Colombian citizenship by descent: who qualifies, the law, and what it takes

Q: Can you claim Colombian citizenship through a parent?

Likely. A child of a Colombian parent is Colombian and is registered at the consulate.

Q: Can you claim Colombian citizenship through a grandparent?

Possible. Nationality passes from parent to child without a generational limit, but each generation must be registered as a citizen for the next to claim through them. Your parent registers first; then you.

Q: Can you claim Colombian citizenship through a great-grandparent?

Possible. Nationality passes from parent to child without a generational limit, but each generation must be registered as a citizen for the next to claim through them. Your parent registers first; then you.

Through a parentLIKELYCitizen by descent Through a grandparentPOSSIBLECitizen by descent, generation by generation Through a great-grandparentPOSSIBLECitizen by descent, generation by generation

Ways to apply: Citizen by descent, registered at the consulate
Dual citizenship: Kept, however you apply

Each answer assumes none of your ancestors became a citizen of another country before their child was born. Below is what changes each answer.

On this page

01Who qualifies
02Dates that matter
03Through your mother
04Keeping your citizenship
05Ways to apply
06The documents
07What it takes
08Where the records live
09Law changes
10Other options
11Sources

Who qualifies, generation by generation

LIKELY

Can you claim Colombian citizenship through a parent?

Citizen by descent

A child of a Colombian parent is Colombian and is registered at the consulate.

Children of a Colombian parent, wherever born, are Colombian nationals. Political Constitution of Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b): children of a Colombian parent born abroad who register or take up domicile in Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b)

POSSIBLE

Can you claim Colombian citizenship through a grandparent?

Citizen by descent, generation by generation

Nationality passes from parent to child without a generational limit, but each generation must be registered as a citizen for the next to claim through them. Your parent registers first; then you.

What would settle itWhether your parent (and grandparent, if needed) can be registered as Colombian nationals first.

Children of a Colombian parent are Colombian nationals; the parent’s own nationality must be established first. Political Constitution of Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b): children of a Colombian parent born abroad who register or take up domicile in Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b)

POSSIBLE

Can you claim Colombian citizenship through a great-grandparent?

Citizen by descent, generation by generation

Nationality passes from parent to child without a generational limit, but each generation must be registered as a citizen for the next to claim through them. Your parent registers first; then you.

What would settle itWhether your parent (and grandparent, if needed) can be registered as Colombian nationals first.

Children of a Colombian parent are Colombian nationals; the parent’s own nationality must be established first. Political Constitution of Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b): children of a Colombian parent born abroad who register or take up domicile in Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b)

The dates that matter

No date named in Colombia’s rule decides who qualifies. The answers above turn on the family’s facts, not on when anyone was born or left.

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Colombia’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father.

Dual citizenship with your home country

You keep your citizenship.

On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.

Holding this citizenship alongside another is addressed by the law cited; check the current position before relying on it. Political Constitution of Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b): children of a Colombian parent born abroad who register or take up domicile in Colombia

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

Citizen by descent

Open to you through a parent

LIKELY
Through a parent

The law

Children of a Colombian parent, wherever born, are Colombian nationals. Political Constitution of Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b): children of a Colombian parent born abroad who register or take up domicile in Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b)

Citizen by descent, generation by generation

Open to you through a grandparent or a great-grandparent

POSSIBLE
Through a grandparent

The law

Children of a Colombian parent are Colombian nationals; the parent’s own nationality must be established first. Political Constitution of Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b): children of a Colombian parent born abroad who register or take up domicile in Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b)

What would settle an unsure case

Whether your parent (and grandparent, if needed) can be registered as Colombian nationals first.

The documents, as the rule lists them

Citizen by descent

Through a parent

Your parent’s Colombian birth certificate or identity document
Your birth certificate, apostilled and translated
Your parents’ marriage certificate

Citizen by descent, generation by generation

Through a grandparent or great-grandparent

Your ancestor’s Colombian birth certificate
Birth and marriage records for each generation, each registered at the consulate in turn

Most countries also want proof that your ancestor didn’t become a citizen somewhere else before their child was born: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter saying there isn’t one.

