Colombia is one of the few countries in the Americas whose citizens need a visa for Malaysia. The eVisa is applied for entirely online from Bogotá or Medellín — no embassy appointment — and grants a 30-day stay on arrival.
30 days
Maximum stay per visit
90 days
eVisa validity from approval
3–7 days
Typical processing time
Any port
Entry point accepted
100% online
No embassy visit
Important for Colombian citizens
Most Latin American passports — Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and others — enter Malaysia visa-free. Colombia is an exception: an approved eVisa is required before you board. If a friend from elsewhere in the region travelled without one, that is why their experience does not apply to your passport.
Overview
Malaysia is a long way from Colombia by any measure — roughly halfway around the world, with no routing under about 26 hours — but it has become a genuine destination for Colombian travellers rather than a curiosity. The draw is value: Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Langkawi and Borneo can be done for a fraction of what the same three weeks would cost in Japan or Australia, and Malaysia works well as the anchor of a wider South-East Asian trip taking in Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.
There is a business dimension too. Colombian coffee, flowers and agro-industrial exports have found buyers across Asia, and Kuala Lumpur functions as a regional trading and logistics hub. Colombian companies looking east increasingly route through Malaysia, and the Business eVisa is a well-used product on this corridor.
The visa requirement is the thing that catches Colombian travellers out. Most of Latin America — Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru among them — enters Malaysia visa-free, so a Colombian traveller checking a regional guide or asking a friend reaches the wrong conclusion. Colombia is on Malaysia's visa-required list, and the eVisa must be approved before boarding.
At a glance
Eligibility
Yes — Colombian citizens need a visa to enter Malaysia. This is the single most important thing on this page, because the assumption that Latin American passports enter freely is both widespread and wrong for Colombia. An approved visa must be in place before you board, and the airline at Bogotá or your first connection point will check for it.
For tourism, visiting family and business travel, the eVisa covers it. The Single Entry Tourist eVisa fits a normal holiday; the Business eVisa covers meetings, conferences, trade fairs and buyer visits with an invitation from the Malaysian company; the Multiple Entry eVisa suits itineraries entering Malaysia more than once.
Give the multiple-entry question real thought. Nobody flies 26 hours from Bogotá for Malaysia alone — almost every Colombian itinerary adds Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore or Indonesia. If the route comes back through Kuala Lumpur, that second arrival is a fresh entry and a single-entry eVisa will not cover it. This is the most expensive mistake available on this route, because sorting it out from Bangkok is far harder than sorting it out from Bogotá.
Check your transit countries separately, and note that a Colombian routing usually has two of them. A Malaysian eVisa confers nothing in Spain, Türkiye, Qatar, the UAE or the Netherlands. Colombian passport holders have straightforward arrangements at most of the Gulf and Turkish hubs, and the Schengen area requires an ETIAS authorisation for visa-exempt nationals — confirm the current position for your specific routing.
Every traveller needs their own eVisa, including babies and children, each tied to that person's own Colombian passport. A child cannot be added to a parent's application.
Which one to choose
Three products, all applied for the same way online. The right one depends on how many times you intend to enter Malaysia and why you are going.
A one-off holiday, a family visit, or a first trip to Malaysia.
Regional itineraries that dip in and out of Malaysia, and frequent visitors.
Meetings, conferences, trade fairs and site visits. Not valid for paid work.
Stay & validity
A Single Entry Tourist eVisa is valid for 90 days from approval, which is the deadline by which you must arrive in Malaysia. The stay it grants once you enter is separate and shorter — up to 30 days, stamped in your passport at the counter. These are different numbers and confusing them is the most common misreading of the scheme.
The 30-day limit deserves careful planning at this distance. Colombian travellers making a journey this long usually want four to six weeks in Asia, which is entirely workable — but not all of it can be spent in Malaysia on a single entry. Structure the trip so that Malaysia is entered in blocks of under 30 days, with regional legs in between.
