FBI Background Check and Apostille From Colombia

A visa application in Colombia often needs a check from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The process has four steps. Take fingerprints. Send a request to the FBI ($18 fee). Get an apostille (apostilla) from the US Department of State. Get an official translation (traducción oficial) into Spanish, because the FBI result is in English.

Colombian rules decide which visas need the FBI check. The FBI does not decide this. First find out if your visa category asks for it at all.

This guide is educational, not legal advice. It separates what the official pages say from what residents report. Check every step against the pages linked below before you pay anyone.

Which visas need a criminal record?

Colombian visa rules set two conditions for any document issued abroad. The document needs an apostille, or legalization if the country is not part of the Hague Apostille Convention. The document also needs an official translation into Spanish if it is not in Spanish (Resolution 5477 of 2022, art. 21). A supporting document must have an issue date no more than three months before the date of registration of the visa application (art. 20).

The same resolution lets the visa authority check Colombian police databases online. It also lets the authority ask the applicant for a record from the country of nationality or residence (art. 26). Some visa categories list the criminal record as a specific requirement. These include the pensioner, passive-income (rentista), working holiday, and Andean or Mercosur migrant categories. These categories usually ask for the record from the country where the applicant lived in the last three years (five years for the Andean category). Other categories do not list it. The spouse-visa requirements we read do not list it. Art. 26 still lets the authority ask for one.

Visa lists change. Confirm the current list for your category with the Colombian Foreign Ministry (Cancillería) or the Colombian immigration agency (Migración Colombia). Read the investor visa and the plain-English visa overview for the categories themselves.

Step 1: fingerprints taken outside the US

The FBI check uses fingerprints. The Department of State says US embassies and consulates abroad do not provide fingerprinting services. The FBI accepts a current fingerprint card. The card is form FD-1164 on standard white paper. It shows rolled impressions of all ten fingers. It also shows flat impressions taken at the same time. The FBI prefers that a fingerprinting technician takes them. The FBI recommends no red or purple ink. The FBI rejects illegible cards. A rejection can cause delay and extra fees. You cannot reuse a card from an earlier request. The FBI does not return the card (FBI instructions, FAQs).

Step 2: request the Identity History Summary from the FBI

The FBI document is called an Identity History Summary. Some people call it a "rap sheet." The FBI has three official ways to ask for it: online, by mail, or through an FBI-approved channeler (FBI page). The fee is $18 for mail or online. You pay by credit card, money order or certified check. The FBI does not accept personal checks or cash (FBI FAQs).

Online: Start at edo.cjis.gov. Pay. Then mail your fingerprint card with a printout of the confirmation email to the address in that email. The FBI page says this also applies to people outside the United States. The other online option is electronic fingerprints. A participating US Post Office takes them.
By mail: Send a signed applicant form, the fingerprint card and payment. Do not enclose a self-addressed or prepaid return envelope. The FBI does not accept them. The FBI also does not accept requests to send the result to the Department of State for the apostille.
Channeler: A channeler is a private company under contract with the FBI. It submits the request for you. It may charge an additional fee. The FBI page says a channeler can only process requests for a US citizen or US lawful permanent resident located in the US or its territories. The FBI does not describe this route for a person who lives in Colombia.

Current FBI timelines: online requests take about 10 days after the FBI receives the mailed card. Mail requests take up to 15 days. Add time for mail delivery. The FBI does not expedite requests. An online request returns the result electronically. You can also choose a paper copy. The FBI sends paper results by US first-class mail, including to foreign addresses. The Department of State asks for an original or certified copy with original seals and signatures. Neither official page says if the Department of State apostilles a printout of an electronic result. Ask the Department of State before you choose.

For an apostille, the FBI authenticates fingerprint results with a watermark and an official's signature at the time of submission. The FBI does not authenticate results that it processed earlier. So a result you ordered for another purpose last year may not work for this application.

Step 3: the apostille from the US Department of State

An apostille is a certificate that confirms who signed or sealed a public document. It does not confirm that the contents are true or accepted. The Department of State lists FBI background checks among the federal documents it apostilles. The same page says: do not notarize the original. A notarized document is no longer valid. Its request page says to send three items: Form DS-4194 that names the country where the document will be used, the document, and a nonrefundable $20 fee per document. By mail, pay with a check or money order made out to the US Department of State. The page says it processes mailed requests within 5 weeks from the day it receives them. It processes walk-in drop-off and pick-up requests at its office within 7 business days.

For more on how apostilles and official translations work in Colombia, see our guide to signing a power of attorney from abroad.

Colombia is part of the Hague Apostille Convention. The Foreign Ministry issues apostilles under it (see its apostille page). So the apostille route applies. The Department of State also notes that a different authentication certificate is used for countries outside the system.