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Citizen by descent

Time: A few weeks to a few months for the consular registration; the Colombian passport follows in days.
Cost: About $50–200: the consular registration itself is free, so this is really apostilles and certified translations of your U.S. records.
The hard part: None, really. Bring your parent’s Colombian birth certificate or cédula and your own apostilled birth certificate to the consulate appointment.
Who decides: The Colombian consulate for your address, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Cancillería).
The first record: Your parent’s Colombian birth certificate or cédula, from The Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil. Request the certificate online via the Registraduría’s copiaderegistrocivil.registraduria.gov.co portal (certificado de registro civil) with the name and place of birth, or bring the parent’s cédula directly to the consulate appointment. registraduria.gov.co

How it’s filed

Where: The Colombian consulate for the applicant’s residence, in person. Atlanta: AL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN. Boston: MA, ME, NH, RI, VT. Chicago: IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI. Houston: AR, LA, OK, TX. Los Angeles: southern California, AZ, NM. Miami: South Florida (from Manatee, Hardee, Highlands, Okeechobee and St. Lucie counties southward) and Bermuda. Newark: NJ, PA. New York: NY, CT (10 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017). Orlando: the rest of Florida. San Francisco: northern California, AK, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY. Washington: DC, DE, MD, VA, WV (1724 Massachusetts Avenue NW, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20036). office list
How: In person; you appear in person
Form: Registro civil de nacimiento (the consular officer fills the entry at the appointment)
Appointments: Each consulate’s online appointment system (agendamiento de citas), linked from the consulate’s site. Slots open at a set hour: New York releases its calendar Tuesday to Friday at 9:00 a.m.; Miami opens the next business day’s slots every business day at 10:00 a.m., with a facial-recognition login. Booking is free and personal: the consulates cancel any appointment made through an intermediary or tramitador. Fees are paid by card only.
Fee: No fee
Decision: 1–13 weeks

What goes in the file (6)

The applicant’s foreign birth certificate, a recent certified copy listing both parents, apostilled
Its Spanish translation, also apostilled
The Colombian parent’s original cédula de ciudadanía and a photocopy (on a separate sheet)
The other parent’s valid passport and a copy
Adult applicant: the applicant’s own passport
The applicant’s blood type and RH (a lab report)

What goes wrong (5)

Free at consulates, and the entry is made at the appointment; the wait is the slot. The first copy is free.
Any age: an adult registers themself; a minor is registered by a parent.
A living Colombian parent without a cédula gets one first, at a consulate or any registraduría; only for a parent who has died does the parent’s own registro civil de nacimiento stand in for the cédula.
After registration, an adult can apply for a cédula de ciudadanía at the consulate, and then the passport.
From CA, GB, AU, NZ, ZA: the same registration at the Colombian consulate or embassy for your residence; fees and appointment system are the same Cancillería platform. From BR: Portuguese documents need a Spanish translation, apostilled. From AR: Spanish documents need only the apostille.

source ↗

Citizen by descent, generation by generation

Time: A few months per generation, since your parent must be registered as a Colombian national before you can be.
Cost: About $300–700 across the generations: consular fees, apostilles and translations at each step.
The hard part: Your parent has to register as a Colombian citizen first. If that generation’s Colombian birth record is old or was never registered, expect the Registraduría to ask for extra proof before it moves to your registration.
Who decides: The Colombian consulate for your address, then the Cancillería.
The first record: Your ancestor’s Colombian birth certificate, from The Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil. Request the certified copy online or through the consulate with the ancestor’s name, parents’ names and approximate birthplace. registraduria.gov.co

How it’s filed

Where: The Colombian consulate for each person’s residence, one after the other. office list
How: In person; you appear in person
Form: Registro civil de nacimiento, filed once per generation, parent first
Appointments: Each consulate’s online appointment system
Fee: No fee
Decision: 1–8 months

What goes in the file (3)

Step 1, the parent (child of the Colombian-born ancestor): the consular registration file, with the ancestor’s cédula or Colombian registro civil de nacimiento, the parent’s apostilled and translated birth certificate, and ID
Step 2, the applicant: the same file, with the parent’s new Colombian registro civil (and cédula, if issued) as the Colombian-parent document
The applicant’s blood type and RH

What goes wrong (3)

The same consular registration applies to each generation in turn: the parent registers first, then the applicant, using the parent’s new registro.
If the Colombian ancestor died without a cédula, the consulate takes their Colombian registro civil de nacimiento (from the Registraduría or the notaría), or for a birth before 15 June 1938 the parish baptism record with a certificate of the priest’s competence, plus the death record.
The Registraduría requires the registrant’s parent to have been Colombian in life. A parent born abroad becomes Colombian only by registering at a consulate or settling in Colombia (Constitution Art. 96(1)(b)); one who died having done neither never was, so the grandchild has no claim through that parent.

source ↗

Fees are each office’s published fee, converted to U.S. dollars.