The Multiple Entry eVisa runs for three or six months from approval with unlimited entries, each visit capped at 30 days. For the typical Colombian South-East Asian itinerary using Kuala Lumpur as a hub, this is almost always the right purchase rather than the single-entry product.
Your Colombian passport must have at least six months of validity from your arrival date and at least one blank page. The eVisa attaches to the passport number and does not transfer to a renewed document — a reissued passport means applying again with no refund on the old one.
The eVisa cannot be extended once issued. Overstaying carries compound fines charged per day, escalating to detention, deportation at your own cost and a re-entry ban. Read the date written on your entry stamp before leaving the immigration counter — with a return flight this expensive to change, an accidental overstay is a serious problem.
Pricing
Live fees for Colombian passport holders, shown all-in — the Malaysian government charge and our service fee together, with nothing added later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Colombia
Requirements
Everything Colombian passport holders need before starting an application. The first five items apply to every applicant; the rest are specific to your nationality.
Passport bio-data page — a clear colour scan showing your photograph, full name, date of birth, passport number and expiry date, with at least six months of validity remaining
Recent passport-style photograph — white background, full face visible, taken within the last six months, with no headwear other than for religious reasons
Confirmed return or onward flight ticket showing you will leave Malaysia within the permitted stay
Proof of accommodation for the whole of your visit — hotel bookings, or an invitation letter and address if you are staying with family or friends
A credit or debit card to pay the Malaysian government fee and our service fee together, plus an email address you can access while travelling
Simple process
Four steps, entirely online, with our team checking every field before anything reaches Malaysian Immigration.
Enter your passport details exactly as printed, choose your visa type and upload your photograph and supporting documents. Most applicants finish in under fifteen minutes.
Our team checks your photograph, passport number, name spelling, itinerary and supporting documents against Malaysian Immigration requirements before anything is submitted.
Your application goes to the Department of Immigration Malaysia with the government fee paid, and we track its status until a decision is issued.
The approved eVisa is emailed to you as a PDF. Print a copy and keep it with your passport — airlines and immigration officers both ask to see it.
Malaysia eVisa applications from Colombia are typically decided within three to seven working days. Volumes are modest and applications are usually well documented, so most are approved without a query.
Apply at least three to four weeks before travelling. The margin matters much more here than for short-haul markets, because Colombian long-haul tickets are bought months ahead on restrictive fares across two or three carriers, and unpicking that chain after a visa delay is genuinely expensive.
Resolve the transit questions at the same time as the visa. A Colombian routing usually involves two connections, neither addressed by the Malaysian eVisa. Schengen routings through Madrid or Amsterdam need ETIAS authorisation for visa-exempt nationals — check the current position rather than assuming.
Colombia is 13 hours behind Malaysia, the largest gap of any market on this list. A query raised in Kuala Lumpur during their working day lands in your late evening or overnight, so you effectively lose a day on every exchange. That is the strongest argument for applying early and submitting a complete file the first time.
On arrival
An approved eVisa gets you on the plane. This is what happens once you land — including the arrival card that catches out more travellers than the visa itself.
Every traveller must submit the MDAC online within three days before arrival. It is not part of the eVisa, it is not optional, and airlines increasingly check it at the gate. It takes a couple of minutes and must be done for each traveller individually.
Malaysia issues the eVisa as a PDF rather than attaching it to the passport chip. Airline staff at check-in and the immigration officer on arrival both ask to see it, so carry a printed copy as well as the file on your phone.
The automated gates at KLIA are for Malaysian citizens, residents and a small number of registered categories. Visitors arriving on an eVisa are seen at a staffed counter, where the passport is stamped with the date of entry.
The officer may ask where you are staying, how long you intend to remain and how the trip is funded. Having your hotel booking, return ticket and, if you are visiting family, their address to hand makes this a thirty-second conversation.
Flying from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu or Kuching means passing through immigration again on arrival, even though it is a domestic flight. Your eVisa covers it, but keep your passport accessible rather than packed.
