Criminal Record Certificate for Your Colombian Visa: A Country-by-Country Guide

Reviewed by Tomás Restrepo, Migration Director at Nexo Legal. Attorney specializing in immigration law, Universidad de Medellín.

Quick answer: Since Resolution 5477 of 2022, Colombia requires a criminal record certificate from your country of origin or residence for most visa categories — Migrant (M), Resident (R), and Digital Nomad visas especially. This applies to every nationality, not just U.S. citizens: Americans request it from the FBI, Canadians from the RCMP, British applicants from ACRO, and Australians from their state police or the AFP-accredited National Police Checking Service. All four countries are members of the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, so the certificate needs an apostille, not consular legalization, plus an official Spanish translation. How recent the certificate needs to be varies — more on that below, because it’s the detail most guides (including our own previous version) got wrong.

Table of Contents

1. Why the Criminal Record Certificate Colombian Visa Rule Applies to Every Nationality
2. At a Glance: What Each Country Requires
3. Apostille, Not Legalization — Why That Matters
4. 🇺🇸 United States: FBI Background Check
5. 🇨🇦 Canada: RCMP Criminal Record Check
6. 🇬🇧 United Kingdom: ACRO Police Certificate
7. 🇦🇺 Australia: National Police Check
8. How Long Is the Certificate Valid? (Confirm Before You Apply)
9. What If Your Certificate Shows a Record?
10. Common Mistakes Across All Four Countries
11. FAQ

Why the Criminal Record Certificate Colombian Visa Rule Applies to Every Nationality

On July 22, 2022, Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued Resolution 5477, which took full effect on October 20, 2022. Among other changes to the visa process, it introduced the requirement to present a certificate of judicial, criminal, or police records from the applicant’s country of origin or residence. You can check the current document list for each visa type on Cancillería’s official visa requirements page.

The resolution doesn’t single out any one nationality — it applies the same standard across the board, and the Visa and Immigration Authority additionally has discretion under the resolution to request criminal background documentation for essentially any visa category during evaluation. In practice, that means the requirement shows up most consistently for Migrant (M) visas, Resident (R) visas, retirement (pensionado) visas, and Digital Nomad visas. If you’re not sure which of these categories fits your situation, start with our Colombian visa guide; for the retirement route specifically, see our Colombia retirement visa requirements for 2026.

Most guides online — including the earlier version of this article — only walk through the process for U.S. citizens requesting an FBI background check. That leaves out a large share of applicants. This guide covers the process for the four nationalities we see most often at Nexo Legal: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

Resolution 5477 of 2022 extended the criminal record certificate requirement to every nationality.

At a Glance: What Each Country Requires

In every case, after the apostille is affixed, the certificate must be officially translated into Spanish before it’s submitted with the Colombian visa application.

A criminal record certificate for a Colombian visa needs an apostille and an official Spanish translation.

Apostille, Not Legalization — Why That Matters

The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia are all signatories to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, and so is Colombia. That means a document issued in any of these four countries only needs a single-step apostille from the competent authority in that country — it does not need to go through consular legalization at a Colombian embassy or consulate, which is the more time-consuming path required for documents from non-Hague countries.

• 🇺🇸 In the U.S., the apostille is issued at the state level (for state-level documents) or by the U.S. Department of State for federal documents like the FBI certificate.
• 🇨🇦 In Canada, apostilles are issued by Global Affairs Canada.
• 🇬🇧 In the U.K., the apostille is issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).
• 🇦🇺 In Australia, the apostille is issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

Skipping the apostille — or assuming a notarized copy is enough — is one of the most common reasons these certificates get rejected during the Colombian visa process.

🇺🇸 United States: FBI Background Check

For U.S. citizens, the criminal record certificate is obtained from the FBI through its Identity History Summary Check service. It certifies whether a person has a criminal, judicial, or disciplinary record, based on fingerprint data, and lists any arrests and related charges.

Mini-checklist:

• [ ] Get fingerprinted. If you’re in the U.S., participating post offices can take your fingerprints. If you’re abroad, use form FD-258 and send it with your application.
• [ ] Request the certificate one of three ways:
• Online, through the FBI’s official website.
• By mail, sending the applicant information form, fingerprint card, and payment to the FBI CJIS Division in Clarksburg, WV.
• Through an FBI-approved channeler, a private intermediary that can speed up submission and retrieval.
• [ ] Pay the processing fee online by credit card, or by money order/certified check payable to the Treasury of the United States.
• [ ] Get the certificate apostilled by the U.S. Department of State.
• [ ] Have it officially translated into Spanish.
• [ ] Check the certificate details: full legible name, FBI signature and official logo, and an issue date recent enough to meet current requirements (see validity section below).

🇨🇦 Canada: RCMP Criminal Record Check

Canadian citizens and residents request their certificate from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). This is the certificate with the highest confirmed monthly search volume of the four countries covered here, which tells you how common the question is among Canadian applicants.

Mini-checklist:

• [ ] Choose your verification method: a fingerprint-based RCMP check (more rigorous, required for most immigration purposes) versus a name-based local police check (usually not sufficient for a foreign visa).
• [ ] Get fingerprinted through an RCMP-accredited fingerprinting service — many operate by mail for applicants living outside Canada.
• [ ] Submit your request to the RCMP Civilian Criminal History Section, either directly or through an accredited third-party service that handles the paperwork for you.
• [ ] Get the certificate apostilled by Global Affairs Canada.
• [ ] Have it officially translated into Spanish.
• [ ] Confirm the issue date falls within whatever window your specific consulate or visa category requires (see below).