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

birth1938–2026
Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil (the national civil register; older entries were made at notarías and municipal registrars and are held there or centralised by the Registraduría)
A Colombian parent’s registro civil de nacimiento is found by name and date of birth, or by the NUIP / cédula number. Digitised records download online; older books sit at the notaría or registraduría where the birth was registered, which must be identified (the parent’s cédula file shows it).
Ask
Online, in Spanish · request page ↗
Search
Registro civil en línea (Registraduría)
Fee
18750 COP (about $6)
Takes
1–6 weeks
Good to know (4)
- Digital copies cost COP 18,750 from 1 March 2026 (USD 18.85 at consulates), paid online, and are legally valid for all procedures. Records not yet digitised, or a copy with room for annotations, come from the notaría or registraduría that holds the book, often through a relative or representative in Colombia.
- Consulates usually accept the parent’s original cédula de ciudadanía as proof of Colombian nationality, so the parent’s registro is often not needed at all for a first-generation claim.
- The portal asks for the registrant’s identity data and an online payment (PSE).
- The civil register is the proof of birth for births from 15 June 1938 (Law 92 of 1938). An earlier birth is proved by the Catholic parish baptism record (partida de bautismo) with a certificate of the minister’s competence, which consulates accept as the antecedent.
source ↗
citizenship
Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil: the parent’s cédula de ciudadanía record
The Colombian parent’s cédula (original plus a photocopy) is the document consulates ask for. An expired or lost cédula is replaced at a consulate (duplicado) before the child’s registration.
Ask
In person, in Spanish · request page ↗
Takes
1–13 weeks
Good to know (2)
- Under the 1991 Constitution no Colombian by birth can be deprived of nationality, so naturalizing abroad since then does not matter.
- Under the 1886 Constitution (Art. 9, until July 1991) naturalizing abroad while living there ended Colombian nationality. A parent whose cédula is still valid in the national identification archive needs no recovery step (Law 43 of 1993, Art. 25). A parent whose cédula was cancelled for foreign nationality recovers nationality at a consulate first, and the recovery reaches only children who are still minors. If that parent has died with the cédula cancelled, a child can register only if born before the loss.
source ↗
birth
The Colombian consulate that registered an earlier generation’s birth abroad
Copies of a consular registration are issued by the consulate that made it (or from the Registraduría once it is centralised).
Ask
In person, in Spanish · request page ↗
Fee
10.94 USD
Takes
1–4 weeks
Good to know (1)
- USD 10.94 per copy outside Europe (EUR 9.22 in Europe).
source ↗

Translations

Into: Spanish
Who may translate: Any certified translator; the translation itself is legalized
About: $25–$80 a page

Every foreign document must be apostilled (or legalized) and, if not in Spanish, translated into Spanish. For an adult registrant the consulates say both the foreign birth record and its translation must be apostilled: in practice a certified translation signed before a notary, then apostilled by the state. In Colombia, an official translator (traductor oficial) may be used instead.

source ↗

The passport

Where: The same Colombian consulate, by appointment in its online system, after the registration (adults usually get a cédula first).
Fee: About $86
Time: 1–6 weeks

source ↗

Recent and pending changes

We know of no pending bill or recent court ruling for Colombia.

We re-read the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person checks the rule before we update anything here.

If descent doesn’t reach you

3 residence programs lead to Colombia without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.

Every source on this page

1 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing.

Not legal advice. Every answer comes from the country’s own laws and is tested against real cases. Where the law isn’t clear, we say “possible” rather than guess.