The stamp records the date you entered and the date by which you must leave. Overstaying in Malaysia carries fines, detention and a re-entry ban, and the stamp is the only record of your deadline — so read it while you are still at the counter.
Getting there
There is no short way from Colombia to Malaysia — it is close to the longest journey either country offers. Qatar Airways via Doha and Turkish Airlines via Istanbul both serve Bogotá and operate onward to Kuala Lumpur, and these are usually the cleanest two-sector routings. European hubs add a third sector but sometimes a better fare.
Best time to go
Malaysia is tropical and humid year-round at roughly 25°C to 33°C, which will feel broadly familiar to Colombians from the coast or the Llanos, and quite unfamiliar to anyone used to Bogotá's cool highland climate. There is no seasonal temperature swing to plan around — the variable is rain, and it splits by coast rather than by month.
December to March is the driest period on the west coast where Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Langkawi sit, and it lines up with the Colombian December–January holiday period, which is when most long trips are taken. It is the obvious window, though also the busiest and most expensive.
June to September is the alternative, coinciding with the Colombian mid-year school break. Conditions on the west coast are wetter but perfectly workable, and it is the best season for Sabah, Borneo and the east coast islands, which suits travellers wanting diving and rainforest rather than cities.
Given the length of the journey, plan a longer trip rather than a shorter one. A week in Malaysia does not justify 30 hours of flying each way, and the marginal cost of adding Thailand, Vietnam or Indonesia to the itinerary is small compared with the cost of getting to the region at all. Structure it so that no single stay in Malaysia exceeds 30 days.
Avoid these
Most refusals are avoidable and technical rather than substantive. These are the problems that come up most often on applications from Colombia — we check for every one of them before submitting.
Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and others enter Malaysia without a visa. Colombia does not. Checking a regional guide or asking someone who made the trip on another passport gives the wrong answer, and the discovery at Bogotá check-in ends a very expensive itinerary before it starts.
Almost every Colombian itinerary adds Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore or Indonesia. Returning through Kuala Lumpur is a fresh entry, and a single-entry eVisa is exhausted the first time you arrive. Sorting this out from Bangkok is far harder than buying the Multiple Entry product before you leave.
The eVisa's 90-day validity is your deadline to arrive, not the length of your stay. The stay granted at the counter is up to 30 days. Colombian travellers planning six weeks in Malaysia around the wrong number face a genuinely difficult problem once they are there.
Connections through Madrid, Amsterdam or Paris put you in the Schengen area, where visa-exempt nationals need an ETIAS travel authorisation. A Malaysian eVisa confers nothing there. Check the current requirement for your specific routing before booking.
Colombian long-haul tickets are bought early on restrictive fares across two or three carriers. The visa is routine but not instant, and the 13-hour time difference means every document query costs a full day. Three to four weeks is the realistic lead time.
The MDAC is separate from the eVisa and required for every traveller, submitted online within three days before arrival. Complete it before you leave your last transit airport, since connecting airlines increasingly check it at the gate.
Passport number mistyped
By far the most common problem. The eVisa attaches to the number you enter, so a single wrong character produces an approval that does not match the document you present at check-in.
Insufficient proof of funds
Malaysian Immigration wants to see that you can support yourself for the whole visit. Thin statements, a balance deposited in a lump sum days before applying, or no statements at all are the leading cause of refusal.
A photograph that fails the check
Shadows across the face, a coloured or patterned background, glasses, or a scan cropped too tightly all cause rejection. Malaysia is stricter than most on the plain white background requirement.
Conditions
These conditions are set by the Department of Immigration Malaysia and do not vary by nationality. The 90-day validity and the 30-day stay are different things, and confusing them is the most common misreading of the whole scheme.
Your approval is issued against the passport number you enter. If you renew or replace that passport before travelling, the eVisa does not transfer — you must apply again on the new document, and there is no refund on the old one.
