Visa USA: Fortunas y extravios de los emigrantes Colombianos en los Estados Unidos.

This paper attempts to answer three questions about Colombian emigrants living in the United States: (i) how many are they? and when did they arrive?, (ii) what are their socioeconomic characteristics? and how do they compare to those of Colombian residents?, and (iii) how large are the differences in earned incomes between Colombian immigrants and Colombian residents? The results show, first, that the Colombian population in the United States is well below the one-million mark despite a large increase in migration flows during the late 1990s. And second, that Colombian emigrants have at least three more years of schooling than Colombian residents and that their earnings are at least twice as large as those of their counterparts in Colombia. Overall, the results suggest that migration is a plausible option for struggling middle income households, but not for poor and disadvantaged individuals.