Copy of a Colombian birth certificate from the US: US$10.94

Colombia’s registro civil (birth, marriage or death registration) is kept by the Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil, and consulates register events that happen abroad. The rule that trips people up: a Colombian consulate issues copies only of records it registered itself. If your record was registered in Colombia or at another consulate, the copy comes from the office of origin. A physical copy costs US $10.94 abroad (Registraduría fee table in force since March 1, 2026, checked October 3, 2026). To present the copy to an authority outside Colombia, the Cancillería has an online apostille route that depends on who issued the copy.

Versión en español

Quoted passages from Colombian official sources appear either in the original Spanish or, where shown in English, in our translation.

Key facts

ItemDetail (checked October 3, 2026)
Who keeps the recordRegistraduría Nacional del Estado Civil; consulates register events that happen abroad
Where to request the copyOnly at the consulate that made the registration; if registered in Colombia, at the office of origin (Registraduría)
Physical copy fee abroadUS $10.94 (Registraduría, Res. 1500 of 2026; Cancillería; Newark consulate)
Online copyUS $18.85 in the Registraduría table (channel not described here, see below)
AppointmentThe New York consulate handles registro civil by appointment
Apostille of the copyOnline with the Cancillería, USD $11.0 abroad

Where to ask: the consulate-of-origin rule

The Cancillería is direct about it: a person abroad who needs a copy of a civil record registered outside Colombia ‘may request it exclusively at the same Colombian consulate where the original registration was made’, and issuing copies at other consulates ‘is not appropriate’.

The Registraduría covers the reverse case: if the registration was made in Colombia or at another consulate, ’the copy can only be requested at the respective office of origin and, exceptionally, at other authorized offices’. For older tomo y folio (volume and page) records, the Registraduría says they can only be consulted at the office where they were registered.

Where the record was registeredWhere to request the copy
At a Colombian consulate in the USAt that same consulate
At another consulate (any country)At the consulate that registered it
At a registry office or notary in ColombiaAt the office of origin or, exceptionally, other authorized offices (Registraduría)
Tomo y folio recordOnly at the office where it was registered

Details you need

To request a copy at a consulate, the Cancillería asks you to state:

  • which consulate made the registration;
  • the serial indicator (indicativo serial);
  • the personal identification number (NUIP), or the cédula number of the spouse (marriage) or the deceased (death), as applicable.

For offices in Colombia, the Registraduría asks for the requester’s names and the volume, page, serial and date of registration, plus proof of payment of the fee.

Who may request it

  • A minor’s birth registration: per the Cancillería, only the father, mother or legal representative, or a third party they authorize ’through a power of attorney duly acknowledged before a notary or Colombian consul’. If you need to grant that power from the US, see Colombian power of attorney at a consulate.
  • Records with sensitive data: the Registraduría says that if a record contains data such as adoption, gender change or registration of intersex persons, the copy is issued only to the holder, their successors, their legal representatives, public bodies acting within their functions (by court order), or third parties authorized by the holder or by law.

Fee and payment methods

A physical copy costs US $10.94 abroad under the Registraduría table (Resolution 1500 of February 11, 2026, in force since March 1, 2026). The Cancillería page shows the same amount (USD $10,94) and the Newark consulate lists ‘Copia de Registro Civil del Consulado $10.94’.

The Cancillería civil registry page lists the consulates that accept money orders for this procedure: in the US, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, New York, Orlando and San Francisco. Miami and Washington are not on that list (on the cédula list, by contrast, they are, and Los Angeles is not). The same page mentions PSE payment, which requires an active bank account in Colombia, and credit card payment, and asks you to confirm each consulate’s payment methods.

Online copy. The Registraduría table also lists a ‘Copia del registro civil en línea’ (online civil registry copy) at US $18.85 abroad. We could not read that service’s page (it is a web application), so this guide does not describe how it works or which records it covers. Check the Registraduría website.

Step by step at the consulate

  1. Confirm which consulate registered the record (if it was not a US consulate, the copy will not come from here).
  2. Book an appointment. The New York consulate lists registro civil among procedures ‘con cita previa’ (by appointment); its calendar opens Tuesday to Friday at 9:00 a.m. For other offices, see Colombian consulates in the US and the consulate appointment tracker.
  3. Bring the record details (consulate, serial indicator, NUIP or the spouse’s or deceased’s cédula number).
  4. Pay US $10.94 with a method that consulate accepts.

Apostilling the copy

If the copy will be presented to an authority outside Colombia, the apostille route depends on who issued it (Cancillería apostille requirements page and Registraduría apostille page):

Copy issued byRoute
A consulate, since November 21, 2016Cancillería online, option ‘Documentos electrónicos con firma digital - Documentos firmados por Cónsul colombiano o Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores’, with the verification code and date on the consular label
A consulate, before November 21, 2016, missing the official’s name, title or signatureRequest a new certified copy from the registering consulate, or one from a registry office in Colombia and follow the Registraduría route
The Registraduría (registry offices, corregidores, police inspections)First the form at apostilla.registraduria.gov.co: PDF up to 2 MB, payment sticker dated no more than 90 days earlier, signed and scanned on both sides. The Registraduría answers within 15 business days. Then the online apostille with the Cancillería using the code you receive
A notaryDirectly with the Cancillería

The Registraduría warns that it does not accept the ‘Certificado Digital (Registro Digital)’ for apostille, because it lacks the notes section. The Cancillería separately says a civil registry record without marginal notes downloaded from the Registraduría’s online copy portal (copiaderegistrocivil.registraduria.gov.co) can be apostilled once the Dirección Nacional de Registro Civil validates it through the apostilla.registraduria.gov.co form — ask the Registraduría which rule applies to your copy before buying a new one. The apostille costs USD $11.0 abroad (Cancillería, checked October 3, 2026). See apostille Colombian documents from the US.

What the copy is used for

  • A minor’s passport: the Cancillería asks for an ‘authentic copy of the birth registration (fiel copia)’ with the notes section, issued by a notary, registrar or consul, and does not accept registration certificates, registration receipts or authenticated photocopies.
  • A first cédula: the Cancillería asks for an authentic copy of the birth registration (or a biometric tarjeta de identidad). See Colombian cédula from the US.

What you cannot do from the US

  • Get a copy at a US consulate of a record registered by another consulate or by an office in Colombia.
  • Pay through PSE without an active bank account in Colombia.

If you need a US certificate instead

This page covers Colombian records. A birth, marriage or death certificate issued in the United States comes from the state vital records office: see vital records by state. To register a child born here with Colombia, see register a US-born child with the Colombian consulate.

Official sources

Last verified: 2026-10-03. General procedural information for educational purposes. Fees and requirements set by the Registraduría, the Cancillería and Colombian consulates change. Verify directly with the consulate that registered your record or with the Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil before paying. Not legal advice.