Immigration: Colombia

General information, not legal advice. Data as of October 11, 2026

Visa line

Colombia does not have its own column. If you were born in Colombia, you use the rest-of-the-world column ("All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed").

Family (Final Action Date / Date for Filing):

Employment: EB-1 C / C; EB-2 01APR25 / 15MAR26; EB-3 15JUN24 / 01AUG24; other workers 01JUN22 / 01JUL22; EB-4 and religious workers 15DEC22 / 01JAN25, but the part for religious workers who are not ministers expires December 11, 2026 unless Congress extends it.

If you and your spouse immigrate together (cross-chargeability):

• If your spouse was born in a country with a longer line (for example, Mexico in the family categories), your spouse can use the Colombia column. For that, you both must get the green card in the same case, as the principal applicant and the accompanying spouse.
• It does not apply if you are already a citizen or resident and you petition for your spouse: in that case, your spouse's country of birth counts.

Colombia is not in Proclamation 10998 or 10949 (visa suspension for certain countries). It is also not on the list of countries that must pay a bond for a tourist visa, or in the USCIS pause for people from certain countries.

2026 pause on immigrant visas:

• Starting January 21, 2026, the State Department stopped issuing immigrant visas (the ones requested from outside the U.S. to live here) to people from 75 countries. Colombia was on that list. Tourist visas and other nonimmigrant visas were not paused.
• On August 21, 2026, a federal court in New York struck down that pause (case CLINIC v. Rubio). The State Department says that, because of that order, it no longer applies the pause as of that day. It also says that people from those countries may submit their visa application and attend their interview.
• The government appealed. The New York court refused to suspend its order while the appeal is decided. The government asked the court of appeals for the same thing, and that court has not yet ruled (according to the public copy of the court record, updated October 12, 2026). On October 14, 2026, the New York court held a hearing on whether to give the State Department a deadline to review again the visas refused because of the pause.
• This may change. If your relative in Colombia is waiting for an immigrant visa, check travel.state.gov before their interview.

Which chart USCIS uses: in November 2026, USCIS says to use the "Dates for Filing" chart for family and employment cases if you apply for a green card inside the U.S. This changes every month.

Careful: a current date does not mean you can apply for a green card inside the country. Talk to a lawyer or accredited representative.

Official sources: State Dept. · Visa Bulletin Nov. 2026 ↗ · State Dept. · Immigrant visa pause update ↗ · Federal Register · Proclamation 10998 ↗ · USCIS · Adjustment filing charts ↗

TPS

Colombia does not have TPS. It is not on the USCIS list of countries with TPS or on the list of countries that had it before. Do not trust anyone who offers "TPS for Colombians."

Official sources: USCIS · Temporary Protected Status ↗

DACA

The rules are the same for Colombians as for any other country.

• USCIS still renews DACA and its work permits.
• It accepts new requests but does not process them. Paying for one today does not give you DACA.
• Your current DACA and work permit stay valid until they expire.
• Renew 120 to 150 days before it expires. Cost: $85 (I-821D) + $470 online or $520 on paper (I-765) = $555 or $605. There is no fee waiver. Only very limited fee exemptions exist, and USCIS must approve them before you file; see uscis.gov/DACA.
• There may be changes in Texas; check the USCIS page (uscis.gov/DACA).

