In November 2103, Cushman and Wakefield, the world’s largest privately held commercial real estate company, released its study, ”Main Streets across the World – 2013/14”. This report examines the costs of rents in the top 334 shopping areas in the world. Bogota ranked as having some of the most expensive retails rents worldwide. Hong Kong, New York, Paris, London and Tokyo ... »
Over the past 4 years the World bank has reported a number of changes that have made doing business in Colombia easier. In 2010 - A credit information law was created that allows borrowers to verify their personal credit data. It also required that companies providing credit to share their information with credit bureaus. - The government set up an online tool to enroll employees with the social ... »
A Place to Live, Work, and Play by Greg Farrell For the past 10 years, we’ve been looking in Europe, Central, and South America for that ideal retirement community. At first we bought new construction properties in France, thinking the quality of life with food, wine, entertainment, and the arts would be what we wanted. What we learned during the first five years was that the cost outwei... »
If you intend to be working in Colombia you must have a work visa to do so. There is no law which prevents the recruitment of foreign workers but the employer must ensure that the employee has the proper visa or permit. Far too often individuals find themselves in Migracion Colombia facing stiff fines because they or their employer did not properly understand the visa process. The initial work vis... »
If you are considering obtaining citizenship in Colombia via business ownership, please note this citizenship is not granted immediately. The amount and type of investment dictate the type of visa to be issued. Conditions are then applied with residency requirements of between 3 to 5 years. The current immigration laws have been revised as of July 2013. See the following articles on Visas for more... »
Excerpt from an Overview of Colombia’s Financial System Personal Taxation For personal taxation you are considered a resident for tax purposes if you are present in the country for more than 183 days (cumulative) in a 365 day period. This means you will be taxed on your worldwide income. Taxes must be filed singly, not jointly. If you own property jointly, this will allow you to re... »
As with entry to any country, the immigration service has the final call as to who can and can not enter the country. For many years DAS was in charge of managing immigration in Colombia. Their forte was security and as a result perhaps they were a little forceful in the execution of their jobs. Recently DAS has been replaced by Migracion Colombia and although they have a friendlier face, they sti... »
Come Celebrate in Fashion ! Colombia’s Fashion Extravaganza Marks its 25 Anniversary. Imagine Medellin, Colombia—an amazingly beautiful city in its own right—a city already renowned for having the most beautiful women in the world. Now imagine that same city, with that same well-deserved reputation, but with the “beauty factor” cranked up a few notches. This is what you can expect at the end of ... »
Colombia is now classified as an emerging nation and there is an active international business community doing business in the country. Within the private sector, at least with larger companies, most business owners are cultured and well travelled. It is not uncommon for them to travel to the US or Europe for training, seminars, tradeshows and tourism. Here are a few tips for doing business in Col... »
Excerpt from Working in Colombia. If you are considering starting a business in Colombia there are a number of issues to consider. First of all, do you really need a corporation? Are you looking for limited liability, or succession rights or hiring a number of employees? If this is the case then a company may serve you well. If you are just looking to manage one or two apartments or start a one ma... »
CO Peso Exchange Rate