Banco de la República Investment Statement for the Investor Visa: How to Generate It and Which Mistakes to Avoid (2026)

What Cancillería requires for the M investor visa

Article 79 of Resolution 5477 of 2022 governs the M investor visa. It applies to a foreigner who has made Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) or acquired real estate in their own name, and who keeps the investment for the visa's entire validity. There are two modalities:

*Calculated with the 2026 minimum wage of COP 1,750,905 (Decree 1469 of 2025, a value temporarily ratified by Decree 159 of 2026). The rule measures the amount on the application filing date.

Article 79 also requires bank statements for the three months before the application showing financial solvency, health coverage in Colombia and, for second or later visas, proof that the investment or property was maintained during the previous visa. The visa is valid for up to three years and allows beneficiaries. Any change in the investment must be reported immediately to the visa authority. We cover the visa in more depth in our investor visa guide.

How your investment is registered with Banco de la República

This is where most cases fail, because the statement only shows what the Bank has registered. According to Banco de la República, there are two routes:

Automatic registration when channeling the foreign currency

When the money arrives from abroad as an investment and is channeled through a foreign exchange market intermediary (a bank or authorized entity) or a compensation account, the investment is registered when the minimum investment information is provided. The Bank explains it this way: the exchange declaration serves as the registration declaration and "no additional procedure before Banco de la República is required".

In practice, this means the bank receiving the transfer must process it as a foreign investment, with the investment exchange code (numeral cambiario), and not as a personal transfer or remittance.

Registration of investments without currency channeling

Some investments that do not involve currency inflows are registered by submitting the International Investment Registration Declaration in the SIC. The Bank warns that this route "does not apply to investments that were not channeled and had to be channeled". If your money should have entered through the exchange market and did not, you cannot "register it later" this way.

Actors and attorney-in-fact

The investor and the receiving company must be created as actors in the SIC before any investment procedure. A non-resident investor must have an attorney-in-fact in Colombia, who can also represent them in the SIC if the representation relationship is registered in the system. The Bank publishes a suggested power of attorney template.

Step 1: register in Banco de la República's SAUC

Access to the SIC goes through the Citizen Authentication System (SAUC). The system authenticates adults, resident in Colombia or not, with a citizenship ID, foreigner ID card, passport, PEP, PPT or NIT with check digit assigned to a foreign natural person.

1. Go to the official SAUC portal: sauc.banrepciudadanos.org/myapps/ and select "¿Aún no está registrado?" (not registered yet?).
2. Enter a valid email and accept the terms and data processing. That email will be your main email and your default second authentication factor.
3. Open the verification link sent to your email. It expires after 5 minutes. If it expires, the system shows "El enlace de verificación ha expirado" (the verification link has expired) and you must start again.
4. Select the document type and fill in the form: document number and issue date, first and last names, alternate email (optional), city of residence, mobile phone with country code and date of birth. The data must match the physical document exactly.
5. Create the password: 10 to 255 characters, no spaces, with at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one special character; at most two repeated characters and at least five unique characters. It cannot resemble your personal data or appear on common-password lists.
6. Activate multi-factor authentication with the OTP code sent to your email (check spam; the sender is "SAUC – Sistema de Autenticación a la Ciudadanía"). The code has limited validity.
7. From the applications portal, use Agregar servicios (add services) to enable the Foreign Exchange Information System, if it does not already appear.

Important: type the full address with /myapps/. If you go only to sauc.banrepciudadanos.org, the server responds "Missing Authentication Token" and the form does not load. You can also enter from banrep.gov.co › Política monetaria y cambiaria › Regulación y operaciones cambiarias › Ingresar al Sistema. Official guides: user access and authentication, instructions for existing users and how to add services in the SAUC.

If you already had a user in the previous system, you do not register again: log in with your document type and number and your password, and the system asks you to verify the email to activate the second factor.

Step 2: generate the statement in the Foreign Exchange Information System

1. Log in to the SIC with your user and the verification code (OTP).
2. Open the "Inversiones internacionales" (international investments) menu.
3. Choose "Consultas" (queries) and then "Extracto" (statement).
4. Fill in the required information.
5. Click "Enviar extracto" (send statement).
6. Receive the statement at the email registered in the system and review it before uploading it to the visa application.

From "Inversiones internacionales › Consulta de operaciones" you can also review individual operations by type and number.