Official sources: USCIS · DACA ↗ · USCIS · Form I-765 fees ↗

Consulates and appointments

• Colombia has 12 consulates in the U.S.: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles (office in Beverly Hills), Miami (office in Coral Gables), Newark (New Jersey), New York, Orlando, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and San Juan (Puerto Rico).
• Find yours on the "Otros consulados en el país" (other consulates in the country) page of any consulate's website (for example, miami.consulado.gov.co). It says which states each one serves.
• The Washington, D.C. consulate is in the Embassy building: 1724 Massachusetts Ave NW, 2nd floor. Phone: (202) 885-9279.
• Each consulate has its own appointment system. Book your appointment only through the link shown on the official website of your consulate or of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Some, like Atlanta, use outside forms linked from their page.
• Appointments are free and personal, and there are no middlemen. Do not pay agents (tramitadores). The Boston and Miami consulates say they cancel appointments made through them.
• Some procedures do not need an appointment at certain consulates (in New York, for example, the passport). In San Juan, you ask for an appointment by email.
• Consulates also hold mobile consulates in other cities, by appointment. The dates are posted on each consulate's page.
• You pay in U.S. dollars. For the passport, the Ministry accepts online payment by card or with PSE (you need a bank account in Colombia). It also says these consulates take money orders for the passport: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Newark, New York, Orlando and Washington. Each consulate has its own payment methods: Miami only takes cards, and Boston does not take cash. Before you go, check your consulate's page to see how to pay.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Cancillería) has a toll-free line from the U.S.: 1-888-764-3326.

Official sources: Colombian Embassy · Consulates in the U.S. ↗ · Foreign Ministry · Consulates in the U.S. ↗ · Consulate in Boston · Appointments ↗ · Foreign Ministry · Passport fees, payment ↗

If a relative is detained

• Look for them at ice.gov/locator with their A-number and country of birth (Colombia), or with their name and country of birth.
• If they do not show up, ICE says to call the appropriate local ERO (Enforcement and Removal Operations) field office.
• Your relative can ask that their consulate be notified. Colombia is not on the State Department's list of countries that must always be notified.
• Call your consulate. These are their published emergency lines: New York (646) 510-1182; Boston (857) 262-7345 (call, text or WhatsApp); Miami (305) 239-5399; Newark (973) 432-2660; San Francisco (415) 770-8994; Atlanta (678) 485-2321; Houston (832) 665-6960 (WhatsApp; its page asks you to send a message).
• Houston also has an information line about detainees: (346) 204-4658, Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• If your consulate has no emergency line, use its general phone number or the Ministry's toll-free line, 1-888-764-3326.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that, through its consulates, it helps Colombians detained abroad, including for immigration reasons: care, access to justice and communication with the family.
• The consulate does not provide your relative's legal defense. A lawyer does that.
• If your relative is deported and has no passport, the Ministry can give them an exempt passport (pasaporte exento). It is free, valid for up to 30 days and used to return to Colombia.
• Look for a lawyer or an accredited representative soon. On uscis.gov there is a list of accredited representatives and free or low-cost legal services.

Official sources: ICE · Locating detained people ↗ · State Dept. · Mandatory consular notification ↗ · Foreign Ministry · Help for Colombians ↗ · Foreign Ministry · Passport requirements ↗

Passport and cédula

• You apply for the passport in person at the consulate. Bring your valid original cédula (yellow with holograms, or digital) and your old passport, if you have it. You do not need to bring photos: the consulate takes your photo.
• Price at consulates in the U.S.: regular passport $86; executive $175; emergency $129. The Ministry's fee table does not list a different price for minors.
• The regular and executive passports are valid for 10 years. Colombia has no "renewal": each time you get a new passport and the old one is cancelled.
• If you were born outside Colombia or were registered late, also bring a certified copy of your birth record (registro civil, with a notes section) and, depending on the case, a copy of the cédula of your Colombian father or mother.
• Minors: they go in person with their father, mother or legal representative, and bring a certified copy of their birth record (with a notes section). Abroad, the identity card (tarjeta de identidad) is not required.
• The Ministry says that at consulates the passport is delivered in about 8 business days.
• New model: on April 1, 2026, the change to a new passport model began. The Ministry says current passports stay valid until they expire and that you do not have to replace them.
• First cédula (age 18 or older): it is free. You apply in person at the consulate. Bring a certified copy of your birth record or your biometric identity card, and know your blood type and Rh.
• Cédula renewal (if you do not have the yellow one with holograms): it is free and you apply in person at the consulate.
• Duplicate cédula (if it was lost, damaged or stolen): according to the Registraduría's 2026 fees, the yellow one with holograms costs $67.55 and the digital one $76.28. The Ministry says you get the digital one if you ask for it. The Registraduría says the digital one is only issued at the consulates on its list, and that list includes the 12 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
• Some consulate pages still show other prices. Before you pay, confirm the amount with your consulate.
• Paper copy of a civil record made at a consulate: $10.94. Only the consulate where the record was made can issue it. The Registraduría also sells digital copies online at registraduria.gov.co ($18.85), but it does not say whether this includes records made at consulates.
• Apostille for a Colombian public document: you request it online at cancilleria.gov.co. It costs $11 if you pay from abroad (37,800 pesos in Colombia).
• Neither the passport nor the cédula gives you immigration status or a work permit in the U.S.