Through a parentLIKELYCitizen by descent Through a grandparentPOSSIBLECitizen by descent, generation by generation Through a great-grandparentPOSSIBLECitizen by descent, generation by generation

Ways to apply: Citizen by descent, registered at the consulate
Dual citizenship: Kept, however you apply

Each answer assumes none of your ancestors became a citizen of another country before their child was born. Below is what changes each answer.

On this page

01Who qualifies
02Dates that matter
03Through your mother
04Keeping your citizenship
05Ways to apply
06The documents
07What it takes
08Where the records live
09Law changes
10Other options
11Sources

Who qualifies, generation by generation

LIKELY

Can you claim Colombian citizenship through a parent?

Citizen by descent

A child of a Colombian parent is Colombian and is registered at the consulate.

Children of a Colombian parent, wherever born, are Colombian nationals. Political Constitution of Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b): children of a Colombian parent born abroad who register or take up domicile in Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b)

POSSIBLE

Can you claim Colombian citizenship through a grandparent?

Citizen by descent, generation by generation

Nationality passes from parent to child without a generational limit, but each generation must be registered as a citizen for the next to claim through them. Your parent registers first; then you.

What would settle itWhether your parent (and grandparent, if needed) can be registered as Colombian nationals first.

Children of a Colombian parent are Colombian nationals; the parent’s own nationality must be established first. Political Constitution of Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b): children of a Colombian parent born abroad who register or take up domicile in Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b)

POSSIBLE

Can you claim Colombian citizenship through a great-grandparent?

Citizen by descent, generation by generation

Nationality passes from parent to child without a generational limit, but each generation must be registered as a citizen for the next to claim through them. Your parent registers first; then you.

What would settle itWhether your parent (and grandparent, if needed) can be registered as Colombian nationals first.

Children of a Colombian parent are Colombian nationals; the parent’s own nationality must be established first. Political Constitution of Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b): children of a Colombian parent born abroad who register or take up domicile in Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b)

The dates that matter

No date named in Colombia’s rule decides who qualifies. The answers above turn on the family’s facts, not on when anyone was born or left.

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Colombia’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father.

Dual citizenship with your home country

You keep your citizenship.

On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.

Holding this citizenship alongside another is addressed by the law cited; check the current position before relying on it. Political Constitution of Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b): children of a Colombian parent born abroad who register or take up domicile in Colombia

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

Citizen by descent

Open to you through a parent

LIKELY
Through a parent

The law

Children of a Colombian parent, wherever born, are Colombian nationals. Political Constitution of Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b): children of a Colombian parent born abroad who register or take up domicile in Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b)

Citizen by descent, generation by generation

Open to you through a grandparent or a great-grandparent

POSSIBLE
Through a grandparent

The law

Children of a Colombian parent are Colombian nationals; the parent’s own nationality must be established first. Political Constitution of Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b): children of a Colombian parent born abroad who register or take up domicile in Colombia, Art. 96(1)(b)

What would settle an unsure case

Whether your parent (and grandparent, if needed) can be registered as Colombian nationals first.

The documents, as the rule lists them

Citizen by descent

Through a parent

Your parent’s Colombian birth certificate or identity document
Your birth certificate, apostilled and translated
Your parents’ marriage certificate

Citizen by descent, generation by generation

Through a grandparent or great-grandparent

Your ancestor’s Colombian birth certificate
Birth and marriage records for each generation, each registered at the consulate in turn

Most countries also want proof that your ancestor didn’t become a citizen somewhere else before their child was born: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter saying there isn’t one.

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Citizen by descent

Time: A few weeks to a few months for the consular registration; the Colombian passport follows in days.
Cost: About $50–200: the consular registration itself is free, so this is really apostilles and certified translations of your U.S. records.
The hard part: None, really. Bring your parent’s Colombian birth certificate or cédula and your own apostilled birth certificate to the consulate appointment.
Who decides: The Colombian consulate for your address, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Cancillería).
The first record: Your parent’s Colombian birth certificate or cédula, from The Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil. Request the certificate online via the Registraduría’s copiaderegistrocivil.registraduria.gov.co portal (certificado de registro civil) with the name and place of birth, or bring the parent’s cédula directly to the consulate appointment. registraduria.gov.co

