I was born in Mexico, but am a U.S. Citizen with a U.S. Passport. I want to visit several South American countries over a five-month period. A round-trip ticket is the cheapest, so I propose to fly into Bogota, Colombia... stay a couple of weeks, and then bus it to Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, return to Colombia and then take my return flight back to the U.S. I know I can travel to Colombia for 60 days no problem... Possibly get an extention for another 60 days, but that would not cover the five months I plan to travel in South America. My question is: when I leave Colombia after two weeks, does the clock keep running on my 60 days, or is that only for the time I am in the country. When I return five months later to take the flight back to U.S. will they let me back in? Also, when I arrive and when they see that my return flight is five months later, would that be a problem. It is really hard to get questions like this answered through their counselate. They don't understand what I am trying to ask.
In and out of Colombia 5 months
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Once you leave a country and go into another country, the clock starts running on the visa for that country. Have you checked to see if you need visas for each of these countries? And what their restrictions are? I don't forsee any problems, but I've never tried it. For one, I haave NEVER been asked by any country for that 'return flight ticket'. AND I don't fly with tickets. Frankly, I would read their site carefully, and just go and see what happens. As I said, I have never been asked for that 'well known, return ticket' anywhere in the world = and I've been to 35 countries. I would definitely not be concerned if I was starting in Ecuador and returning from their. Heck, they even use US dollars as their currency. The visa into and out of Brazil might be expensive and be more limited. Check all your country consulate sites and get more information.
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_4965.html#B
Go to this site and check each of your countries. For instance, Brazil requires a visa obtained before arrival but when I went to Ecuador, I received a visa on arrival.
Happy travels.