Careful: for procedures, the Ministry asks for a cédula in a valid format (the yellow one with holograms, or the digital one). If you have an older cédula, first ask for the renewal, which is free.

Official sources: Foreign Ministry · Passport fees, payment ↗ · Foreign Ministry · Passport requirements ↗ · Foreign Ministry · Cédula abroad ↗ · Registraduría · 2026 fees ↗

Children born in the U.S. and nationality

• The Colombian Constitution (article 96) says that children of a Colombian father or mother born in another country are Colombian by birth if they are registered at a Colombian consular office or if they later go to live in Colombia.
• The same article says that Colombian nationality is not lost by acquiring another one. Under the Constitution, becoming a U.S. citizen does not take away your Colombian nationality.
• To register your child, make an appointment at the consulate. The Registraduría says that registering a birth (registro civil de nacimiento) is free.
• The Ministry says the birth should be registered within the following month. After that, the registration is "late" (extemporánea), but it can still be done.

To register the child, the Ministry and the Miami Consulate ask for:

• your child must go with the person who declares the birth (for example, the father or mother), with their ID;
• both parents' ID documents, originals and copies;
• the original U.S. birth certificate, showing the city and county, with the parents' names as they appear on their documents;
• the apostille for that certificate, issued by the Secretary of State of the state where your child was born;
• an official Spanish translation (if a translator who is not Colombian does it, Miami asks for the translation to be apostilled too);
• your child's blood type and Rh.

After that:

• Ask for a certified copy of the birth record (with a notes section). It costs $10.94. With it, your child can get a Colombian passport at the consulate.
• Each consulate may ask for something else. Check its page before you go.

Official sources: Senate · Constitution, art. 96 ↗ · Foreign Ministry · Civil registry abroad ↗ · Consulate in Miami · Consular services ↗ · Registraduría · Birth registration ↗

Voting from the U.S.

• From the U.S. you can vote for president, for the Senate and for one representative in the House for Colombians abroad (the international district).
• To vote, register your cédula at the consulate or embassy where you want to vote. You do it in person, with your cédula (yellow with holograms, or digital) or your Colombian passport.
• You can register at any time, up to two months before the election. If it is already registered at that consulate, you do not need to do it again.
• This voter registration is different from the consular registry.
• Only the original cédula is valid for voting.
• The 2026 elections are over: Congress in March, and president in May (first round) and June (runoff). Abroad, voting lasted one week.
• So far there is no official date published for the next national election. Check registraduria.gov.co.

Official sources: Foreign Ministry · Register to vote ↗ · Senate · Constitution, arts. 171, 176 ↗ · Registraduría · 2026 elections ↗

