Moving to Colombia with family introduces a layer of complexity that solo applicants do not face. Each family member who requires a Colombian visa also requires their own individual medical assistance plan under Resolution 5477. There is no family umbrella plan that covers a household under a single certificate. Understanding this early prevents last-minute scrambles when assembling the document package for multiple simultaneous applications.
This guide covers the main family-related Colombian visa categories — spouse and permanent partner visas, parent-of-Colombian-national visas, and dependent family visas — with specific attention to how medical plan requirements work for each family member.
Resolution 5477 establishes the medical assistance plan requirement at the individual visa application level. Every person applying for a Migrante-category visa submits their own application and their own plan certificate. This applies equally to:
CoVisas can issue multiple certificates simultaneously for a family, calibrated to each person's visa duration. Contacting CoVisas early and providing all family members' passport details at once simplifies the documentation process considerably.
The most straightforward family visa pathway is for foreign nationals married to a Colombian citizen. This Migrante visa does not require the foreign applicant to independently demonstrate income — the relationship with the Colombian national is the eligibility basis.
The spouse applicant needs an individual plan covering the requested visa period. The Colombian national spouse does not need a foreign medical plan. If the couple has children who are also applying for visas, each child requires their own plan as well.
Colombia recognizes permanent partnerships (uniones maritales de hecho) as a legal relationship category, and Migración Colombia issues Migrante visas to the foreign partner of a Colombian national or of a foreigner holding a valid Colombian long-stay visa.
Unlike marriage, a permanent partnership requires formal legal recognition before it can be used as the basis for a visa application. The most common path is a notarized declaration of the union (acta de unión marital de hecho) before a Colombian notary, signed by both partners. Alternatively, judicial recognition of the partnership through a Colombian family court is accepted.
Foreign permanent partnerships — recognized under the laws of the applicant's home country — may also be accepted with apostilled documentation, depending on the country. Consult with Migración Colombia or an immigration attorney for country-specific guidance.
Same requirement as the spouse visa — the foreign applicant needs an individual medical assistance plan for the visa period. The Colombian national or visa-holding foreign partner does not need a plan for this application.
A foreign parent of a Colombian national child has an independent pathway to a Migrante visa that does not depend on a relationship with a Colombian adult. This visa is used in situations including:
The child, as a Colombian national, does not need a foreign medical plan. If the other parent (Colombian or foreign) is also in the application picture, their status is handled separately.
In some family relocation scenarios, foreign children of a primary visa holder apply for their own Migrante visas — for example, as dependents of a pensioner or investor, or as students enrolling in a Colombian school.
When a minor child holds an independent Migrante-category visa, they require their own medical assistance plan. The parent cannot add the child to their plan certificate. CoVisas issues plans for beneficiaries of any age, including children and minors — there is no minimum age requirement any more than there is a maximum.
A frequently asked question: does a 10-year-old child's medical plan need to include maternity coverage? The answer is yes — Resolution 5477 mandates all seven coverages for all Migrante visa plans regardless of the beneficiary's age or sex. The certificate must list all seven to be compliant, even if some coverages are statistically unlikely to apply to a particular child.
Family applications submitted simultaneously must all have their supporting documents valid at the same time. This creates a coordination challenge: criminal background checks have a 90-day validity window, and if one family member's check expires before another's application is submitted, it must be refreshed.
A recommended approach:
If two foreign parents relocate to Colombia and bring a foreign child, the child may need their own Migrante visa (if they intend to stay beyond the tourist permit) and their own medical plan. There is no automatic dependent coverage under a parent's plan — each person with a visa is an independent applicant for documentation purposes.
A solo foreign parent relocating with a foreign child to Colombia needs to apply for visas for both the parent and the child. If the child is a Colombian national (common in cases where one parent is Colombian), only the foreign parent needs a visa and plan — the Colombian-national child does not.
Foreign grandparents cannot typically use the parent-of-Colombian-national visa unless they are the direct parent of a Colombian national. They would need to qualify under a different category — pensioner, rentista de capital, or investor visa — and obtain their own medical plan. CoVisas's no-age-limit policy is particularly relevant for grandparents who may face age-based exclusions from other providers.
Each family member's plan is an independent cost. Contact CoVisas for family package quotes — obtaining plans for multiple family members simultaneously may allow for administrative efficiency even when each certificate is issued individually. CoVisas's flat-rate pricing (not age-tiered) means that older family members — grandparents, senior parents — are not penalized with dramatically higher premiums.
Yes. Each visa applicant requires their own individual medical assistance plan certificate. There is no family umbrella plan. CoVisas can issue individual certificates for all family members simultaneously.
If the child holds their own Migrante visa, yes — they require an individual plan. Children who are Colombian nationals do not need a foreign medical plan.
Yes. The spouse visa qualifying basis is the legal relationship with the Colombian national, not independent income. A medical assistance plan is still required as a mandatory document.
A notarized acta de unión marital de hecho before a Colombian notary, or judicial recognition of the union. Foreign partnerships recognized in the applicant's home country may be accepted with apostilled documentation — consult Migración Colombia or an immigration attorney.
Yes. Resolution 5477 mandates all seven coverages on all Migrante visa plans regardless of the beneficiary's age or sex. The certificate must list all seven coverages to be compliant.
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