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Colombian lawyers in the United States

A Colombian law degree (Abogado) is an undergraduate civil-law degree, and your license is the tarjeta profesional (professional card) issued by the Consejo Superior de la Judicatura. In the United States, that opens the Foreign Legal Consultant route, without an exam, in states such as Florida, New York, Texas and California, if you have the years of practice they require. For the bar exam, California asks for no further study if you are admitted in Colombia; New York, Texas and Georgia also require an LL.M.

Degree in Colombia
Abogado (lawyer)
Legal system
Civil law
Exam to practice
Yes, for the tarjeta profesional (to represent others), if you began law school after June 28, 2018 (Act 1905 of 2018)
Document legalization
Hague Apostille
Bar association
Not mandatory: no bar association grants the license…
Last reviewed
November 8, 2026

Law school in Colombia

Law (Derecho) is an undergraduate program. There is no single length: each program's registro calificado (its mandatory government authorization) sets it, and it appears on the program's page in SNIES. For example, the Ministerio de Educación Nacional (Ministry of Education) has authorized law programs of 10 semesters (with 170 and with 194 academic credits) and of 8 semesters (with 140).

To graduate, you must complete:

  • Passing every course and credit in your program's curriculum.
  • Taking the Saber Pro exam, given by ICFES: Act 1324 of 2009 makes it a requirement for the degree, and taking it is enough. It is not the state exam to practice law under Act 1905 of 2018.
  • Practice at your university's consultorio jurídico (legal aid clinic), handling real cases under supervision: between two and five semesters, starting once you have passed at least half of the credits. Act 2113 of 2021 says it can never be skipped, waived, credited from elsewhere or replaced.
  • A graduation option: Act 552 of 1999 lets you choose between a legal thesis (monografía jurídica) and the judicatura, legal work in a position regulated by the Consejo Superior de la Judicatura, generally for at least 9 months if unpaid or one year if paid.

The courses in the law degree

The degree is organized in semesters and academic credits, and each university approves its own curriculum. In the current official curricula cited in the sources, it lasts 8 to 10 semesters: 8 at the Universidad de La Sabana (144 credits); 9 at the Rosario (160), Los Andes (159) and Icesi (153); and 10 at the Nacional, the Externado (178), the Javeriana (156) and the Universidad del Magdalena (183). Curricula change: in 2018, La Sabana held a registro calificado for 10 semesters and 194 credits. What counts is what your certified transcript says. In 2003, Resolution 2768 of the Ministry of Education set the quality requirements for undergraduate law programs: a legal area including, at a minimum, civil, constitutional, administrative, criminal, labor, commercial and international law, each in its substantive and procedural aspects; a humanities area, with philosophy of law, sociology of law, legal history and the history of political ideas; training in legal interpretation and argumentation; and the consultorio jurídico (legal aid clinic). The courses below recur across those curricula, although each university names and arranges them its own way: Los Andes, for example, organizes much of the degree in integrated courses (Litigios, Proyectos, Clínicas: litigation, projects, clinics), and Icesi numbers its courses (Derecho Civil I to IV).

