Member-only story
I Have Officially Moved To Colombia
And I have the visa to prove it.
The past three months have been stressful for me.
When I returned to the US a few months ago, I was also gathering papers for my visa. Then, when I came back to Colombia, I still had to get them all translated and submitted to immigration.
When I had a visa in the past, I used a lawyer and realized they were useless. This time, I read the website and had a local friend help me, and the process was much easier than expected.
I gathered my documents and uploaded what they requested, and my visa was approved in less than a week. I still have to make an appointment to get my ID card, but I am official!
I suppose anything seems complicated when you have never done it before.
You might be thinking, don´t you already live in Colombia?
Well, technically, I was here on a Visitor (V) visa and, most recently, a tourist visa.
Neither is a path to residency, which is my ultimate goal. So, up until Friday, I was a visitor to this country.
Visiting is great. I have visited and spent a long time in a handful of countries and enjoyed my time there. I had no intention of living there; I like to say I was dating countries.
I was looking for a home, but we were on a trial basis, and the longer time I spent in some countries, the more I either loved it or realized it was time to part ways.
Trust me, Colombia is not perfect. There are many things I do not like, but what I like outweighs my dislikes. No country is perfect. I prefer the imperfections here compared to any other.
I do not plan on renouncing my citizenship to the US.
If I can become a citizen with a passport, that would be great, but only if I can have dual…
