FBI Background Check Fingerprinting in Cartagena
Cartagena draws a steady stream of Americans who arrive as visitors and end up filing for residency, and the paperwork usually catches them mid-stay rather than in advance. Two local realities shape how that goes. There is no American post in the city — the nearest consular presence is a small agency in Barranquilla, about 130 kilometres up the coast — and Cartagena's pool of accredited official translators is thin enough that most files here are translated somewhere else. Neither is a real obstacle once you know about them. Both are expensive to discover late. This page sets out the Cartagena version of the process.
Where fingerprints are taken in Cartagena
We take fingerprints in Cartagena by appointment, captured digitally against the FBI tenprint standard. For a coastal city with no American post and no live-scan infrastructure of the kind that exists in the United States, this is the step that would otherwise force an FD-258 card into the international mail — a route that runs for months, is graded for legibility only after it reaches West Virginia, and on failure returns neither the fee nor the card. Capturing digitally means the impressions are validated during the appointment rather than adjudicated in absentia weeks later.
Capture is by appointment. We do not keep an office, counter or walk-in address in Cartagena and will not pretend otherwise — the appointment is arranged with you, and everything downstream of it is paperwork moving between two offices in Washington. That downstream half is written up in full on the FBI background check apostille page.
What the nearest American post can and cannot do
There is no US consulate or consular agency in Cartagena. The nearest American presence is the consular agency in Barranquilla, roughly 130 km away — a small operation with a limited service menu — and the only full post in the country is the embassy in Bogotá. Neither takes fingerprints for an FBI Identity History Summary, because no American post anywhere does, and neither can apostille a US federal document, an authority held exclusively by the U.S. Department of State in Washington. The Barranquilla agency is worth knowing about for other consular needs; it has no part in this one.
Which office receives the apostilled summary
The apostilled summary is filed with your visa application to the Cancillería, the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, which is the body that evaluates a criminal record check for Colombian visa purposes and which takes the application online. Migración Colombia has a Cartagena presence and is frequently mistaken for the deciding authority; it is not. Its function is the cédula de extranjería, issued after a visa exists, and it neither reviews nor rules on an FBI check. In a city with a large short-stay foreign population, that distinction is worth being precise about.
Whether your particular application needs the check at all, which visa categories call for it, and how recent it has to be are national questions rather than Cartagena ones. They are answered on the FBI background check apostille for Colombia page, which is where that decision belongs. This page stays on execution.
Translation requirements in Bolívar
Official translators in Colombia are accredited by the Universidad Nacional, the Universidad de Antioquia or the Ministerio de Justicia — never by the Cancillería, which does not accredit translators and stopped publishing a list around 2018. Cartagena's locally accredited pool is thin, and in practice a large share of files here are translated by professionals based in Bogotá or Barranquilla. That is entirely legitimate; the consequence to plan for is that the notaría authenticating the translator's signature is the one where that signature is registered, so it will often be in the translator's city rather than in Cartagena.
Getting the document back into Cartagena
Cartagena is unusual on this list in having its international airport, Rafael Núñez, inside the city itself, so the courier's last mile is short once a package clears customs. Personal documents are duty-free but still inspected, and an accurately described consignment clears faster than a vague one. The apostille scan goes out the day Washington issues it, which matters more here than in most Colombian cities because a translator in Bogotá or Barranquilla can start from the scan without waiting for the physical document to travel twice.
What is specific to Cartagena
- There is no American post in Cartagena; the nearest is the consular agency in Barranquilla, about 130 km away.
- That agency has a limited service menu and, like every American post, neither fingerprints for FBI checks nor issues apostilles.
- Cartagena's locally accredited official-translator pool is thin; many files use Bogotá or Barranquilla translators.
- The authenticating notaría is the one where the translator's signature is registered — often outside Cartagena as a result.
- The Cancillería evaluates the FBI check as part of an online visa application; Migración Colombia does not.
- Rafael Núñez airport is inside the city, so the courier's final leg is unusually short by Colombian standards.
Cartagena questions & answers
Can the consular agency in Barranquilla fingerprint me?+
No. It is the nearest American presence to Cartagena, which makes it the obvious guess, but no American post — agency, consulate or embassy — provides fingerprinting for FBI Identity History Summary purposes anywhere in the world. It also cannot issue an apostille on a US federal document. For this file there is nothing in Barranquilla to travel for; we capture the prints in Cartagena.
Why would my translator be in Bogotá rather than in Cartagena?+
Because the accredited pool here is genuinely thin, and accreditation comes from the Universidad Nacional, the Universidad de Antioquia or the Ministerio de Justicia rather than from anything local. Using a translator based elsewhere is normal and perfectly valid. The knock-on effect is the one to plan for: the signature is authenticated at the notaría where it is registered, so that step usually happens in the translator's city.
I'm here on a tourist stamp and want to change status. Does that change the document?+
Not the FBI half, which is identical whatever your current status. What your category determines is whether the check is required at all and how recent it must be, and those are national rules covered on the Colombia visa page. This page is about producing the document itself from Cartagena — the prints, the apostille route, and the translation sequence.
Does Migración Colombia decide my visa?+
No. The Cancillería, the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, decides visas and evaluates what is filed with them. Migración Colombia has a visible presence in Cartagena and is often assumed to be the deciding office, but its job begins after a visa is granted: registration and the cédula de extranjería. Directing a visa question there produces delay rather than an answer.
How long does the courier leg take to the coast?+
Less than most people expect once customs is cleared, because Rafael Núñez is in the city rather than an hour outside it — which is not true of Medellín, Cali or Santa Marta. The variable part is the customs check itself, which turns on how the consignment is described. We describe personal documents accurately for exactly that reason.
Can I get the apostille done at a Colombian office to save time?+
No Colombian office can apostille a US federal document. The Cancillería apostilles Colombian public documents and the U.S. Department of State apostilles US federal ones, because each authenticates only the signatures it holds. The document travels to Washington regardless — which is why the courier and the scan matter, and why the sequencing is worth getting right the first time.
How it runs from Cartagena
| Fingerprints | Captured in Cartagena by appointment, digitally, to the FBI tenprint standard |
| FBI summary | Submitted to the FBI and returned as an Identity History Summary |
| Apostille | Filed over the counter at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC |
| Return | Secure scan on the day of issue · tracked courier back to Bolívar |
Other cities we fingerprint in
- FBI fingerprinting in Santa Marta, Colombia
- FBI fingerprinting in Bogotá, Colombia
- FBI fingerprinting in Medellín, Colombia
- FBI fingerprinting in Cali, Colombia
- All locations
Federal Apostille™ is a private, independent document-processing and courier service. We do not maintain an office, counter or staff in Cartagena, and we are not affiliated with the U.S. Department of State, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of State's diplomatic posts, or any Colombia government ministry, agency, university or notarial office named on this page. Fingerprint capture in Cartagena is by appointment.