Foundations of law
Introduction to Law (Introducción al Derecho), Roman Law (Derecho Romano), Legal History (Historia del Derecho), Legal Theory (Teoría del Derecho), Philosophy of Law (Filosofía del Derecho), Sociology of Law (Sociología Jurídica), and Legal Interpretation, Logic and Argumentation (Hermenéutica, Lógica y Argumentación Jurídica).
Civil law
Persons (Personas), Property (Bienes, derechos reales), Obligations (Obligaciones), Contracts (Contratos), Civil Liability, the equivalent of torts (Responsabilidad Civil), Family Law (Familia) and Succession (Sucesiones).
Commercial law
General Commercial Law (Derecho Comercial General), Companies (Sociedades), Negotiable Instruments (Títulos Valores), Commercial Contracts (Contratos Mercantiles) and Insolvency (Insolvencia).
Constitutional law
Constitutional Theory and Theory of the State (Teoría Constitucional y del Estado), Colombian Constitutional Law (Derecho Constitucional Colombiano), Fundamental Rights (Derechos Fundamentales), Constitutional Actions or Constitutional Procedure (Acciones Constitucionales, Derecho Procesal Constitucional), and Human Rights (Derechos Humanos).
Administrative law and public finance
General and Colombian Administrative Law (Derecho Administrativo General y Colombiano), Government Contracts (Contratación Estatal), Public Finance (Hacienda Pública) and Tax Law (Derecho Tributario).
Criminal law
General Criminal Law and Theory of the Offense (Derecho Penal General, Teoría del Delito), Specific Offenses (Derecho Penal Especial) and Criminology (Criminología).
Labor and social security law
Individual and Collective Labor Law (Derecho Laboral Individual y Colectivo) and Social Security (Seguridad Social).
Procedure and evidence
General Theory of Procedure (Teoría General del Proceso), Civil Procedure, general and special (Procesal Civil), Criminal Procedure (Procesal Penal), Administrative Procedure (Procesal Administrativo), Labor Procedure (Procesal Laboral), Evidence (Derecho Probatorio) and Alternative Dispute Resolution (Mecanismos Alternativos de Resolución de Conflictos).
International law
Public International Law (Derecho Internacional Público), Private International Law, or conflict of laws (Derecho Internacional Privado), and Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (Derechos Humanos y Derecho Internacional Humanitario).
General education
Economics (Economía), Reading and Writing (Lectura y Escritura), a foreign language, Professional Ethics and Responsibility (Ética y Responsabilidad Profesional), and Legal Research (Investigación Jurídica).
Other frequent courses
Environmental Law (Derecho Ambiental), Law and Technology or Digital Law (Derecho y Tecnología, Derecho Digital) and Economic Law (Derecho Económico).
Practice
The consultorio jurídico (legal aid clinic), for two to four semesters at the end of the degree, and at several universities a professional internship (práctica profesional).

Besides the required courses, there are electives, which in several curricula allow a concentration: 26 credits at the Rosario and 24 at the Universidad del Magdalena. The consultorio jurídico, which Act 2113 of 2021 makes mandatory, comes at the end of the degree: two courses at the Nacional, the Rosario, the Externado and Icesi, and four at the Javeriana and the Universidad del Magdalena. To graduate, Act 552 of 1999 provides for a legal thesis (monografía jurídica) or the judicatura (supervised legal work), and each university regulates its graduation option: the Nacional, for example, offers a thesis, an internship with a thesis, or graduate-level courses. Some also require knowledge exams before graduation: the Externado's exámenes preparatorios, the Nacional's examen preparatorio básico or the Universidad del Magdalena's examen de suficiencia en derecho.

Where to study law in Colombia

Some of the country's law schools, with their official pages. This is not a complete list or a list of approved universities: check yours in the official register, below.

The license to practice in Colombia

To practice, you must be registered as a lawyer (Decree 196 of 1971, Article 4). Registration in the Registro Nacional de Abogados (National Registry of Lawyers) and the tarjeta profesional de abogado are granted by the Unidad de Registro Nacional de Abogados y Auxiliares de la Justicia, a unit of the Consejo Superior de la Judicatura (Superior Council of the Judiciary). The card is what allows you to represent others. You apply online, in the SIRNA system, with your national ID, your graduation record (acta de grado), a photo and payment of the fee. The Judicial Branch sets no fixed term for the card: it follows Act 1437 of 2011. If you began law school after June 28, 2018, you also need the certificate that you passed the state exam. To practice without representing others, registration alone is enough: a separate, free procedure decided within 15 business days. If your degree is from another country, the Ministry of Education must first validate it.

Not mandatory: no bar association grants the license. Registration in the Registro Nacional de Abogados (Decree 196 of 1971, Article 4), not membership in a bar association, is what the law requires to practice. In Colombia, lawyers' licensing and discipline are in the hands of the Judicial Branch.

Examination process

Yes, but only for those who began studying law after June 28, 2018; if you began earlier, you do not have to take it. Act 1905 of 2018 created a state exam to practice law: the Consejo Superior de la Judicatura gives it, you pass by scoring above the national average, and if you don't you can take it again. The Constitutional Court (Ruling C-594 of 2019) limited the requirement to the tarjeta profesional needed to represent others: for other activities, registration in the Registro Nacional de Abogados is enough. The exam has been given since May 26, 2024, free of charge and twice a year; the 2025 sittings were on June 15 and October 26. To be confirmed: the dates of the 2026 sittings. While the exam was starting, provisional professional cards were issued, valid until the results of the first sitting; the Unidad de Registro Nacional de Abogados reactivates those of lawyers who pass.

How to verify the license of a lawyer from Colombia

The official lookup is the search of lawyers registered in the Registro Nacional de Abogados (SIRNA). It is public and free, and the Unidad de Registro Nacional de Abogados y Auxiliares de la Justicia runs it: it shows whether a person is registered as a lawyer. In the same system, each lawyer downloads their certificate of validity of the tarjeta profesional, whoever receives it can check that it is authentic, and anyone can look up a lawyer's current disciplinary sanctions with their ID number.

