10

I am planning to travel to Colombia for about a week to attend an academic conference. I am an Indian passport holder currently living in USA with a F-1 visa. Do I need to obtain a visa beforehand from the Colombian consulate?

I have found two sources that claim that Indian citizens holding a valid USA visa are not required to apply for Colombian visa. [Google Translation]

However, I am not sure if these sources are "official" and trustworthy.Is there a more official source? Also, does this rule apply to "tourists" only? Does anyone have any personal experience with this rule?

Improve this question
3
  • Your source appears to be a Google translation of something from the Colombian government's website. Although that's an unofficial translation, the underlying source is official, no?
    – David Richerby
    Commented Apr 3, 2016 at 20:35
  • Google translate says that's the case for Chinese citizens, is there another source that says the same about Indian citizens as well?
    – nikhil
    Commented Apr 14, 2016 at 19:16
  • 2
    @nikhil, the Spanish says "pero también incluye a los ciudadanos indios, tailandeses y vietnamitas", i.e. Indian citizens are also included. This seems to be a government press release. The problem I see is that the KLM Timatic web site doesn't list this exception for Indians (only one for Indians with a green card) so the airlines might not know about it if in fact this is true.
    – user38879
    Commented Apr 15, 2016 at 17:01

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
9

After completing the travel without incident, I can confirm that Indian citizens with a valid non-tourist USA visa are indeed exempted from certain visa requirements to travel to Colombia. I faced no issue at the airport or immigration, as both airport staff and border agents were aware of the rule.

Improve this answer
3

Timatic says that nationals of India don't need a visa if they're holding a visa from a Schengen state (C/D visa) or the United States.

Visa required, except for Nationals of India with a normal passport and a "C" or "D" visa issued by a Schengen Member State [...] valid for a minimum of 180 days from the arrival date.

Visa required, except for Nationals of India with a normal passport and a visa issued by the USA valid for a minimum of 180 days from the arrival date. This does not apply to ''C1'' visas. They are visa exempt for a maximum stay of 90 days.

Improve this answer
0

I traveled to Bogotá, Colombia last month, on an India Passport. The immigration officer called her superior, during entry, to check my US H1-B Visa, but he stamped me in immediately.

You can take a print out of this page with you in case of ignorant border officials. Point/underline the 3rd paragraph (in Spanish) on the article.

Improve this answer
-2

Seems like you do need a visa, it doesn't matter if you have a visa to stay in USA because what matters is of what country you have a passport: https://colombia.visahq.com/requirements/India/resident-United_States/#!colombia-Tourist-visa

You might contact the US embassy in Colombia just to be sure: https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country/colombia.html

Hope it helps.

Improve this answer
1
  • I don't think that is accurate. Timatic lists a visa exemption for Indian citizens with a US I-551, it just doesn't list an exemption for Indians with other status in the US.
    – user38879
    Commented Apr 15, 2016 at 17:19

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .