Visa requirements for Colombian citizens

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A Colombian passport

Visa requirements for Colombian citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Colombia.

As of 2026, Colombian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 130 countries and territories, ranking the Colombian passport 34th in the world according to the Henley Passport Index.[1]

Citizens of Colombia do not need a passport when travelling to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. For these countries, they may use just their national identification cards.[2][3]

Visa requirements for Colombian citizens holding ordinary passports.

  Colombia
  Visa not required
  Visa on arrival
  eVisa
  Visa available both on arrival or online
  Visa required

Visa requirements

Visa requirements for holders of ordinary passports travelling for tourism purposes:

Colombia is an associated member of Mercosur. As such, its citizens enjoy unlimited access to any of the full members (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) and other associated members (Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru) with the right to residence and work, with no requirement other than nationality. Citizens of these eight countries (including Colombia) may apply for the grant of "temporary residence" for up to two years in another country of the bloc.[4][5] Then, they may apply for "permanent residence" just before the term of their "temporary residence" expires.[6][7]

The case of Chile, however, is different. Colombian citizens can enter Chile with just the ID card, but they need to hold a visa prior to travel if they want to reside and work in Chile.[8]

Unrecognized or partially recognized countries

Countries Conditions of access Notes
Abkhazia Visa required[292]
  • Tourists from all countries (except Georgia) can visit Abkhazia for a period not exceeding 24 hours as part of an organized tourist group.
Kosovo Visa not required[293]
Northern Cyprus Visa not required[294]
Palestine Visa not required[295]
Somaliland Visa required[296]
South Ossetia Visa required
  • To enter South Ossetia, visitors must have a multiple-entry visa for Russia and register their stay with the Migration Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs within 3 days.[297][298]
Taiwan Visa required
  • May apply for an e-Visa only if holding a valid visa or resident certificate issued by a Schengen country, or a valid resident certificate or visa valid for more than 180 days issued by the United States.[299]
Transnistria Visa not required[300]

Dependent and autonomous territories

Countries Conditions of access Notes
Argentina
ArgentinaMisiones Province Isla Apipé and Isla del medio Visa not required
  • 90 days by being Argentine territories, the same visa policy applies.
China
Hong Kong Visa not required[301]
  • 90 days
Macau Visa on arrival[302]
  • 30 days
Denmark
Faroe Islands Visa not required[303]
Greenland Visa not required[304]
France
French Guiana Visa not required [305]
  • 90 days
French Polynesia Visa not required[306]
  • 90 days
France French West Indies Visa not required [305]

France Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy

Visa not required [305]
  • 90 days
Mayotte Visa not required [305]
  • 90 days
New Caledonia Visa not required [307][306]
  • 90 days
Réunion Visa not required[305]
  • 90 days
Saint Pierre and Miquelon Visa not required[305]
  • 90 days
Wallis and Futuna Visa not required [305]
  • 90 days
Netherlands
Aruba Visa not required[308]
  • 90 days
Netherlands Caribbean Netherlands Visa not required[309]
Curaçao Visa not required[310]
  • 90 days
Sint Maarten Visa not required[310]
  • 90 days
New Zealand
Cook Islands Visa not required[311]
  • 31 days
Niue Visa not required[312]
  • 30 days
Tokelau Visa required[313]
United Kingdom
Akrotiri and Dhekelia Visa not required
  • Aktotiri and Dhekelia joined the Schengen area following Brexit.[314]
Anguilla Visa not required[315]
Ascension Island eVisa[316][317]
  • Valid for 3 months within 1 year.
Bermuda Visa required[318]
British Virgin Islands Visa required[319]
  • No visa required if holding a United Kingdom, United States or Canadian multiple entry visa
Cayman Islands Visa required[320]
  • Visa not required if holding a Green Card from the U.S. Or a Permanent resident Card from Canada and you arrive directly from that country; and you produce on arrival a return or round trip ticket to the United States or Canada.
Falkland Islands Visa required[321]
Gibraltar Visa required[322]
  • Gibraltar's status to join the Schengen Area is yet to be confirmed.[323]
Guernsey Visa required[324]
Isle of Man Visa required[325]
Jersey Visa required[326]
Montserrat eVisa[327]
Saint Helena eVisa[328]
Turks and Caicos Visa not required [329]
United States
American Samoa Visa required[330]
Guam Visa required[331]
Northern Mariana Islands Visa required[332]
U.S. Virgin Islands Visa required[333]
Puerto Rico Visa required[334]

Non-visa restrictions

Blank passport pages

Many countries require a minimum number of blank pages to be available in the passport being presented, typically one or two pages.[335] Endorsement pages, which often appear after the visa pages, are not counted as being valid or available.

Vaccination

Cover of the new International Certificate of Vaccination issued by the Bureau of Quarantine in the Philippines since 2021

The African countries of Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone and Togo, South Sudan and Uganda, along with French Guiana in South America, require all incoming passengers older than nine months to one year[336], to have a current International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis.[337]

Some other countries require vaccination only if the passenger is coming from an infected area or has visited one recently or has transited for 12 hours in those countries: Algeria, Botswana, Cabo Verde, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Lesotho, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.[338][339]

Passport validity length

Very few countries, such as Paraguay, just require a valid passport on arrival.