Each country has its own issuing office: FBI, RCMP, ACRO or the Australian police.

🇬🇧 United Kingdom: ACRO Police Certificate

U.K. nationals and residents request their certificate from ACRO, the Criminal Records Office. The certificate confirms whether you have convictions, cautions, warnings, or no trace on the Police National Computer — and if you’ve had a foreign conviction previously disclosed to U.K. authorities, that will appear too.

Mini-checklist:

• [ ] Apply online through the ACRO Criminal Records Office website — this is faster than the postal route.
• [ ] Choose your service tier: standard (around 12 working days) or premium (around 4 working days), at different price points.
• [ ] Wait for the paper certificate — ACRO issues certificates in physical format only, sent by post.
• [ ] Get the certificate apostilled by the FCDO.
• [ ] Have it officially translated into Spanish.
• [ ] Order it as close as possible to your application date — ACRO certificates age faster than applicants expect (see below).

🇦🇺 Australia: National Police Check

Australia doesn’t have one single federal police-certificate office the way the U.S. and Canada do. Applicants can request either an Australian Federal Police (AFP) National Police Certificate, a state police certificate (e.g., NSW Police), or a check through a private provider accredited by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) under the National Police Checking Service.

Mini-checklist:

• [ ] Decide which route to use — AFP, state police, or an ACIC-accredited provider — based on where you’ve lived and what’s fastest for your situation.
• [ ] Submit your identity documents and consent for the check.
• [ ] Get the certificate ready for apostille: original hard-copy certificates from the AFP or state police can go straight to DFAT for an apostille. Electronic certificates from ACIC-accredited providers typically need to be notarized first, then apostilled.
• [ ] Get the apostille from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
• [ ] Have it officially translated into Spanish.
• [ ] Double-check the version you’re submitting is the physical/apostillable one — Colombian authorities need the apostilled document, not just the digital police check result some Australian employers accept.

How Long Is the Certificate Valid? (Confirm Before You Apply)

This is the one detail we’re not going to guess at. The previous version of this article stated the certificate had to be “less than three months old,” but that figure doesn’t hold up under scrutiny: Resolution 5477 of 2022 does not set a single universal validity period in its text, and sources across the industry are genuinely split — some cite three months, others cite six, and the practical answer seems to depend on the specific consulate, visa category, and how recently the requirement has been enforced for your case.

Our honest recommendation: don’t rely on any fixed number you read online, including this one. Request your certificate as close as possible to your application date, and confirm the exact validity window that applies to your visa type directly with Migración Colombia or with your Nexo Legal advisor before you submit your application. A certificate that’s “too old” by even a few weeks is one of the more common — and entirely avoidable — reasons a visa application gets delayed.

If your certificate shows a record, have it reviewed before you submit, not after a denial.

What If Your Certificate Shows a Record?

Having a record on your certificate does not automatically disqualify you from applying for a Colombian visa. Applications from individuals with a criminal history are still reviewed — but the Colombian government retains discretion to deny or not admit an application based on the nature of the record, even in cases where the record itself has since expired or been cleared in the country of origin.

If your certificate is going to show anything beyond a clean record, it’s worth having that reviewed by an immigration attorney before you submit, rather than after a denial.

Common Mistakes Across All Four Countries

• Sending a notarized copy instead of an apostilled original. Notarization is not a substitute for an apostille, and Colombian authorities will reject the substitution.
• Skipping the Spanish translation, or using an informal translation instead of an official one.
• Requesting the certificate too early, then having it age past the window your consulate expects by the time the visa is actually filed.
• Assuming the requirement only applies to certain visa types. Even categories where it isn’t automatically requested can have it requested later, at the discretion of the Visa and Immigration Authority.
• Using the wrong verification method — for example, submitting a name-based check when a fingerprint-based one is what’s actually accepted (most relevant for Canada).

FAQ

Does every nationality need a criminal record certificate for a Colombian visa?
Resolution 5477 of 2022 applies the requirement broadly, and it’s confirmed most consistently for Migrant (M), Resident (R), retirement, and Digital Nomad visas — but the Visa and Immigration Authority can request it for other categories too, at its discretion.

Do I need consular legalization or an apostille?
If your certificate comes from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., or Australia, you need an apostille, not consular legalization — all four are members of the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, as is Colombia.

How long is an FBI background check valid for a Colombian visa?
There isn’t one confirmed universal answer — sources differ between three and six months, and the resolution itself doesn’t set a fixed figure. Confirm the exact window with Migración Colombia or your immigration advisor before applying.

Where do Canadian applicants request their criminal record check?
From the RCMP, generally through a fingerprint-based Civilian Criminal History Section check rather than a name-based local police check.

What’s the difference between an ACRO certificate and a standard UK police check?
ACRO is the specific office that issues police certificates recognized internationally, including for immigration purposes — it’s a separate process from local police station enquiries.

Does Australia have one central police certificate office like the FBI?
No — Australian applicants can use the AFP, a state police force, or an ACIC-accredited provider under the National Police Checking Service, and the apostille process differs slightly depending on which one issues the certificate.

What happens if my certificate shows a criminal record?
You can still apply. The Colombian government reviews each case individually and retains discretion to deny or not admit the application depending on the record — it isn’t an automatic rejection.

We Can Help You Navigate This Process

At Nexo Legal, we help applicants from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other countries prepare the right criminal record certificate — apostilled, translated, and timed correctly — for their Colombian visa application. Get in touch and we’ll walk you through exactly what your specific visa category requires.