Lawyer discipline in Colombia

The Comisión Nacional de Disciplina Judicial (National Commission for Judicial Discipline), created by the 2015 constitutional reform (Legislative Act 02 of 2015, Article 19), examines the conduct and sanctions the misconduct of practicing lawyers, together with the regional commissions (comisiones seccionales de disciplina judicial): the regional commissions decide at first instance, and the National Commission hears appeals. The National Commission replaced the disciplinary chamber of the Consejo Superior de la Judicatura, and the disciplinary chambers of the regional judicial councils became the regional commissions. The National Commission's judges took office on January 13, 2021, and it took over the former chamber's cases. That is why Act 1123 of 2007, which came earlier, still speaks of "chambers" (salas).

The offenses and the procedure are in the Código Disciplinario del Abogado (Lawyers' Disciplinary Code, Act 1123 of 2007). A case starts on the authorities' own initiative, on a report from a public official or other credible information, or on a complaint from any person; anonymous complaints are not processed unless they provide information or evidence that allows an investigation (Article 67). At first instance, a judge of the regional commission where the offense was committed conducts the case, and the panel issues the judgment (Articles 60 and 102). The process runs through hearings: within five days, the commission checks that the person under investigation is a lawyer and opens the case (Article 104); at the hearing on evidence and provisional assessment, the lawyer may give their account, the evidence is taken, and the case is either closed or charges are brought (Article 105); at the trial hearing, any remaining evidence is taken, the Ministerio Público (if present) and the defense are heard, and the judgment is issued in the following days (Article 106). The first-instance judgment can be appealed to the National Commission (Articles 59 and 81). There are four sanctions: censure, a public reprimand; a fine, of 1 to 100 monthly minimum wages; suspension from practice, as a general rule from 2 months to 3 years; and exclusion (Articles 40 to 44).

How a lawyer loses the license

The most serious sanction is exclusion (exclusión), comparable to disbarment: it cancels the tarjeta profesional and bars the practice of law (Act 1123 of 2007, Article 44). At first instance, it is imposed by the regional commission for judicial discipline where the offense occurred (Article 60), in a judgment that can be appealed in writing within three days of the last notice (Article 81); the Comisión Nacional de Disciplina Judicial decides the appeal (Article 59). Once the second-instance judgment has been served, the sanction is entered in the Registro Nacional de Abogados, and the exclusion takes effect from that entry (Article 47). Exclusion need not be permanent: the excluded lawyer may apply for reinstatement (rehabilitación) to the commission that sanctioned them at first instance five years after the judgment became final, or ten if the offense occurred while acting as counsel for or against a public entity. Those periods drop to three and five years if they pass the training courses authorized by the Consejo Superior de la Judicatura (Articles 108 and 109). In Ruling C-290 of 2008, the Constitutional Court made clear that, with the course, a lawyer may be reinstated before the general period, and that the course must serve reinstatement and ethics training. The application can be rejected only if the period has not elapsed; the decision can be appealed, and the reinstatement is reported to the same authorities that were notified of the exclusion (Article 110).

The sanction is recorded in the Registro Nacional de Abogados and takes effect from that entry (Act 1123 of 2007, Article 47). Anyone can look up a lawyer's current sanctions online, free of charge, with their ID or professional card number.

Disciplinary records can be checked at the current-sanctions page of the Comisión Nacional de Disciplina Judicial.

The certificates you will be asked for in the United States

For Foreign Legal Consultant, to register as in-house counsel or for the character and fitness review, states usually ask for recent proof that your license is in good standing, and for your records.