Birth and marriage certificates work differently. For state-issued documents, the Department of State says the issuing state certifies them for use in a Hague country. Do not send them to the Department of State office. Ask the state office that issued the certificate which office does this and what it needs.

Step 4: translation and the order of steps

The Foreign Ministry explains the order on its apostille requirements page. Under the visa rules, a document that is not in Spanish needs an official translation into Spanish (art. 21). The Foreign Ministry says Colombia does not apostille official translations made in Colombia for use in Colombia. The official translator's signature is already valid there. The base document still needs an apostille from its country of origin. A translation made abroad needs its own apostille from the country of origin. The Foreign Ministry also recommends that the original has its apostille before translation, for greater legal certainty.

The official sources point to this order: fingerprints, FBI result, Department of State apostille, official translation into Spanish, then upload or filing. Ask the office that receives the application if it wants the apostille and the translation as separate files or together.

Checklist in order

Confirm if your visa category asks for a criminal record.
Find the number of years the record must cover.
Check the three-month issue window against your filing date.
Get a legible fingerprint card (FD-1164 or the card the technician uses).
Start the FBI request.
Pay the $18 fee.
Send the card as the FBI instructs.
When the result arrives, send it to the Department of State in the form that office requires (see Step 2).
Add Form DS-4194, naming Colombia, and $20 per document.
Arrange the official translation into Spanish of the apostilled document. Make it in Colombia, or make it abroad and apostille it there.
Keep digital scans of every step.

Children's documents and the CRBA

The document for US citizenship of a child born abroad to a US citizen parent is the Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA). The US Embassy in Colombia says the CRBA is not a travel document. It says you can apply for a US passport at the same time. It says you book CRBA and passport appointments in its online portal. It does not say that the passport is issued the same day. Ask the embassy how long delivery takes for your appointment.

An apostille certifies the signature and seal on a document as issued. It does not correct the content. Before the apostille, check that the names on the certificate match the other documents in the application. Ask the issuing office how to make a correction. The embassy page also explains its own rules for names on the CRBA and passport when a local birth certificate cannot be amended.

What residents report

Reports from Colombia expat Facebook groups, October 2026; individual experiences, not official figures.

Members report paying about $50 to send fingerprints to the US by international courier. They report receiving the FBI result by email roughly a week and a half after mailing. The official page says online requests take about 10 days after the FBI receives the card.
Members describe a US-based relative who prints the apostille request, mails it with a money order, and scans the apostilled document back.
Members report expediting services that deliver an apostille in about 10 business days for about $150, or about $200 expedited, with official PDFs in about 14 days. Members also report that mailing the request to Washington takes 7 to 8 weeks. The Department of State states 5 weeks.
One member reports a quote of about $220 from a private service for a full FBI check including fingerprints.
Members report children's citizenship applications blocked by name mismatches on apostilled birth certificates. Examples are married versus maiden name, or a one-letter typo.
One member warns that a visa application can be declared inadmissible (inadmitida) while the FBI check is still in transit. The visa rules list inadmission as a possible result for incomplete documents (art. 20). The timing in this report is not confirmed.
Members could not confirm if an electronic apostille is accepted everywhere. We could not confirm it on an official page either.

Questions to ask before you start

Does my visa category ask for a criminal record? From which country? For how many years?
Do you accept a scan of the apostilled record, or do you need the paper original?
For the Department of State: do you apostille a printout of the electronic FBI result, or only the mailed paper copy?
Does the three-month limit count from the FBI issue date or from the apostille?
Which official translator must translate it? In which file format?
For a child's certificate: which office corrects the name before the apostille?

For your own file, ask a licensed immigration adviser or a Colombian lawyer (abogado). The next step after approval is the foreigner ID card (cédula de extranjería), which we explain in our guide to foreigner ID card appointments.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get an FBI background check from Colombia?

Take fingerprints on an FD-1164 card. Start an Identity History Summary request online with the FBI. The fee is $18. Mail the card with the printed confirmation to the address in the confirmation email. The FBI lists about 10 days after it receives the card for online requests. Mail requests take up to 15 days. Add mail time.

How long does a US apostille take?

The Department of State processes mailed requests within 5 weeks of receipt. It processes walk-in drop-off and pick-up requests within 7 business days. Private service times are not official. See what residents report in the guide.

How much does an apostille cost?

The Department of State charges a nonrefundable $20 per document. A private service adds its own fee. That fee is not official.

Translate before or after the apostille?

Colombia's Foreign Ministry recommends that you apostille the original before you translate it. Colombia does not apostille an official translation made in Colombia for use in Colombia. A translation made abroad needs an apostille from the country where it was made.

Does the US passport arrive the same day as the Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA)?

The US Embassy in Colombia says you can apply for the child's passport at the same time as the CRBA. Its page does not state same-day delivery. Ask the embassy about timing.

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