Colombia Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in colombia, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Licensing Requirements for Professional Services
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Includes license requirements for key professional services that are open to U.S. service providers.

Colombia has numerous regulated professions for nationals and non-nationals. Certain professions such as medicine, law, accounting, psychology, engineering and others are strictly regulated and require approval from the corresponding professional council to practice in Colombian territory.

The authorization to practice the profession is obtained through a license, professional card, or a temporary permit issued by the competent professional council depending on the profession or activity that the non-national intends to practice or perform in the country. Having a Colombian visa is not a guarantee that approval will be granted by the professional council for a non-national to practice in Colombia. Anyone who works without a license, professional card, or a temporary permit will be sanctioned according to Law 842. For regulated professions, foreign degrees must be officially validated by the Colombian Ministry of National Education before applying for a professional license or permit. For unregulated professions, degree validation remains mandatory, although a professional license is not required.

Registering at a Professional Council
The basic requirement to be licensed by a professional council is to own a valid academic diploma or professional certificate in a specific field. Since there are several different professional councils, requirements to be registered in each one of them may vary. The most common procedure is to visit a council or send the necessary documents. The following documents are normally required:

  • Completed registration form.
  • Copies of personal documents, such as ID, proof of residence, Cedula Extranjeria, and or a visa
  • Copies of the accredited diploma. Copies of the accredited diploma, which must be officially apostilled (or legalized, if the issuing country is not part of the Apostille Convention) and, if not in Spanish, accompanied by an official translation.
  • Photos to be used on the registration card.
  • Proof of payment of the registration fee.
  • Registrations have an expiration date, and need to be renewed periodically, according to each council’s rules.


Registration of a Non-national by a Council
The registration of a non-national in a Colombian professional council varies according to each profession. Some allow foreigners to be registered only with the revalidation of the non-Colombian diploma and other councils have stricter rules.

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