Moving to Medellín: everything to do before you fly

Three months out: decide the big things

1. Check your passport. Most travelers want comfortable validity beyond the planned stay, so renew now if the expiry is close; everything else waits on this document.
2. Choose your legal path. For a study stay longer than a tourist window, the student visa is the clean route, and as a licensed school (ETDH, Secretaría de Educación de Pereira) we issue the acceptance letter ourselves and guide you through the process. Read how it works on our student visa page rather than piecing it together from forums.
3. Pick your program and city. Group classes in Medellín or Pereira, private lessons or a visa program: this drives your schedule, your budget and your visa file.
4. Set a budget. Our cost of living guide gives ranges in pesos; decide your monthly number now and add a cushion for deposits and setup costs.

Do not take visa advice from a checklist, including this one. Requirements are set by the Colombian authorities and they change; what we publish about the process lives on our student visa page, kept current. We guide you through the process, and the answer to a question about your case is one WhatsApp message away.

Two months out: start the Spanish, sort the landing

1. Start Spanish before you fly. A few weeks of our live online classes, same teachers and same method, means you land ordering food instead of pointing, and the first classes on the ground feel like a continuation rather than a start.
2. Book your first month of housing flexibly, and do not sign a long lease from abroad. A homestay with one of our familias anfitrionas in Laureles gives you a soft landing, meals included, and daily practice at the table.
3. Gather your documents. Some may need apostilles or certified translations, which take time and are much easier to get from home than from a hostel in Medellín. The visa process tells you which ones apply.
4. Sort health cover. Medical coverage is a standard requirement of the student visa; confirm the conditions as part of the visa process, and read what a policy covers in Colombia specifically before you pay for it.

Two weeks out: the boring but critical list

• Tell your bank you are traveling and bring two cards on different networks; cards get frozen at the worst moments.
• Bring some cash to change on arrival. Colombia still runs on cash more than you expect.
• Download a ride-hailing app, an offline map, a translation app and WhatsApp, which in Colombia is not an app but infrastructure: landlords, schools and new friends all live on it.
• Check whether your phone is unlocked. A locked handset cannot take a Colombian SIM, and the fix is much easier from home.
• Keep the address of your first accommodation and your acceptance letter within reach for the arrival paperwork; you will be asked where you are staying.
• Scan every important document and email the copies to yourself.
• Book your airport pickup or know your route: the airport sits up the mountain, about an hour from the city.

Week one: build your rhythm

The first week sets the tone for the whole stay. Resist the urge to treat it as a vacation: the students who thrive build a routine fast and let the fun attach itself to it.

1. Day 1 to 2: get a local SIM, which takes a passport and ten minutes (our SIM, bank and health cover guide has the details), and learn your walking radius.
2. Day 2 to 3: take the free level test online or at the school, so you start in the right class instead of the flattering one.
3. Day 3 to 4: first classes. Morning Spanish gives the day a spine; everything else fits around it.
4. Day 4 to 5: ride the metro end to end once. It is the fastest geography lesson the city offers.
5. The weekend: come to a school activity or intercambio and meet the people who will become your Medellín. Nobody remembers their first week for the paperwork.

Classes and a room at the school’s Guest House from the first week: that is the Spanish + Housing combo ($ 4.980.000 $ 3.230.000≈ US$1,017approx. for four weeks). You land, drop your bags and are living in Spanish by Monday, with the school calendar taking care of the first weekend.

The do-not list

• Do not sign a year-long lease on an apartment you have never stood in. Book one flexible month, then choose with your own eyes.
• Do not arrive with a single bank card, and do not keep both cards in the same pocket.
• Do not postpone Spanish until you land. The first weeks are far smoother with survival basics, and the online classes exist for this.
• Do not book every tour from home. The best plans are made on a Tuesday with classmates, for this Saturday.
• Do not overpack. Medellín has malls and markets, and the spring-like climate means layers: evenings are cooler than the tropical label suggests, so pack a light jacket, walking shoes and a rain layer. Leave suitcase room for the coffee you will carry home.

Still deciding between neighborhoods? Read our comparison of Laureles and El Poblado before you book anything long-term.