Official support if the system fails

• Foreign Exchange Information System call center: +57 (601) 880 7766 or +57 (601) 484 9980, extension 0555, Monday to Friday 8:00–12:15 and 13:45–16:00 (official source).
• Petitions, complaints and special requests: Citizen Service portal (what is handled as a special request).
• Official Foreign Exchange Information System support material for international investments (videos and guides).
• Banco de la República does not issue letters for the visa: the statement sent to your email is the document you submit to Cancillería.

How to read the investment statement

The official guide to reading statements (updated April 14, 2023) explains its fields:

Frequent mistakes that make the statement useless

1. The money came in as a personal transfer. If the bank did not channel the operation as foreign investment, there is no registration and the statement comes out empty. That money does not prove FDI.
2. The investment is not in your own name. Art. 79 requires FDI or property in the applicant's name. An investment in a spouse's name or a foreign company's name does not qualify for the holder.
3. The amount falls short on the filing date. The minimum is measured in minimum wages at filing. Check the registered COP value against that year's threshold.
4. Property without FDI registration. For the real estate modality, the certificate of title is not enough: the Banco de la República communication of the registration of the investment used to buy it is also required.
5. Jointly owned property. The certificate of title must show the property solely in the foreigner's name.
6. SAUC data different from the passport. Registration fails if the data do not match the document exactly.
7. Expired link or code. The verification link expires after 5 minutes and the OTP has limited validity. Have your email open before you start.
8. The statement goes to an old email. It is sent to the email registered in the system; update it if it changed.
9. Actors not created. Investor and recipient must exist as actors in the SIC before any procedure.
10. Waiting for a letter from the Bank. The Bank does not issue additional communications: the SIC statement is the document submitted to Cancillería.

Errors in old operations or inconsistencies from the migration to the new system are corrected through a special request to the Bank with supporting documents.

Checklist before transferring your investment to Colombia

Most statement problems start before the money arrives. Review this list with your bank and advisor before transferring:

1. Define the modality: foreign direct investment in a company (more than 650 SMMLV) or purchase of property in your own name (at least 350 SMMLV). The document Cancillería will request changes depending on the modality.
2. Calculate the amount with a margin. The threshold is measured in minimum wages on the visa filing date. If you file in a different year from the investment, the minimum wage may have gone up.
3. Transfer from abroad in your own name. The investment must be in the applicant's own name.
4. Channel it through a foreign exchange market intermediary (bank or authorized entity) or a compensation account, and tell them the operation is a foreign investment, so the exchange declaration records the investment concept.
5. Keep the supporting documents: transfer receipt, exchange declaration and, for property purchases, the deed and the certificate of title.
6. Create your SAUC user with the same data as your passport and check that the operation appears in the SIC.
7. Generate the statement and check that the investor, destination, exchange code and value are correct before uploading it to the visa application.

Keeping the investment: renewals and changes

The M investor visa is valid for up to three years and requires keeping the investment for its entire validity. For the second and later visas, article 79 requires proving that the investment or property was maintained during the previous visa. If you sell the property, liquidate or reduce the investment, or change the receiving company, you must report it immediately to the visa authority, which will assess whether the visa remains valid.

Before Banco de la República, reducing or liquidating a registered investment is processed as a cancellation, and a change of holder, destination or receiving company as a substitution, both in the SIC by the investor, their attorney-in-fact or the receiving company's legal representative. The Bank publishes official guides for the cancellation declaration and the substitution of investments.

Also bear in mind that M visas lose validity if the holder is away from Colombia for more than 180 continuous calendar days (art. 65 of Resolution 5477 of 2022).

Rights of the registered investor

Registration is not only a visa requirement. According to Banco de la República, a properly registered investment gives the right to reinvest profits, capitalize amounts with transfer rights, and remit abroad proven net profits and the proceeds of the sale, liquidation or reduction of capital, under the principle of equal treatment between foreign and resident investors. An investment that was not registered can complicate, years later, taking that money out of the country.

From the statement to the visa application

With the correct statement, the rest of the file is put together in Cancillería's form: three months of bank statements, health coverage in Colombia and, if applicable, the certificate of title. Documents are uploaded as PDFs and must not be more than three months old (art. 20). Follow our guide to apply for the visa online step by step and then check your application status.

Official sources: Banco de la República – Investment statement for visa · Guide to reading investment statements (04/14/2023) · Foreign investment in Colombia (Banrep) · SAUC manual – new user · Investments in the SIC · Resolution 5477 of 2022, art. 79. Informational content; not foreign exchange or tax advice.