Expert: Cesar - 12/15/2009

Question
I am interesting in working in Columbia, Cucuta in particular.  I am a Canadian RN with a degree.  I am currently learning Spanish to speak fluently.  Wading through web sites has gotten me nowhere.  Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Dear Jewels:

You can contact your nearest Colombian consulate for assistance with your visa and for advise about working in Colombia. I found the following web page by doing a search that said: Consulado de Colombia en Canada

http://www.embajadacolombia.ca/

The visa requirements appear at:

http://www.embajadacolombia.ca/servicios.php?ID=3

You can go to Colombia as a tourist and check out the environment and the possibilities you would have in Colombia. I have not been in Cucuta in about 25 years when I travelled by land to Venezuela and back. At that time it was a small city with no much to do. Cucuta is small in size but big in movement. It is a city that has a lot of commerce because it is one of the main crossing places to Venezuela. There are a lot of crossings back and forth between Venezuela and Colombia there. Therefore you will see a lot of movement in the bus terminal and at the airport. The temperature is high: I would think like 80 to 90 degrees average, but you can check websites for weather information. It is pretty much dry.

For information about Cucuta you can visit many websites, including touristic sites. Just do searches by the word Cucuta and Cúcuta:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucuta

You could apply for an investor visa or for some other kind of visa. The income will not compare to the one in Canada or the US. I mean that professionals earn less in Colombia unless they apply their smarts and figure out a great way to make more money. I was thinking that you were a dentist, but you are a Registered Nurse. You can work independently or for a medical center, but I suppose that there is no much demand for an independent nurse. Normally a nurse could probably earn at least a million pesos (unless working in a very small and poor town), but probably 2 million or more per month. It depends on where you go/work, your skills, and how good you are at negotiating a salary. In your case you have the advantage of the Canadian education/technology, which would be appreciated here. Maybe you could start a business instead of being an employee. Maybe you could start some kind of nursing service or a little clinic with a doctor and everything. Salaries are low here and if you bring some decent money you could start a little medical or nursing center.

A lot of people move across Cucuta, a lot of temporary visitors, and you could push for the quick treatments such as medical checkups. You could visit the city and see the competition. You could come as a tourist and see by yourself, then decide if it would be worth it to start a business there. You will not make a comparable income to a Canadian nurse if you work as an employee for a medical center in Colombia. You could offer work to the higher income people since the low income people has the Sisben, which is close to free medical care for the poor. You could for example have an office that offers beauty services which are in high demand in Colombia and Venezuela. Those could be liposuction, massages, and even plastic surgery. You could hire a plastic surgeon on an on call basis when you get clients. It is all about thinking on ways of making a business do well, not quite working as an employee for a low salary.

Best wishes,

Cesar
www.CesarUSA.com