Every person travelling needs their own eVisa, including babies and children. A child cannot be added to a parent's application, and each traveller needs their own valid passport to apply against.
A Single Entry eVisa is valid for 90 days from the date it is approved, and that is the window in which you must arrive. The stay it grants once you enter is separate and shorter — up to 30 days. The two are routinely confused.
The Malaysia eVisa is not extendable. If you want to stay longer you must leave the country and apply again from outside. Building an extension into your plans is not an option, so book the trip you actually intend to take.
Unlike India's eVisa, Malaysia's is not restricted to designated airports. You may enter through any authorised international airport, seaport or land checkpoint, which makes overland arrivals from Thailand and Singapore straightforward.
An approved eVisa gets you on the plane. The decision to admit you is made by the immigration officer on arrival, who can ask about your funds, your accommodation, your onward ticket and the purpose of your visit.
Consular services
Malaysia does not maintain a resident embassy in Bogotá, and consular coverage for Colombia is handled through its missions elsewhere in the region. This is exactly why the online route matters here — the eVisa application is completed online and decided digitally, with no interview, no appointment and no passport submission, so a holiday never requires reaching a mission on another continent. If you need consular assistance rather than a visitor visa, contact our team and we will confirm the current accreditation arrangement for Colombia.
FAQs
The questions Colombian passport holders ask most often about travelling to Malaysia.
Yes. Colombia is on Malaysia's visa-required list, so an approved eVisa is needed before you board. This surprises many travellers because most of Latin America — Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru among them — enters Malaysia visa-free.
Sí. Colombia está en la lista de países que requieren visa para Malasia, así que necesita una eVisa aprobada antes de abordar. La solicitud se hace completamente en línea, sin cita en la embajada, y otorga una estancia de hasta 30 días por entrada.
Up to 30 days per entry, stamped in your passport on arrival. The eVisa's 90-day validity is the deadline by which you must arrive rather than the length of your stay, and the 30 days cannot be extended from inside Malaysia. Structure a longer Asian trip so no single Malaysian stay exceeds it.
Every route connects, usually twice. Qatar Airways via Doha and Turkish Airlines via Istanbul both serve Bogotá and operate onward to Kuala Lumpur, giving the cleanest two-sector routings. Total journey time runs about 26 to 32 hours — the longest of any nationality on this list.
That depends on your connection points rather than on Malaysia, and there are usually two. Colombian passport holders have straightforward arrangements at the Gulf and Turkish hubs; Schengen routings through Madrid, Amsterdam or Paris require an ETIAS authorisation. Confirm the current position for your specific routing.
Multiple entry, in most cases. Almost every Colombian itinerary adds Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore or Indonesia, and returning through Kuala Lumpur counts as a fresh entry. The Multiple Entry eVisa is valid for three or six months with unlimited entries, each capped at 30 days.
Typically three to seven working days. Apply three to four weeks ahead — Colombia is 13 hours behind Malaysia, so every document query effectively costs a full day, and long-haul tickets bought months in advance are expensive to rebook.
A passport valid six months beyond arrival, a confirmed return ticket, hotel bookings or an invitation letter, three months of bank or card statements, an employment letter or business registration, a white-background photograph and a full itinerary including both connection points.
Yes. Every traveller needs their own eVisa regardless of age, including babies, each tied to that person's own Colombian passport. A child cannot be added to a parent's application. Where only one parent travels, carry a consent letter from the other.
Yes. The MDAC is a separate online form submitted within the three days before you arrive, and the eVisa does not cover it. Each traveller submits their own, including children. Complete it before leaving your last transit airport, as connecting airlines increasingly check it at the gate.
Your nationality is already set to Colombia. Complete the form in under fifteen minutes, and our team will check every detail before it reaches Malaysian Immigration.
Other nationalities
Requirements, supporting documents and routes differ by passport. Here are the guides for other eligible nationalities.
