The 180-day calendar
Three separate rules decide how long your winter can be. Colombia's tourist limit, Colombia's tax-residency line, and your own province or state's rule for keeping health coverage while you're away. Enter your dates once and this works out all three, then tells you the last safe day to fly home.
What this is: a planning aid built from the published rules, current as of September 2026. What it isn't: legal, tax, or immigration advice. Rules change, and your situation may have wrinkles this can't see. Confirm anything that matters with Migración Colombia, DIAN, and your provincial or state health plan before you book.
Your result
Fill in the dates on the left and press the button. Nothing is sent anywhere; the sums happen in your browser.
The three rules, in plain English
1. Colombia lets tourists stay 180 days per calendar year
Americans and Canadians get a 90-day stamp on arrival. Before it runs out you can apply online with Migración Colombia for one extension of up to 90 more days, for a total of 180 in a calendar year, and no more than 180 days on any single stay. The count resets on January 1, so a trip that straddles New Year uses days from two years. Leaving and coming back does not reset anything; the days keep adding up. You'll be asked for an onward or return ticket when you land, and you fill in the Check-Mig form online before each flight in and out.
2. More than 183 days in any 365 makes you a Colombian tax resident
This is Article 10 of Colombia's tax code. It's a rolling window, not a calendar year, and it counts entry and exit days. Cross it and Colombia can tax your worldwide income. Stay under it and only Colombian-source income is in play. A single winter of up to 180 days keeps you under, but two long visits inside twelve months can put you over without noticing. That's why the tool asks about earlier travel.
3. Your province or state has its own clock
Canadian provinces require you to be physically present for part of each year to keep coverage. Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, and Manitoba allow roughly seven months away (212 days) in a twelve-month period; Quebec and several others hold to six months (183 days). Americans have no residency clock, but Medicare doesn't pay for care outside the United States, so travel medical insurance is the real constraint. Provinces revise these limits, so Snowbird Advisor and your provincial health ministry are the places to confirm the current number.
The full write-up, with the extension steps and the pensionado-visa alternative, is in the 180-day calendar article.
Email me this plan
I'll send the result to you as plain text so you have the dates in your inbox. It also puts you on the short Skip Winter list, which is where I post the January rule changes. One click to leave.