However many countries and groupings now require only an identity card – especially from their neighbours. Other countries may have special bilateral arrangements that depart from the generality of their passport validity length policies to shorten the period of passport validity required for each other's citizens[340][341] or even accept passports that have already expired (but not been cancelled).[342]

Some countries, such as Japan,[343] Ireland and the United Kingdom,[344] require a passport valid throughout the period of the intended stay.

In the absence of specific bilateral agreements, countries requiring passports to be valid for at least 6 more months on arrival include Afghanistan, Algeria, Anguilla, Bahrain,[345] Bhutan, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Curaçao, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel,[346] Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Laos, Madagascar, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Peru,[347] Philippines,[348] Qatar, Rwanda, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Turkey, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Venezuela, and Vietnam.[349]

Countries requiring passports valid for at least 4 months on arrival include Micronesia and Zambia.

Countries requiring passports with a validity of at least 3 months beyond the date of intended departure include Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Honduras, Montenegro, Nauru, Moldova and New Zealand. Similarly, the EEA countries of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, all European Union countries (except Ireland) together with Switzerland also require 3 months validity beyond the date of the bearer's intended departure unless the bearer is an EEA or Swiss national.

Countries requiring passports valid for at least 3 months on arrival include Albania, North Macedonia, Panama, and Senegal.

Bermuda requires passports to be valid for at least 45 days upon entry.

Countries that require a passport validity of at least one month beyond the date of intended departure include Eritrea, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Macau, the Maldives[350] and South Africa.

Maximum passport age

Countries of the Schengen area require non-EU passports to be less than 10 years old upon entry.[351]

Criminal record

Some countries, including Australia, Canada, Fiji, New Zealand and the United States,[352] routinely deny entry to non-citizens who have a criminal record, while others impose restrictions depending on the type of conviction and the length of the sentence.

Persona non grata

The government of a country can declare a diplomat persona non grata, banning them from entering the country or expelling them if they have already entered. In non-diplomatic use, the authorities of a country may also declare a foreigner persona non grata permanently or temporarily, usually because of unlawful activity.[353]

Israeli stamps

Kuwait,[354] Lebanon,[355] Libya,[356] and Yemen[357] do not allow entry to people with passport stamps from Israel or whose passports have either a used or an unused Israeli visa, or where there is evidence of previous travel to Israel such as entry or exit stamps from neighbouring border posts in transit countries such as Jordan and Egypt.

To circumvent this Arab League boycott of Israel, the Israeli immigration services have now mostly ceased to stamp foreign nationals' passports on either entry to or exit from Israel (unless the entry is for some work-related purposes). Since 15 January 2013, Israel no longer stamps foreign passports at Ben Gurion Airport. Passports are still (as of 22 June 2017) stamped at Erez when passing into and out of Gaza.[citation needed]

Iran refuses admission to holders of passports containing an Israeli visa or stamp that is less than 12 months old.

Biometrics

Several countries mandate that all travellers, or all foreign travellers, be fingerprinted on arrival and will refuse admission to or even arrest travellers who refuse to comply. In some countries, such as the United States, this may apply even to transit passengers who merely wish to change planes rather than go landside.[358]

Fingerprinting countries/regions include Afghanistan,[359][360] Argentina,[361] Brunei, Cambodia,[362] China,[363] Ethiopia,[364] Ghana, Guinea,[365] India, Japan,[366][367] Kenya (both fingerprints and a photo are taken),[368] Malaysia upon entry and departure,[369] Mongolia, Saudi Arabia,[370] the Schengen Area,[371] Singapore, South Korea,[372] Taiwan, Thailand,[373] Uganda,[374] the United Arab Emirates and the United States.

Many countries also require a photo be taken of people entering the country. The United States, which does not fully implement exit control formalities at its land frontiers (although long mandated by its own legislation),[375][376][377] intends to implement facial recognition for passengers departing from international airports to identify people who overstay their visa.[378]

Together with fingerprint and face recognition, iris scanning is one of three biometric identification technologies internationally standardised since 2006 by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for use in e-passports[379] and the United Arab Emirates conducts iris scanning on visitors who need to apply for a visa.[380][381] The United States Department of Homeland Security has announced plans to greatly increase the biometric data it collects at US borders.[382] In 2018, Singapore began trials of iris scanning at three land and maritime immigration checkpoints.[383][384]

Statistics

The top destination of colombian citizens going abroad are the following:[385]

Country 2024*
 United States 2,900,215
 Spain 1,275,439
 Mexico 959,073
 Panama 954,624
 Dominican Republic 579,830
 Ecuador 356,196
 Chile 337,737
 Peru 319,803
 Brazil 196,750
 Venezuela 178,488
 Canada 178,186
 Argentina 144,616
 Aruba 137,487
 France 127,465
Total 9,714,283
*Up to november 2024 according to Migración Colombia.

See also

References

Notes

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