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LEGALTICA GUIDE

How to get Colombian citizenship: by descent, by marriage and by naturalization

If one of your parents is Colombian, you are Colombian by birth and only need to register at a Colombian consulate or settle in Colombia. Everyone else naturalizes: you must hold a resident (R) visa and have been domiciled in Colombia for five continuous years counted from the date that visa was issued, or two years if you are married to or the permanent partner of a Colombian, have Colombian children, or your country treats Colombians reciprocally. You then apply to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, pay COP 808,558 (about USD 256), pass exams on Colombia unless you are exempt and take an oath; you don’t have to give up your other nationality. Since getting the resident visa usually takes two to five years on migrant visas first, the whole road is typically four to ten years.

The rest of Legaltica is in Spanish.

Legaltica editorial team
12 FIRMS
4 OFFICIAL SOURCES

THE GUIDE · FULL READ

Which route fits you

01 Your mother or father is Colombian you are Colombian by birth; register your birth at a Colombian consulate or settle in Colombia.
02 You are married to, or the permanent partner of, a Colombian spouse visa, resident visa after three years (five for partners), then citizenship two years later.
03 You have a Colombian child two years after your resident visa.
04 You came on a work, pensioner or investor visa five years of migrant visas to reach the resident visa, then five more years.
05 You are from another Latin American or Caribbean country since Law 2332 of 2023 the same five- or two-year rule applies; the old one-year period is gone.
06 You are over 60 or have a Colombian high school or university degree you skip the exams.
07 You are recognised as stateless in Colombia one year after the resident visa, free and without exams.

Citizenship by descent: children of Colombians

A person born abroad to a Colombian mother or father is Colombian by birth if they later settle in Colombia or are registered at a Colombian consular office. In practice, the birth is recorded in the Colombian civil registry (registro civil de nacimiento) at a consulate or at a notary or registry office in Colombia: you prove the parent’s Colombian nationality and bring the foreign birth certificate, normally apostilled and officially translated. There is no residence requirement, no exam and no naturalization fee, and the parent’s Colombian nationality isn’t lost because they hold another one.

A child born in Colombia to foreign parents is Colombian if at least one parent was domiciled in Colombia at the time of the birth. Domicile is proved by three continuous years on a visa that allows you to settle (a migrant or resident visa); time as a tourist or without legal status doesn’t count. Children who would otherwise be stateless can be registered as Colombian without the domicile requirement.

Immigration and nationality lawyers in Colombia who speak English

Tell a firm about your case in English: they receive your message and your phone number, and you see theirs straight away. It’s free and you’re not committing to anything. Languages are taken from each firm’s profile. Firms marked “Registered with Legaltica” manage their own profile.

  1. Registered with Legaltica

    CITY
    Cajicá
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    Abogados Sierra & Vasquez - Bufete Judicial Colombia

    5.0 · 25 Google Speaks English

    En Sierra & Vásquez Abogados — Bufete Judicial Colombia brindamos soluciones jurídicas especializadas y representación legal estratégica. Ubicados en el Centro Empresarial Sabana Park (Oficina 412, Cajicá), nuestra firma se distingue por su rigor técnico, absoluta confidencialidad y eficacia en la resolución de conflictos. Asesoramos a corporaciones y personas naturales mediante un enfoque multidisciplinario en las siguientes áreas de práctica: …

  2. Registered with Legaltica

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    Mi Visa Colombia

    Speaks English

    Mi Visa Colombia es una firma jurídica especializada en derecho migratorio colombiano que ayuda a extranjeros, expatriados, familias, emprendedores, inversionistas, nómadas digitales y empresas internacionales a gestionar sus procesos migratorios en Colombia. Si buscas una visa colombiana, un abogado de inmigración en Colombia, obtener la residencia en el país o servicios profesionales para expatriados, nuestro equipo te brinda asesoría jurídica …