  • Certificate of validity of the tarjeta profesional (certificado de vigencia de la tarjeta profesional de abogado): your proof that you are registered and your card is valid (good standing).
    You download it yourself, free and instantly, in the SIRNA system of the Registro Nacional de Abogados, with your ID type and number; whoever receives it can check its authenticity in the same system. To apostille your tarjeta profesional, the Cancillería asks for this certificate scanned together with a plain copy of the card, in a single PDF, as "otros documentos" (other documents). For Foreign Legal Consultant, Florida and New York ask for the certificate of the authority with the final say over lawyer discipline in your country. In Colombia, the Unidad de Registro Nacional de Abogados certifies that your card is valid, but the Comisión Nacional de Disciplina Judicial has the final say over discipline. To be confirmed: whether the board accepts this certificate together with the Commission's (below); ask it before you apply.
  • Disciplinary record certificate (certificado de antecedentes disciplinarios, Comisión Nacional de Disciplina Judicial): your record of discipline as a lawyer. For Foreign Legal Consultant, Texas asks for a statement of discipline from each jurisdiction where you are authorized, issued within the 30 days before your application.
    You download it online, free and instantly, with your national ID: it records the sanctions, disqualifications and accessory penalties imposed on you. To be confirmed: whether the Commission also issues a certificate with your full record, and how to request it. For the apostille, the Cancillería asks for the certificate issued by the Commission's website, uploaded as "otros documentos".
  • Criminal record certificate (certificado de antecedentes judiciales, Policía Nacional): your criminal record in Colombia. Puerto Rico, for example, asks for one from the police of every place where you lived, resided or studied for six consecutive months or more in the last ten years.
    You look it up free of charge on the National Police portal, with your national ID number, and print it or save it as a PDF. If you are a Colombian citizen, the Cancillería apostilles it online without an upload: you choose "Documentos electrónicos con firma digital", then the Policía Nacional criminal record certificate, enter your national ID and pay for the apostille.
  • Disciplinary record certificate (certificado de antecedentes disciplinarios, Procuraduría General de la Nación): this is a different certificate from the Commission's. Request it if your state's board asks for it.
    It is downloaded from the Procuraduría's (Inspector General's) website, so that it shows your name. It is apostilled at the Cancillería, as "otros documentos".
  • Fiscal liability record certificate (certificado de antecedentes de responsabilidad fiscal, Contraloría General de la República): only if you are asked for it.
    To apostille it, the Cancillería asks you to request it from the Contraloría (Comptroller General), at its office or by email, with a copy of your ID; it is then uploaded to the Cancillería as "otros documentos".

How to check that your university is recognized

The official register is SNIES, the Ministry of Education's national higher education information system.

The Ministry says SNIES is the only authorized tool to check whether a program or institution is legally authorized. Look up your program under the "Programas" tab, by name, level, modality or field. The list shows the program's status and whether it holds high-quality accreditation (acreditación en alta calidad); its page shows the resolution granting the registro calificado, the modality and the length. Every program legally offered in Colombia must hold a registro calificado, which is granted for seven years; if the program holds high-quality accreditation for longer, the Ministry renews it for the accreditation's term. High-quality accreditation is voluntary: not having it does not mean your program is not recognized.

If your university closed

To be confirmed: who keeps the records today, and issues certificates, for a Colombian university that has closed. The Ministry of Education has said that the institution that granted a degree issues its certificates, not the Ministry, and its legalization for use abroad requires the institution and the program to be listed in SNIES. Ask the Ministry what to do before you start.

Documents usually requested

  • Your Abogado diploma and your graduation record (acta de grado).
  • Your transcript for the whole degree, with the credits for each course.
  • The curriculum (pénsum) and the course syllabi (contenidos programáticos), with the class hours if your university certifies them.
  • Your tarjeta profesional and the certificate of validity from the Registro Nacional de Abogados.
  • Your national ID (cédula de ciudadanía) or your passport.
  • An English translation of everything that is in Spanish.

Hague Apostille

Colombia is a party to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention: it acceded on April 27, 2000, and the Convention has been in force for Colombia since January 30, 2001, according to the HCCH. The United States is also a party, so your Colombian public documents are apostilled and need no consular legalization. The apostille is issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Cancillería), online and without intermediaries: you upload each document as a PDF, pay the fee, and the apostille arrives by email, with a code to verify it online, within three business days. Only the signature of a public official registered in the Cancillería's database can be apostilled. Your university documents (diploma, graduation record, transcript) have a prior step: legalization by the Ministry of Education, a free online verification that issues a PDF certificate within 24 business hours, according to the Ministry (2020). Then, in the Cancillería's system, you choose "Documentos electrónicos con firma digital – Ministerio de Educación Nacional" and enter that certificate's filing number. The Cancillería publishes the list of higher education documents handled this way.

