Informational only, not legal advice. Verify with official sources before relying on this.

Know Abroad

ColombiaColombia

Working Remotely on a Tourist Stay

Last verified August 15, 2026

Written for U.S. passport holders

The Actual Legal Path: Digital Nomad Visa

  • Colombia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Cancillería) offers a dedicated Visa V (Nómadas Digitales), for remote work or telework performed from Colombia exclusively for foreign companies or clients, as an employee or independent contractor.
  • It requires minimum monthly income of 3 times Colombia's minimum wage (SMMLV), sourced from abroad, and explicitly does not authorize receiving payroll payments from a Colombian company or holding a Colombian labor contract.
  • It's granted for up to 2 years and lets you obtain a Cédula de Extranjería, which in turn opens up things like opening local bank accounts or signing longer-term rental contracts.

Working on Ordinary Tourist Status

  • The visa-free tourist entry (see the Visa & Immigration page for Colombia) doesn't authorize employment. The Digital Nomad Visa exists precisely because working remotely on plain tourist status isn't a specifically sanctioned path.

Tax Residency

  • Under Article 10 of Colombia's Estatuto Tributario (Tax Code), you become a Colombian tax resident if you're present, continuously or not, for more than 183 days within any 365-day period.
  • If your stay spans more than one Colombian tax year, you're only treated as a resident starting in the second tax year, not retroactively from your first day.
  • Once resident, Colombia generally taxes worldwide income, though there are specific rules and treaty considerations for foreign-sourced income that are worth checking with a tax professional rather than assuming.

The Gotcha

The Digital Nomad Visa's ban on Colombian-sourced income is stricter than it might sound: it's not just about avoiding a Colombian employer, taking on Colombian clients or freelance gigs on the side, even informally, falls outside what the visa authorizes. If any part of your income starts coming from within Colombia, you're operating outside the visa's actual terms, not just bending them.

Sources

This page was drafted from the primary sources below. Rules change, so check the linked page directly before relying on any of this.