How it’s filed

Where: The Colombian consulate for the applicant’s residence, in person. Atlanta: AL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN. Boston: MA, ME, NH, RI, VT. Chicago: IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI. Houston: AR, LA, OK, TX. Los Angeles: southern California, AZ, NM. Miami: South Florida (from Manatee, Hardee, Highlands, Okeechobee and St. Lucie counties southward) and Bermuda. Newark: NJ, PA. New York: NY, CT (10 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017). Orlando: the rest of Florida. San Francisco: northern California, AK, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY. Washington: DC, DE, MD, VA, WV (1724 Massachusetts Avenue NW, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20036). office list
How: In person; you appear in person
Form: Registro civil de nacimiento (the consular officer fills the entry at the appointment)
Appointments: Each consulate’s online appointment system (agendamiento de citas), linked from the consulate’s site. Slots open at a set hour: New York releases its calendar Tuesday to Friday at 9:00 a.m.; Miami opens the next business day’s slots every business day at 10:00 a.m., with a facial-recognition login. Booking is free and personal: the consulates cancel any appointment made through an intermediary or tramitador. Fees are paid by card only.
Fee: No fee
Decision: 1–13 weeks

What goes in the file (6)

The applicant’s foreign birth certificate, a recent certified copy listing both parents, apostilled
Its Spanish translation, also apostilled
The Colombian parent’s original cédula de ciudadanía and a photocopy (on a separate sheet)
The other parent’s valid passport and a copy
Adult applicant: the applicant’s own passport
The applicant’s blood type and RH (a lab report)

What goes wrong (5)

Free at consulates, and the entry is made at the appointment; the wait is the slot. The first copy is free.
Any age: an adult registers themself; a minor is registered by a parent.
A living Colombian parent without a cédula gets one first, at a consulate or any registraduría; only for a parent who has died does the parent’s own registro civil de nacimiento stand in for the cédula.
After registration, an adult can apply for a cédula de ciudadanía at the consulate, and then the passport.
From CA, GB, AU, NZ, ZA: the same registration at the Colombian consulate or embassy for your residence; fees and appointment system are the same Cancillería platform. From BR: Portuguese documents need a Spanish translation, apostilled. From AR: Spanish documents need only the apostille.

source ↗

Citizen by descent, generation by generation

Time: A few months per generation, since your parent must be registered as a Colombian national before you can be.
Cost: About $300–700 across the generations: consular fees, apostilles and translations at each step.
The hard part: Your parent has to register as a Colombian citizen first. If that generation’s Colombian birth record is old or was never registered, expect the Registraduría to ask for extra proof before it moves to your registration.
Who decides: The Colombian consulate for your address, then the Cancillería.
The first record: Your ancestor’s Colombian birth certificate, from The Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil. Request the certified copy online or through the consulate with the ancestor’s name, parents’ names and approximate birthplace. registraduria.gov.co

How it’s filed

Where: The Colombian consulate for each person’s residence, one after the other. office list
How: In person; you appear in person
Form: Registro civil de nacimiento, filed once per generation, parent first
Appointments: Each consulate’s online appointment system
Fee: No fee
Decision: 1–8 months

What goes in the file (3)

Step 1, the parent (child of the Colombian-born ancestor): the consular registration file, with the ancestor’s cédula or Colombian registro civil de nacimiento, the parent’s apostilled and translated birth certificate, and ID
Step 2, the applicant: the same file, with the parent’s new Colombian registro civil (and cédula, if issued) as the Colombian-parent document
The applicant’s blood type and RH

What goes wrong (3)

The same consular registration applies to each generation in turn: the parent registers first, then the applicant, using the parent’s new registro.
If the Colombian ancestor died without a cédula, the consulate takes their Colombian registro civil de nacimiento (from the Registraduría or the notaría), or for a birth before 15 June 1938 the parish baptism record with a certificate of the priest’s competence, plus the death record.
The Registraduría requires the registrant’s parent to have been Colombian in life. A parent born abroad becomes Colombian only by registering at a consulate or settling in Colombia (Constitution Art. 96(1)(b)); one who died having done neither never was, so the grandchild has no claim through that parent.

source ↗

Fees are each office’s published fee, converted to U.S. dollars.

