Local Laws

CRIMINAL PENALTIES:  While you are traveling in Colombia, you are subject to its laws.  Foreign laws and legal systems can be vastly different from our own.  Persons violating Colombian laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested, or imprisoned. Driving under the influence could land you immediately in jail.  If you break local laws in Colombia, your U.S. passport won’t help you avoid arrest or prosecution.

Penalties for possessing, using, or trafficking in illegal drugs in Colombia are severe, and convicted offenders can expect long pre-trial detention and lenthy prison sentences under harsh conditions, with significant expense and great hardship for themselves and their families.  The hardships resulting from imprisonment do not end even after release from prison.  Colombian law requires that serious offenders remain in the country to serve a lengthy period of parole, during which the offender is given no housing and may lack permission to work.  As a result, family members must often support the offender, sometimes for more than a year, until the parole period expires.

There are also some things that might be legal in the country you visit, but still illegal in the United States. You can be prosecuted in the United States for engaging in sexual conduct with children or for using or disseminating child pornography in a foreign country regardless of the legality of these activities under that country’s laws. Counterfeit and pirated goods are illegal in the United States and if you purchase them in a foreign country, you may be breaking local law as well. 

While some countries will automatically notify the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate if a U.S. citizen is detained or arrested in that country, others may not.  To ensure that the United States is aware of your circumstances, request that the police and prison officials notify the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate as soon as you are arrested or detained overseas.

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES: Colombia employs strict screening procedures for detecting narcotics smuggling at its international airports.  Travelers are occasionally questioned, searched, fingerprinted, and/or asked to submit to an abdominal X-ray upon arrival or departure. Most airport inspectors do not speak English, and travelers who do not speak Spanish may have difficulty understanding what is asked of them.  Please refer to the section on Criminal Penalties for further information on the strict enforcement of Colombia’s drug laws.

Customs Regulations:  Travelers generally must not enter or exit Colombia while carrying cash or other financial instruments worth more than 10,000 USD.  If you do, you must declare it and be able to prove the legal source of the financial instruments.  Colombian authorities may confiscate any amount over $=10,000 USD, and may initiate a criminal investigation into the source of the money and the traveler’s reasons for carrying it.  Recovery of the confiscated amount generally requires a lengthy, expensive legal process and may not always be possible.  For more information, click here.  If you need to send large sums of money to or from Colombia, contact the nearest Colombian consulate, or speak with Colombian customs officials and seek advice from an attorney or financial professional.

Colombian law prohibits tourists and business travelers from bringing firearms into Colombia. Illegal importation or possession of firearms may result in incarceration.  Colombian law also restricts the importation of plants and animals (or products made from either).

Donations of Goods: U.S. citizens traveling to Colombia with goods intended for donation within Colombia should be aware that customs fees and taxes (IVA) may apply.  Exemptions for either IVA or customs fees are varied and citizens seeking to import goods should check with Colombian Customs for specific categories of goods and for procedures on how to apply for an exemption.  Donated goods also require an import license from the Ministry of Industrial Commerce and Tourism through their Foreign Commerce Window.  Emergency donations in special circumstances such as disaster assistance can be authorized by Colombian Customs without a previous application.  For further information, visit the web site for Colombian Customs detailing charitable import regulations.

Artifacts: Colombian law forbids the export of pre-Columbian objects and other artifacts protected by cultural patrimony statutes.  Under an agreement between the United States and Colombia, U.S. customs officials are obligated to seize pre-Columbian objects and certain colonial religious artwork if they are brought into the United States.

WOMEN TRAVELER INFORMATION: If you are a woman traveling abroad, please review our travel tips for Women Travelers.

LGBT RIGHTS: There are no legal restrictions on same-sex sexual relations or the organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) events in Colombia.  Although a 2011 antidiscrimination law specifically prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, language, sexual orientation, gender identity, or social status, many of these prohibitions are not fully enforced.  The government has taken measures to increase the rights and protection of LGBT persons, but there are reports of societal abuse and discrimination in rural areas on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.  In urban areas there is generally more openness toward LGBT individuals.  Members of the transgender community report  instances where health-care providers or police officers refuse to accept government-issued identification with transgender individuals’ names and photographs.  Colombia Diversa, a Colombian NGO, has reported cases of police abuse of persons due to their sexual orientation, with the majority of reports coming from transgender individuals.  For more detailed information about LGBT rights in Colombia, you may review the State Department’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.  For further information on LGBT travel, please read our LGBT Travel Information page.

ACCESSIBILITY: While in Colombia, individuals with disabilities may find accessibility and accommodation very different from in the United States.  Colombian law prohibits discrimination against persons with physical and mental disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the provision of other state services, and the government seeks to enforce these prohibitions.  No law mandates access to public buildings for persons with disabilities, thus limiting the power of the government to penalize schools or offices without access.  National and local governments are addressing this issue with programs aimed at improving access.

Access to buildings, pedestrian paths and transportation is extremely difficult for persons with disabilities.  A few major shopping centers and residential buildings in the wealthier neighborhoods of Bogotá have access ramps and elevators.  Most hospitals in major cities are also wheelchair accessible.  However, sidewalks (if they exist) are very uneven and rarely have ramps at intersections.  Pedestrian crossings are also very infrequent and motorists almost never give pedestrians (disabled or otherwise) the right of way.  Most, but not all, cafés, restaurants, hotels and residential buildings have stairs at the entrance without wheelchair ramps.  Buses and taxis do not have special accommodations for disabled persons.