  3. CITY
    Bogotá
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    CALEC

    4.9 · 212 Google Speaks English

    CALEC ABOGADOS (fundada en 2015) ofrece en Bogotá y Ciudad de Panamá asesoría legal empresarial especializada para startups y empresas que escalan en LATAM. Sus servicios incluyen Movilidad Global (visas y permisos de trabajo), Asesoría Legal Empresarial (contratos, derecho laboral y societario, due diligence, gobierno corporativo), registro de marcas y protección de datos. La firma trabaja por paquetes de horas …

The law changed in 2023

Naturalization is now governed by Law 2332 of 2023 (Ley 2332 de 2023), dated 25 September 2023, which replaced Law 43 of 1993. Guides that still describe the old rules, especially the one-year period that Latin American and Caribbean nationals by birth used to enjoy, are out of date.

Naturalization is a sovereign and discretionary decision of the President, delegated to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Meeting the requirements doesn’t guarantee it, and filing an application doesn’t give you any immigration status: your resident visa and cédula de extranjería must stay valid throughout.

Requirements: resident visa and years of domicile

  • Resident visa: you must hold an R visa, as main holder or beneficiary, when you apply and throughout the procedure.
  • General rule: five years of continuous domicile immediately before you apply.
  • Reduced period: two years if you are married to, or the permanent partner of, a Colombian, if you have Colombian children, or if your country of origin offers Colombians reciprocal treatment.
  • Start date: the period runs from the date your resident visa was issued, not from your first arrival or your first visa.
  • Absences: leaving Colombia for a year or more before you apply interrupts the domicile, and more than two continuous years abroad cancels the resident visa itself.
  • Stateless people: one year of domicile from the issue of the resident visa, free of charge and without exams.

A worked timeline

An American woman marries a Colombian and gets her M spouse visa in March 2021. She renews on time and, after three years, is issued a resident visa in May 2024. Her two years run from that date, so she can apply for citizenship from May 2026: about five years after her first visa. An engineer on a work visa with no Colombian family needs five years of migrant visas and then five years as a resident, about ten years in all.

The documents

  • A reasoned, signed letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs requesting Colombian nationality.
  • A copy of your resident visa (as holder or as beneficiary) and of your valid cédula de extranjería.
  • A copy of the biographical page of your valid passport.
  • A birth certificate showing your exact place and date of birth, apostilled and officially translated if it was issued abroad.
  • A document proving your profession, activity or occupation, or that of the person you depend on financially.
  • Proof of your marriage or partnership with a Colombian, or of your Colombian children, if you rely on the two-year period.
  • Your Colombian secondary school or university certificate, if you have one; otherwise you take the knowledge exams.
  • If you can’t provide one of these, a reasoned letter explaining why: the Ministry may accept other evidence.

The exams

Applicants take exams on Colombia’s Constitution, history, culture and geography, run by the governor’s office (gobernación) where you live under the Ministry’s direction. If Spanish isn’t your first language, you also take a Spanish test. You can sit the exams twice; if you fail, you can retake them six months after the first sitting, but you must tell the Ministry in writing within three months of being notified, or the file is closed with no appeal.

You are exempt from the knowledge exams if, when you apply, you have a Colombian secondary school (bachiller) or university degree, if you are over 60, if you have a cognitive disability, or if you belong to an Indigenous community that shares a border territory with Colombia. Having a foreign degree recognised in Colombia doesn’t exempt you.

How long it takes: step by step

  1. Filing and fee: you file the application with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and pay COP 808,558 in 2026 (about USD 256 at the official rate of 24 October 2026).
  2. Document review: within three months of the payment. If something is missing, you have six months to fix it, extendable once by up to three months; otherwise the file is closed with no appeal and you must wait a year to apply again.
  3. Exams, unless you are exempt.
  4. Confidential reports: the Ministry asks Migración Colombia (personal, family and immigration situation), the national intelligence agency (judicial situation) and the tax authority, DIAN (tax situation), and may interview you. An unsatisfactory report can be enough for a refusal.
  5. Approval: the decision is notified and published, and the naturalization document (carta de naturaleza) is sent to the mayor’s office where you live.
  6. Oath: you take an oath (or a solemn promise, if your religion forbids oaths) to obey the Constitution and the laws. You must do it within six months, or the naturalization can be revoked unless you have a valid reason and ask for an extension.
  7. Colombian ID and passport: after the oath you apply for your cédula de ciudadanía and then your passport.