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

birth1938–2026
Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil (the national civil register; older entries were made at notarías and municipal registrars and are held there or centralised by the Registraduría)
A Colombian parent’s registro civil de nacimiento is found by name and date of birth, or by the NUIP / cédula number. Digitised records download online; older books sit at the notaría or registraduría where the birth was registered, which must be identified (the parent’s cédula file shows it).
Ask
Online, in Spanish · request page ↗
Search
Registro civil en línea (Registraduría)
Fee
18750 COP (about $6)
Takes
1–6 weeks
Good to know (4)
- Digital copies cost COP 18,750 from 1 March 2026 (USD 18.85 at consulates), paid online, and are legally valid for all procedures. Records not yet digitised, or a copy with room for annotations, come from the notaría or registraduría that holds the book, often through a relative or representative in Colombia.
- Consulates usually accept the parent’s original cédula de ciudadanía as proof of Colombian nationality, so the parent’s registro is often not needed at all for a first-generation claim.
- The portal asks for the registrant’s identity data and an online payment (PSE).
- The civil register is the proof of birth for births from 15 June 1938 (Law 92 of 1938). An earlier birth is proved by the Catholic parish baptism record (partida de bautismo) with a certificate of the minister’s competence, which consulates accept as the antecedent.
source ↗
citizenship
Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil: the parent’s cédula de ciudadanía record
The Colombian parent’s cédula (original plus a photocopy) is the document consulates ask for. An expired or lost cédula is replaced at a consulate (duplicado) before the child’s registration.
Ask
In person, in Spanish · request page ↗
Takes
1–13 weeks
Good to know (2)
- Under the 1991 Constitution no Colombian by birth can be deprived of nationality, so naturalizing abroad since then does not matter.
- Under the 1886 Constitution (Art. 9, until July 1991) naturalizing abroad while living there ended Colombian nationality. A parent whose cédula is still valid in the national identification archive needs no recovery step (Law 43 of 1993, Art. 25). A parent whose cédula was cancelled for foreign nationality recovers nationality at a consulate first, and the recovery reaches only children who are still minors. If that parent has died with the cédula cancelled, a child can register only if born before the loss.
source ↗
birth
The Colombian consulate that registered an earlier generation’s birth abroad
Copies of a consular registration are issued by the consulate that made it (or from the Registraduría once it is centralised).
Ask
In person, in Spanish · request page ↗
Fee
10.94 USD
Takes
1–4 weeks
Good to know (1)
- USD 10.94 per copy outside Europe (EUR 9.22 in Europe).
source ↗

Translations

Into: Spanish
Who may translate: Any certified translator; the translation itself is legalized
About: $25–$80 a page

source ↗

The passport

Where: The same Colombian consulate, by appointment in its online system, after the registration (adults usually get a cédula first).
Fee: About $86
Time: 1–6 weeks

source ↗

Recent and pending changes

We know of no pending bill or recent court ruling for Colombia.

We re-read the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person checks the rule before we update anything here.

If descent doesn’t reach you

3 residence programs lead to Colombia without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.

Every source on this page

1 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing.

Not legal advice. Every answer comes from the country’s own laws and is tested against real cases. Where the law isn’t clear, we say “possible” rather than guess.

Who qualifies, generation by generation

Can you claim Colombian citizenship through a parent?

Can you claim Colombian citizenship through a grandparent?

Can you claim Colombian citizenship through a great-grandparent?

The dates that matter

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Dual citizenship with your home country

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

The law

The law

What would settle an unsure case

The documents, as the rule lists them

Citizen by descent

Citizen by descent, generation by generation

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Citizen by descent

How it’s filed

Citizen by descent, generation by generation

How it’s filed

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

Translations

The passport

Recent and pending changes

If descent doesn’t reach you

Every source on this page

Check your family for Colombia.

Who qualifies, generation by generation

Can you claim Colombian citizenship through a parent?

Can you claim Colombian citizenship through a grandparent?

Can you claim Colombian citizenship through a great-grandparent?

The dates that matter

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Dual citizenship with your home country

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

The law

The law

What would settle an unsure case

The documents, as the rule lists them

Citizen by descent

Citizen by descent, generation by generation

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Citizen by descent

How it’s filed

Citizen by descent, generation by generation

How it’s filed

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

Translations

The passport

Recent and pending changes

If descent doesn’t reach you

Every source on this page

Check your family for Colombia.