Registration and numbers in Colombia: the cédula de extranjería, the RUT and the SIRE
In Colombia your paperwork revolves around two numbers: that of your cédula de extranjería, the identity card for foreigners, and your NIT with the tax authority DIAN. You apply for the cédula within 15 days of arrival at Migración Colombia, and in 2026 it costs 294,000 pesos. The RUT at the DIAN is free. The SIRE is a reporting duty for whoever employs you or gives you accommodation.
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Anyone arriving in Colombia with a visa of more than three months applies within 15 calendar days for the cédula de extranjería. That is the identity card for foreigners, issued by Migración Colombia, the migration service. From then on you identify yourself with that card, for example with the health insurance and with the DIAN, the tax authority.
Migración Colombia counts the 15 days from the day you enter the country. If you got the visa while already in Colombia, the day of issue counts.
These are calendar days, not working days. Weekends and public holidays count. Fill in the form and look for an appointment in your first days, not once your home is furnished.
| What | With whom | Deadline | Cost in 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cédula de extranjería, from age 7 | Migración Colombia | within 15 calendar days of arrival | 294,000 pesos |
| Registration of a child under 7 | Migración Colombia | no deadline stated | free |
| New cédula at age 18 | Migración Colombia | within 15 days of the birthday | 294,000 pesos |
| Having an error on the card corrected | Migración Colombia | within 30 days of receipt | |
| Reporting other work, with an open work permit | Migración Colombia | within 15 days | |
| RUT and NIT | DIAN | before your first economic activity | free |
| SIRE report by your employer | Migración Colombia | within 15 days of the start of work | free |
How do you apply for the cédula?
You start online with the Formulario Único de Trámites (FUT). With it you send one pdf containing your passport and your visa. Then you make an appointment at a Centro Facilitador de Servicios Migratorios, an office of Migración Colombia. There your fingerprints and photo are taken. You bring your original passport.
You pay during the appointment, by debit or credit card or with a deposit slip from the office. Staff do not accept cash. At the end you receive a digital contraseña with a QR code, valid immediately. You collect the card itself after 10 working days at the same office.
The cédula is valid as long as your visa. If you have your visa transferred (traspaso), a new registration is enough, as long as the details on your cédula stay the same.
The DIAN already accepts that digital contraseña as proof of identity for the RUT. So you do not have to wait for the card to register with the tax authority.
What applies to children?
A child under 7 gets no cédula, but is registered. That is free. From age 7 the cédula is compulsory, within the same 15 days. At every visit to the office a parent or legal representative comes along, with a document showing the relationship, such as a birth certificate. When the child turns 7, the registration for that age follows. When it turns 18, it applies for a new cédula within 15 days.
Who does not need a cédula?
Anyone coming on a V visa for tourism, business or events is exempt from registration and the cédula, however long the visa is valid. That is in article 118 of the visa resolution. Anyone coming as a visitor without a visa identifies with their passport.
What is the RUT, and do you need it?
The Registro Único Tributario is the registration with the DIAN. With it you get a NIT, a tax number. You need it if you have to file a return or start an economic activity, and you register before that activity. Registering is free and no bank account is required. The RUT is valid indefinitely. You report a change, such as a new address, within a month. Otherwise the DIAN can impose a fine of one UVT per day of delay.
As a foreigner with a cédula, you identify yourself to the DIAN with that cédula. You can also register online from abroad. If that does not work, the DIAN refers you to its desk for requests, PQSR y Denuncias.
When you become a tax resident and what you then declare is explained in AOW, pension and tax.
What is the SIRE?
The Sistema de Información para el Reporte de Extranjeros is a reporting duty for others, not for you. An employer, school, hotel or healthcare institution that employs, enrols, accommodates or treats a foreigner reports this to Migración Colombia. For work there is a deadline of 15 days, also at the end of the contract.
Anyone who does not report, or reports late, risks a fine of 105.25 to 2,631.30 UVT. So ask your employer or school whether the report has been made.
And at the border?
With Check-MIG you submit your travel details online up to 72 hours in advance. It is free and not compulsory, but it speeds up the interview with the border officer. You cannot change the form after sending it.
How the cédula fits between visa, bank and healthcare is in the route to Colombia. Which visa you need is explained in the residence routes.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Colombia or go straight to step 5.1 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Migración Colombia — the cédula de extranjería, with deadline, 2026 fee and delivery time — migracioncolombia.gov.co
- Migración Colombia — registering children under 7 who hold a visa — migracioncolombia.gov.co
- Migración Colombia — the SIRE, the reporting duty for anyone who employs or accommodates foreigners — migracioncolombia.gov.co
- Migración Colombia — ABC of the SIRE, with deadlines and fines — migracioncolombia.gov.co
- DIAN — the RUT and the NIT, who must register and how — dian.gov.co
- DIAN — instructions for the RUT, the cédula de extranjería and the passport as proof of identity — dian.gov.co
- Resolución 5477 de 2022, articles 118 and 119 — exemptions from registration and the duty to report other work — cancilleria.gov.co
- Migración Colombia — Check-MIG, free pre-registration of your trip — migracioncolombia.gov.co
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