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aha looks like i can do it all online now ?   can it really be this easy lol

medellinguru.com/marriage-visa/

You have to get a marriage visa first, which is good for 3 years, although some people have only received a marriage visa for 1 year.

You can apply online.  I've done it in the past, but in 2023, they made a lot of changes that make it difficult, so I used an immigration lawyer for my last one (Langon Law in Medellin).  Well worth it.  In my opinion, it's better to do it within Colombia.

Once you get the marriage visa, you need to be in country for 3 years before you can apply for residence visa.  I'm not sure if you need residence visa first, before applying for citizenship, or if you can do it directly from you marriage visa.  I'm sure someone here can help with that.

Being in country for 3 years means you can't be out for more than 6 months at a time within those 3 years.

For the citizenship, you still need to take a test (if under 60 yrs old), all in Spanish.  Pass rate, I've read, is something like 20-30%.

Be careful in those areas you mentioned.  There were recent bombings in Cali, and Popayan is a hot bed of marxist activities.

Keep in mind that, these days, they are denying a LOT of visa applications (even perfect applications). The decisions are completely discretionary and there's literally no reason (but they still take your money, best believe they'll take your money regardless).

@Cayari

Why would you want to become a citizen?

You are putting the cart way in front of the horse.

Have you looked at the tax implicatiins?

Its gonna take you 8 years minimum to become  a " citizen" .

You have to get an " M" marriage visa first and they are only  giving them out for 1 year at a time now maybe 2 years so  every 1 or 2 years you have to reapply, until you have 3 years continuos then you apply for an "R" resident visa.

But because the visa proceess is complicated and the visa people delay, you have to apply ahead of time always, because if your current " M" visa runs out, you can extend it with a Salvoconducto   but a Salvoconducto interupts the process and  ruins your chances of getting an "R" visa and you  have to start over.

Once you finally get an"R" visa, you have to wait 5 years to get citizenship living in Colombia most of this time. If you are still under 60 , the citizen test includes  a Spanish language test which is quite hard.

Have you ever lived in a developing country? Cali is not  the nicest and safest place to settle and Popayan is quite remore.

Just come here and live a while and see how you like it.

Eight years is a long time. A lot can change in Colombia and in your life.

@ChineduOpara

They only take the small study fee.

The larger visa fee they dont take if the visa is rejected.

I know  I was rejected once in.my 8 visa applications

Also if they reject you, you can go through the Tutela process.

Also , I never heard of anyone being rejected for a marraige visa, I think that by international family reunification agreements they have to have a really good reason for a rejection. However  as MTBE pointed out, they are becoming  really stingy, giving out 1 year visas even for cónyuge ( marraige or common law) agreements.

Its really getting onerous, unfair and illogical though. 10 or 15 years ago it was way easier.

I know the op picked Colombia  because of his wife, many of us are in the same or similar situations, but there are many other countries which have easier visa requirements and they dont harass you with form letters from the tax authorities etc.