily get a visa. The road I took was a cheaper one, I started a business investing 100 minimum salaries (that would be about 20.000 USD right now, but that minimum salary keeps going up and exchange rates keep changing) and keep that business running for 5 years, so you can apply for a 'qualified resident visa' after that.
Getting money into Colombia from abroad is a bit complicated at times, so that's another issue. The good news however is that this is a beautiful country with very friendly people, not overly regulated, especially in the rural areas people are pretty self sufficient and life is relatively cheap as well. The decades long internal 'conflict' is also pretty much coming to an end, so the security situation is improving as well.
There is a lot more to add, but I think this covers the basics.
Rene
