What new right have citizens and foreign residents in the Andean Community acquired?

As of January 1, 2002, national or alien residents of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru have the new right to engage in tourist travel among those countries, for up to 90 days renewable for a like period, using only the documents stipulated in Decision 503. Venezuelans will enjoy the same right to make tourist trips to Member Countries that do not require them to hold a visa (Colombia, Ecuador y Peru).

What requirements must be met for tourist travel in Venezuela?

National and alien residents of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru shall continue to use their passports as identification documents for tourist travel in Venezuela until that country eliminates its visa requirement (by December 31, 2004). Up until that time and in consideration of the principle of reciprocity, national and alien residents in Venezuela shall use passports as their travel documents for tourist travel in Bolivia.

The moment the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela eliminates the visa requirement for Andean countries, the national and alien residents of those countries will be able to travel to that country as tourists by carrying one of the identification documents indicated in Decision 503.

What identification documents are recognized for tourism purposes in the Andean Community?

Andean and alien residents of the Andean Community Member Countries may make tourist trips throughout the Subregion using only one of the following identification documents: a Passport, which is recognized by all Member Countries, or a Passport Sheet, a "Cédula de Identidad" (Identity Card), a "Carnet del Registro Unico Nacional (RUN)" (National Sole Registration Card) or a "Carnet de Extranjería" (Alien Residents’ Card) in the case of Bolivians or foreigners residing in that country.

Colombian citizens may make tourist trips in the Subregion carrying only their "Cédulas de Ciudadanía" (Citizenship Cards) (in the case of persons over the age of 18) or "Tarjeta de Identidad" (Identification Card) (children between the ages of 7 and 18) or "Registro Civil de Nacimiento" (Civil Birth Registrations) (children under the age of 7). Alien residents in Colombia may make tourist trips to the rest of the Member Countries carrying a "Cédula de Extranjería" (Alien Card) (persons over the age of 18) or a "Tarjeta de Extranjería" (Alien Card) (children under the age of 18, but older than 7). Aliens under the age of 7 use their Passport for identification purposes.

Ecuadorian nationals will be authorized to make tourist trips throughout the Subregion with their "Cédula de Ciudadanía" (Citizenship Card) and alien residents of Ecuador with their "Cédula de Identidad" (Alien Immigrant Identification Card).

Peruvian citizens over the age of 18 may travel as tourists in the Subregion with either their "Documento Nacional de Identidad" (National Identification Document) or their "Libreta Electoral" (Voter Registration Card), while children under the age of 18 can use their Birth Certificate. In special cases, Peruvian citizens can travel with a Peruvian Consular Safe-conduct Pass or a Border Safe-Conduct Pass. Alien residents in Peru can engage in tourist travel in the Subregion, carrying their "Carnet de Extranjería" (Alien Registration Card).

Venezuelans over the age of 9, for their part, can make tourist trips throughout the Subregion carrying their "Cédula de Identidad" (Identification Card) and children under the age of 9 their Birth Certificates, while alien residents in Venezuela can use their "Cédula de Identidad para los extranjeros en condición de residente" (Alien Resident Identification Card).

What advantages do citizens and aliens enjoy in their tourist travel in the Subregion?

The most obvious and immediate advantage, for the moment, will be the "saving" of time-consuming arrangements and the cost of obtaining the obligatory passport. Furthermore, while the acceptance of identification documents for travel within the Subregion does not necessary involve any reduction in the immigration control formalities at ports, airports and border crossings, it will make it possible to move ahead with the designing of provisions and methods to facilitate and simplify the "immigration filters" that are needed today to authorize the entry of national and alien resident tourists from the Andean Community Member Countries for travel throughout the Subregion.

Can one use a Passport to travel to an Andean country as a tourist?

While the use of passports and consular visas will no longer be compulsory after January 1, 2002 for tourist travel between Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, persons wishing to use a passport may do so because its use for tourist travel among those countries is optional.

When will the use of a Passport be compulsory?

The use of a Passport will be compulsory when Andean tourists and foreign residents in Andean Community countries decide, after visiting an Andean country, to continue traveling outside the Subregion, to a third country. In that case, the travelers must use their Passport as a travel document from the time they leave their usual country of residence.

How will immigration formalities be handled?

For purposes of immigration control, travelers must turn in their duly formalized Andean Immigration Card (TAM) stating the date of entry and the authorized period of the visit, together with the information indicated in Andean Community Resolution 527. On their departure from the country being visited, travelers should turn over the part of that document they still hold. so that immigration authorities can have the document accrediting their departure within the authorized period and record that fact in their information system.

Travelers must take special care not to lose their TAM, or they will have problems when asked for that document by any authority in the Andean country being visited or when complying with immigration formalities upon departure, because it is the only administrative document attesting to their authorized stay in the country.

Which are the national immigration authorities in the Member Countries?

In Bolivia

Servicio Nacional de Migración (National Immigration Service)
Vice Ministerio Régimen Interior y Policía (Vice-Ministry of the Interior and Police)
Ministerio de Gobierno (Government Ministry)
(5912) 2375672
(5912) 2370615

In Colombia

Dirección de Extranjería (Immigration Bureau)
Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS) (Administrative Security Department)
(571) 6107315 / (571) 2779211
(571) 6107469

In Ecuador

Dirección de Migración (Immigration Bureau)
Policía Nacional del Ecuador (Ecuadorian National Police)
(59322) 257290
(59322) 456-249

In Peru

Dirección General de Migraciones (General Immigration Bureau)
Ministerio del Interior (Ministry of the Interior)
(511) 3304066
(511) 3321269 / 3322302

In the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Dirección General Sectorial de Identificación y Extranjería (General Bureau of Identification and Immigration)
Ministerio del Interior y Justicia (Ministry of the Interior and Justice)
(582-12) 4836670 / 4831577
(582-12) 4831577 / 4831158