If you return to Colombia

• Law 1565 of 2012 (Return Law) gives benefits to Colombians who return. You must have lived abroad for at least 3 years, be an adult and sign up in the Single Return Registry (Registro Único de Retorno). The law says your immigration status in the other country does not count.
• It does not apply to people with current prison sentences or to people convicted of crimes against the public administration.
• Types of return: solidarity (victims of the armed conflict), humanitarian (vulnerable situation), labor, productive (for a business idea) and academic (if you earned a university degree abroad).
• Benefits: at customs, you do not pay import taxes on your household goods or on your work tools and equipment (vehicles are not included). There is also a benefit on the financial transactions tax. All of them have limits: ask the DIAN.
• These benefits are given only once. You cannot apply for return again before 5 years.
• How to apply: request the "Certificado de Beneficiario de la Ley de Retorno" (Return Law beneficiary certificate) online on the Ministry's procedures site (tramitesmre.cancilleria.gov.co). The Intersectoral Commission for Return issues it.
• The DIAN (Colombia's customs and tax agency) says you must have that certificate before filing the import declaration. Your household goods must arrive between one month before and four months after you arrive.
• Military status: Law 1861 of 2017 (article 29) says that Colombian men who live abroad must register and can settle their military status through the consulate if they show they have lived abroad for at least 3 years.
• If you return, Law 1861 (article 33) says you settle your military status under Law 1565. Law 1565 (article 7) says that men over 25 who return without having settled it can do so without paying the fines of Law 48 of 1993.
• In Colombia, military status is required to work in public positions or private companies. The law (article 42 of Law 1861) says they cannot ask for your military card (libreta militar) to start a job. If you are unfit, exempt or past the age for enlistment, you have 18 months from the day you start working to settle it. The Army's official site is libretamilitar.mil.co.
• The U.S. government has the CBP Home app for people without legal status who decide to leave. DHS says it gives a free trip, an exit bonus once you confirm in the app that you arrived, and forgiveness of certain fines for not leaving. DHS has changed the bonus amount several times: check dhs.gov/cbphome. The app is downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.
• If you have a pending asylum application and you leave the U.S. without travel permission (advance parole), the federal rule (8 CFR 208.8) presumes you abandoned your application. And if you leave with travel permission but go to Colombia, the country you say you fled, the same rule also presumes you abandoned it, unless you show compelling reasons for that trip. Talk to a lawyer or an accredited representative before using the app.
• If you are also a U.S. citizen: the State Department says you must travel with both passports, enter and leave Colombia with your Colombian passport, and return to the U.S. with your U.S. passport. Colombian law (article 34 of Law 2332 of 2023) says that dual nationals enter, stay in and leave Colombia as Colombians.
• Colombian minors (including dual nationals): Migración Colombia says they leave Colombia as Colombians. If they do not travel with both their father and mother, they need an exit permit signed by the parent or parents who are not traveling. The permit states the departure and return dates, the reason for the trip and who the child travels with. Also bring the child's birth record (registro civil; a copy or a clear image).
• If the person who signs is in Colombia, the permit is authenticated before a notary. If they are abroad, before a Colombian consulate. If there is no consulate nearby, it must be in Spanish, signed before a notary, apostilled and always the original. There are other cases (a parent who died, parents who disagree, only one parent with parental authority): check migracioncolombia.gov.co.
• The law (article 110 of Law 1098 of 2006, changed by Law 1878 of 2018) has an exception: if the child has lived abroad for 1 year or more and leaves with one parent to return to that country, the child does not need the permit. The child must bring a residence certificate from the consulate (or their consular registration) and a copy of the document that gives custody to the parent they travel with. Ask your consulate before the trip.
• The State Department travel advisory for Colombia is Level 3 ("reconsider travel"), with some areas at Level 4 ("do not travel").

Official sources: Senate · Law 1565 of 2012 (Return) ↗ · Senate · Law 1861 of 2017 (military) ↗ · Migración Colombia · Minors leaving ↗ · State Dept. · Colombia travel advisory ↗

Sources: travel.state.gov, fam.state.gov, federalregister.gov, uscis.gov, ecfr.gov (8 CFR), dhs.gov, ice.gov, federal courts (case records), cancilleria.gov.co and the consulado.gov.co sites (Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs), registraduria.gov.co (Registraduría), secretariasenado.gov.co (1991 Constitution and Laws 1098 of 2006, 1565 of 2012 and 1861 of 2017), migracioncolombia.gov.co (Migración Colombia), dian.gov.co, libretamilitar.mil.co. Always check the official source before you start a process.

Consulates in the U.S.