What weighs when a degree from Colombia is evaluated

  • Civil law. In New York, your degree cannot be equivalent in content, because Rule 520.6 requires that only of countries whose law is based on English common law: you make up for it with an in-person LL.M. of at least 24 credits. In Texas, section 5 of its Rule 13 requires your degree, an LL.M. that meets its criteria and authorization to practice, all at once.
  • Length and credits. New York and Texas also require your degree to be equivalent in length to that of a U.S. law school; in New York, at least 83 credits in law subjects, 64 of them in in-person classes. In Colombia, an academic credit equals 48 hours of student work, counting class hours with the professor and independent work together (Decree 1330 of 2019). That is why your certified transcript, your full curriculum and, if you have them, certificates showing the class hours of each course matter.
  • Your program's recognition in Colombia. Texas asks for a degree from a law school accredited in your country, and Georgia, from one recognized by the government. In Colombia, every program legally offered holds a registro calificado, and high-quality accreditation is voluntary. To be confirmed: whether Texas treats a program with only a registro calificado as accredited; ask its Board. We explain this above, in "How to check that your university is recognized".
  • Being admitted in Colombia. Your tarjeta profesional and its certificate of validity prove you may practice. California lets you take its exam if you are fully admitted in your country, and the Foreign Legal Consultant route in Florida, New York and Texas requires being a member in good standing of a legal profession subject to effective regulation and discipline.
  • If you began law school after June 28, 2018: the tarjeta profesional, which you need to represent others, is granted only to those who pass the state exam; without it, you only hold registration in the Registro Nacional de Abogados. If you received a provisional card, check on your certificate of validity that it is still valid. To be confirmed: whether a state considers you admitted with registration alone. It depends on each state's rule (California, for example, requires full admission without restrictions), so ask its board before you apply.
  • Your years of practice. For Foreign Legal Consultant, Florida, New York and Texas require 3 of the 5 years before the application; California, 4 of the 6 years before. Keep evidence: Texas, for example, asks for your tax returns or proof of your income from practice, and the description of each position or a letter from your employer.
  • Distance learning. SNIES shows your program's modality: in-person, distance or virtual. New York does not count online or distance courses toward length, and Texas does not accept a degree earned mainly online or at a distance.
  • Documents your university sends. New York and Texas want your transcript sent directly by your university, not by you, with an English translation. Request it early, and ask the board whether it also wants it apostilled.

Good to know

Request your certificates close to your application date: states want them recent. For Foreign Legal Consultant, Texas asks for certificates of good standing issued within the previous 30 days; for in-house counsel, Florida does not accept any older than 30 days; New York asks that they be no more than 60 days old, and California, for its exam, that they be from the previous six months.

Disclose everything. The certificate of the Comisión Nacional de Disciplina Judicial may not show old sanctions, but NCBE's character and fitness form asks whether you have ever been sanctioned as a lawyer. If you were, say so, even if the sanction no longer appears on the certificate.

Apostille before you translate, so the translation includes the apostille.

Where to move forward with this degree

  • Florida Without an exam: Foreign Legal Consultant with 3 of the last 5 years of practice, or in-house counsel for a company in Florida. Its bar exam requires prior practice in another state.
  • New York Where the most foreign-trained lawyers take the bar exam; with a civil-law degree, like Colombia's, after an in-person LL.M. of 24 credits. It also has Foreign Legal Consultant and in-house counsel registration.
  • California If you are admitted in Colombia, you take its exam with no further study in the United States, with a certificate of good standing from the last six months. It also has Foreign Legal Consultant registration.
  • Texas Bar exam with your degree, your admission in Colombia and an LL.M. that meets its criteria (synchronous online classes count). It is the state that certified the most Foreign Legal Consultants from 2021 to 2025.
  • Georgia Lets you take the bar exam with a degree from a law school recognized in your country, if you are authorized to practice there and complete an LL.M. that meets its criteria (today only three Georgia law schools offer one).
  • District of Columbia You take its bar exam with your degree, if it is substantially equivalent to a J.D., after 26 credits at an ABA-approved law school, and it does not require admission in Colombia: it also works if you began law school after 2018 and do not yet have a tarjeta profesional. Its Special Legal Consultant route requires no minimum years of practice, but it does require admission in your country.
  • Louisiana Its private law follows the civil-law tradition, like Colombia's: instead of a full LL.M., an equivalency determination and 14 credits at an ABA law school. We found no current Foreign Legal Consultant route.
  • Puerto Rico Civil law and a bar exam (the Reválida) in Spanish, but it requires a J.D., in which up to a third of the credits can be recognized. Since 2026, a lawyer from another country may work as in-house counsel for their employer.

General information, not legal advice. Each evaluation depends on the individual file. Last reviewed: November 8, 2026.

Sources

How we choose and check these sources: How we verify.

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