The law sets the three-month review, but no maximum time for the confidential reports or the final decision, so there is no guaranteed overall timeline. What you control is the file: a complete application avoids the six-month correction stage.

Dual nationality and family

Colombian law doesn’t require naturalized citizens to give up their nationality of origin. Whether you keep your other nationality depends on the laws of your own country, so check them before you apply.

You can ask, in the same application, for your minor children who live in Colombia and hold resident visas as your beneficiaries to be naturalized with you; they must still be minors when the naturalization is granted. Adult beneficiaries can apply in parallel. If you naturalize, your family members’ beneficiary visas end, so plan their applications together.

Where applications go wrong

  • Counting the years from your first visa instead of from the resident visa.
  • A trip abroad of a year or more just before applying.
  • Letting the resident visa or the cédula de extranjería expire while the application is pending.
  • Missing the six-month deadline to complete documents, or the three-month deadline to ask for an exam retake.
  • Tax debts, court cases or immigration problems that appear in the confidential reports.
  • Not taking the oath within six months of approval.

If your application is refused

A refusal is issued as an administrative decision, and you can only apply again two years after it becomes final. A file closed for missing a deadline can’t be appealed and means a one-year wait. Before trying again, find out which report caused the problem, fix it (a tax debt, an immigration record) and ask a lawyer whether the decision can be challenged in the administrative courts.

When it is worth talking to a lawyer

A closed file costs you a year and a refusal two. A Colombian nationality lawyer helps you file once and file right:

You have spent long periods abroad and aren’t sure your domicile is unbroken.

Your situation with DIAN, the courts or Migración Colombia isn’t clean.

You can’t get your birth certificate or another document and need an alternative proof.

You were refused before or your file was closed.

You are a child of a Colombian and the consulate or registry is making the registration difficult.

You want your children naturalized with you. The firms below say they speak English.

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Frequently asked questions

If your mother or father is Colombian, you are Colombian by birth. You register your birth in the Colombian civil registry at a consulate (or in Colombia) with proof of your parent’s nationality and your apostilled, translated foreign birth certificate. No residence or exam is required.

Five continuous years as a resident (R) visa holder, or two if you are married to or the permanent partner of a Colombian, have Colombian children, or your country gives Colombians reciprocal treatment. The period starts on the date your resident visa was issued.

Yes, but not immediately: three years on spouse visas to get the resident visa, then two years of domicile as a resident. About five years in total, plus the procedure.

No. Colombian law doesn’t require naturalized citizens to renounce their nationality of origin. Your own country’s law may have its own rules.

If Spanish isn’t your first language you take a Spanish test, in addition to the exams on the Constitution, history, culture and geography, unless you are exempt (for example, if you are over 60 or have a Colombian degree).

The naturalization fee is COP 808,558 in 2026 (about USD 256). On top of that come apostilles, translations, certificates and, later, your Colombian ID card and passport.

Not any more. Under Law 2332 of 2023, Latin American and Caribbean nationals follow the same rule of five years, or two with Colombian family or reciprocity. The one-year period of Law 43 of 1993 no longer applies.

The Ministry has three months to review the documents after payment, and you get six months to fix anything missing. The law sets no deadline for the confidential reports or the decision, so the total varies.

Official sources

Ley 2332 de 2023 (adquisición, pérdida y recuperación de la nacionalidad colombiana), arts. 3, 4, 6-16, 18-30 Función Pública, Gestor Normativo · checked
Resolución 3969 de 2026, art. 10 (tarifa de naturalización) Cancillería de Colombia · checked
Resolución 5477 de 2022, arts. 88 y 90 (visa R por tiempo acumulado) Cancillería de Colombia · checked
Tasa de cambio representativa del mercado (TRM), 24-10-2026 Superintendencia Financiera, datos.gov.co · checked

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules and amounts change: check the official sources below or ask a lawyer about your own situation.