Last Legal Day

If your nationality is exempt from a short-stay visa, Migración Colombia may admit you as a tourist and stamp a tourism permit (permiso de turismo). As a general rule, you may stay up to 180 days per calendar year (1 January–31 December). We call this the 180-day quota.

Your last legal day is the final day you may remain in Colombia under your current permit without falling into irregular status. Counting it correctly matters for planning travel, extensions, and visa filings.

Disclaimer: informational only — not legal advice. Officers retain discretion on the days granted at entry.

The quota resets on 1 January, but the reset is not automatic while you remain in Colombia. If you entered in the prior year and are still inside on 1 January under that permit, you continue under the days already granted until that permit ends. To start a fresh quota year, you typically need to exit and re-enter.

Days are counted including the day of arrival and the day of departure. Unused days do not roll into the next year. Time spent in Colombia under a visa is tracked separately from tourism days: exhausting visa days does not by itself consume your tourism quota, and vice versa — but you must leave and re-enter under the correct status.

At entry, officers usually grant up to 90 days, even if you still have more than 90 days left in your annual quota. You may request a tourism permit extension (prórroga) through Migración Colombia’s procedures, typically before the stamp expires, to use remaining quota days (often up to another 90 days, subject to the 180-day cap and officer discretion).

A visa run (exit and re-entry through an authorized border post or airport) can produce a new stamp of up to 90 days — but only for days still available in the quota. If you have already used 100 days, the next stamp may be shorter than 90. There is no fixed minimum time abroad; many travelers allow at least 24 hours outside.

Single stay from January: Enter 1 January with 90 days; extend before expiry to reach ~180 days ending around 30 June. After that, plan a visa or leave.

Multiple trips: Each re-entry may show a 90-day stamp, but Migración tracks cumulative tourism days. A later entry can receive fewer than 90 days once the quota is partly used.

Year overlap: An extension that crosses into January does not give you a second consecutive extension at the end of that period. Leaving and re-entering in the new year can open a refreshed quota, reduced by any tourism days already used in that new calendar year.

Even one day beyond your authorized stay can trigger an administrative sanction under Migración Colombia’s sanctioning framework (commonly referenced via Resolución 2357 de 2020 and related rules). Sanctions range by severity and can affect future visa prospects. Regularization may require paying a fine and obtaining a safe-conduct (salvoconducto) before you can leave or apply for a visa.

Keep a personal log of entries and exits. Use our Last Legal Day calculator for a first estimate. For a case-specific count or if you are near overstay, book a consultation.