05/02/2025
Prepare your trip
1. Contact other students
We believe other students can answer questions related to life in Bogotá and academic issues from a students’ point of view at Uniandes. You can always contact other students from your home institution or uniandes students who have done their own student exchanges at your home university.
2. Visas and entry permits to Colombia
Depending upon your nationality and the length of your stay, you will either apply for a student permit or a visa.
If you come for a semester (less than 180 days) and have the nationality of a country that does not require a visa to enter Colombia, you can request a PIP.
If you come only for a semester (less than 180 days) and have the nationality of a country that requires a visa to enter Colombia, you must apply for a student visa.
If you are coming for an academic year, you must have a student visa regardless of your nationality.
Migración Colombia: It is absolutely necessary that all foreigners who visit Colombia and have a visa for more than 3 months go to Migración Colombia during the first 15 days of their arrival to report their entry into the country. If you follow this process, you will avoid legal problems and possible fines www.migracioncolombia.gov.co.
3. Airport Pick Up
Arriving at least one week before the start of activities at the university is recommended in order to adapt to our country, find permanent accommodation, and legalize student status. If you want us to help you contact a trusted taxi driver for an airport pick-up, you can request this service through the following link.
4. Housing
Uniandes offers accommodation service for all members of our community; Séneca Tower is a 26-story tower located in front of the campus and offers 628 spaces distributed amongst single, double or quadruple bedroom apartments. For more information, please visit Vivienda Universitaria and contact csc@uniandes.edu.co.
5. Health Insurance
For all international students, it is mandatory to come to Uniandes with international travel and health insurance. Please make sure that your policy covers you in Colombian territory and other countries in case you are planning to travel outside of Colombia. Uniandes offers a health insurance including emergency coverage for all students which can be used within Colombian territory. Nevertheless, the coverage of this policy is limited which is why we strongly recommend you to get international travel and health insurance.
6. Personal budget
Housing: Between $1´500.000 – $2’500.000 COP Colombian pesos per month depending upon your housing preferences.
Transportation: One way public bus ticket $2.200 COP - One way Transmilenio ticket $2.400 COP - One way Taxi $4.100 - $20.000 COP
Food: An average monthly food budget is around $250.000 COP to $500.000 COP.
Entertainment: Depending on the activities that you do in Bogotá, your budget may change. However, an estimated cost of entertainment per month is around $300.000 COP.
7. Activate your Uniandes Email
Once you are admitted in any of our programs, you will receive an email with your Uniandes account. It is highly important for you to activate your Uniandes email given it will be the form of official communication between you and the university. Furthermore, it will be your access to most of the web services offered by the university. You can activate your account via this link.
8. Course registration
This takes place a couple of weeks before the formal start of classes. Instructions on how to register courses will be sent by email to accepted students, however, you can also read more via the following link.
Uniandes has a support group for our international students. Once you activate your Uniandes account, please join the group "Hermanos Sin Fornteras" on Facebook. The group is organized by Colombian students who are part of HSF. They will help you with the process of adaptation to our city and, in general, to our country. Remember to contact HSF before traveling to resolve any doubts you may have.
10. Travel tips
Electricity: In Colombia, the sockets are of type A and B. The standard voltage is 110 V and the standard frequency is 60 Hz.
Weather: Keep in mind that Colombia is a tropical country. In spite of not having seasons in this tropical zone, there can be sudden changes of climate and temperature in the same day, or between day and night. We recommend to dress as follows for Bogotá: a shirt, a sweater, a light jacket and an umbrella every day. More information at: http://www.bogota.gov.co/ciudad/clima.
Make sure your passport is valid for your travel period.
Do not forget to bring the acceptance letter and the "Certificate of existence and legal representation" that we send to your email.
Prepare the necessary documents that your university requires before your departure.
Get the necessary vaccines.
Buy an international travel insurance.
In case you do not plan to stay in the Uniandes student residence, please make a reservation in a hotel or hostel.
Already in Colombia
1. Adaptation and Cultural Shock
The process of cultural adaptation can be long and implies the flexibility to accept and embrace cultural differences. During this experience in Colombia, you may face an emotional rollercoaster which we call cultural shock. It is important for you to be aware of its symptoms and learn to deal with them. If you have any problems or concerns, do not hesitate to ask. We will undoubtedly help you find support when you need it.
2. Register at the embassy
As a foreign visitor in our country, we suggest you register your personal information in the Embassy so that you can be connected with fellow nationals in Colombia. Through this link, you can find the official list of Embassies and Consulates in Colombia.
3. ID Uniandes
To obtain your uniandes ID and have access to the campus premises, you must make sure to send to oiamobilityinfo@uniandes.edu.co, the following documents:
A copy of your PIP to enter Colombia or a copy of your visa
The registration form (the instructions for issuing the registration form will be sent by email to the accepted students).
Exchange students can access campus during the first three weeks from the start of class with their admission letter and a copy of their passport. The process of the uniandes ID can take two weeks. For this reason, it is convenient to send the required documentation before or during the orientation week.
4. Learning Agreement or certificates
Due to Universidad de los Andes policies, only the Admissions and Registration office is allowed to sign or authorize learning agreements or any other type of certification required. All certificates must be emailed to oiamobilityinfo@uniandes.edu.co in a Word or PDF blank format. It takes ten days to issue learning agreements or certificates for foreign students. This procedure has no cost.
5. Participate in our orientation sessions:
The orientation days for semester exchange students are organized one week before the official start of classes. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are the selected days. We strongly recommend you attend the three days given we will include suggestions and recommendations that will make your adaptation process to our university and country more enjoyable.
6. Change and withdrawal of courses
You can register for new courses up until the first week of classes on the established dates. Remember that the courses have limited places. For that reason, you must plan in advance your academic selection. Once the deadline of course registration passes, it is not possible to add new courses. The date of course withdrawal is usually the week before break. For this reason, you should make sure to withdraw on time from the courses in which you do not want to continue, otherwise they will be reflected in your final grade certificate as failed or with a grade of 1.5 (depending on the course). This cannot be changed under any circumstances.
7. HSF Events or Activities
In order to facilitate your adaptation to Uniandes and Colombia, we recommend you participate in the different activities organized by the Hermanos Sin Fronteras group.
8. Be an ambassador of your home institution and country
Every semester the office of international affairs organizes an exchange fair to promote different universities with which we have agreements and to inform Uniandes students of the exchange opportunities that exist. We appreciate having international students at this event to provide first-hand information to our Uniandes community.
