General Information
For documents issued in Colombia to be valid in another country, you must Apostille/Legalize them. To know which of these procedures applies to your case please read the following information:
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What is Apostille?
The Apostille is the legalization of the signature of a public official, exercising his duties whose signature must be registered in the data base of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The signature of the public official subscribed in the document is apostilled, however the content cannot be certified or revised. A document should be Apostilled when the destination country is a member of the “Convention on the Abolition of the Legalization Requirement for Public Documents” subscribed at The Hague in 1961.
The Apostille can also be imposed on a private document. The signature of the document must be recognized by a Public Notary and his/her signature registered in the database of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
What is Legalization?
The Legalization is the certification of the signature of a public official, exercising his duties whose signature must be registered in the data base of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The signature of the public official subscribed in the document is legalized, however the content cannot be certified or revised. A document should be Legalized when the destination country is not a member of the “Convention on the Abolition of the Legalization Requirement for Public Documents” subscribed at The Hague in 1961.
The Legalization can also be imposed on a private document. The signature of the document must be recognized by a Public Notary and his/her signature registered in the database of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Remember that you can Apostille/Legalize documents yourself without third persons or previous appointment. If you wish to do so click on the “Online Apostille/Legalization” link.
The following document can only be Apostilled/Legalized through the online application system of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
