International adoption country guide
Colombia: adoption records and family tracing
Practical guidance for adoptees based in the UK who were adopted in Colombia, were born there and adopted in the UK, or have a birth parent from there.
Research last refreshed: September 2026
Ask the Adoptee Rights Assistant
Start by identifying the records and rules that apply
Older agency/institution records and the date of adoption should still be checked.
The process is open to national and foreign applicants. ICBF accepts passport/foreign ID and electronic applications; its online form and published contact email allow applications from abroad. The service is confidential and free.
Check the current procedure before applyingThis guide explains the likely process, but forms, contact details, eligibility and access rules can change. Check the linked source before sending identity documents or paying a fee.
Choose the situation that describes you
Adopted in Colombia
What applies: First establish the date and place of the legal adoption in Colombia, and identify the original birth/civil, adoption, court, agency or welfare records separately.
How to look for records: Use ICBF's Búsqueda de Orígenes process for the adoption history and active birth family search.
How to look for family: Use ICBF's Búsqueda de Orígenes process first. It provides three distinct services: access to the adoptee's Historia de Atención, active search for biological family, and registration of contact details by biological relatives. Adult adoptees can request active search directly. ICBF may search government and private administrative sources for current contact information and can facilitate virtual or in-person contact.
Important: Do not assume that access to one Colombia record repository gives access to the whole adoption file. Historic law and record survival may differ from the current adult process.
Born in Colombia and brought to the UK to be adopted
What applies: First establish whether the legal adoption was completed in Colombia or in the UK. If that is unknown, keep both procedures open rather than assuming where the adoption order was made.
How to look for records: Use the Colombia birth/civil and before adoption record procedures described for this country, while separately tracing the UK adoption/receiving-agency, local authority, court and immigration trail.
How to look for family: Use ICBF's Búsqueda de Orígenes process first. It provides three distinct services: access to the adoptee's Historia de Atención, active search for biological family, and registration of contact details by biological relatives. Adult adoptees can request active search directly. ICBF may search government and private administrative sources for current contact information and can facilitate virtual or in-person contact.
Important: The original birth-country record and the later UK adoption/recognition record are different sources. Nationality of the adopters does not determine where the original birth record is held.
One parent was from Colombia
What applies: Do not process this as an intercountry-adoption record case unless the user's own adoption occurred there. Start with the verified identity of the parent and the strongest known place/date in Colombia.
How to look for records: Use civil registration, archives and genealogy resources for Colombia once the parent's identity and locality are established. Adoption-specific authorities are relevant only if the parent's own adoption/history makes them so.
How to look for family: Use ICBF's Búsqueda de Orígenes process first. It provides three distinct services: access to the adoptee's Historia de Atención, active search for biological family, and registration of contact details by biological relatives. Adult adoptees can request active search directly. ICBF may search government and private administrative sources for current contact information and can facilitate virtual or in-person contact.
Important: A parent being from this country does not by itself create an entitlement to adoption records. Living-person privacy and civil registration access rules may restrict what can be obtained.
Records and family finding
Start with records
Use ICBF's Búsqueda de Orígenes process for the adoption history and active birth family search.
Looking for family
Use ICBF's Búsqueda de Orígenes process first. It provides three distinct services: access to the adoptee's Historia de Atención, active search for biological family, and registration of contact details by biological relatives. Adult adoptees can request active search directly. ICBF may search government and private administrative sources for current contact information and can facilitate virtual or in-person contact.
DNA
Use DNA as a separate source of evidence, not as proof by itself. Prefer multiple matches/shared match analysis plus documentary evidence. Country-specific DNA programmes are listed where verified.
Peer support
Independent adoptee-led groups can provide peer support, but ICBF states it has no authorised third-party intermediaries for its official origins process. Keep official tracing and peer/community support clearly separate.
Practical next steps
If you have no namesRequest both the Historia de Atención and, if an adult, active family search through ICBF. Attach any pre- and after adoption birth registrations, declaration of adoptability/abandonment, adoption judgment and other documents that may help locate the file.
If you have a name or placeUse the verified name plus place/date to move into civil registration, archives, genealogy databases, local history and specialist tracing processs.
If the search has stalledIf an adopted sibling is sought, note that ICBF can facilitate contact with an adopted sibling only where that sibling has also requested origins searching and expressed interest in contact. Do not use social media as though it were part of the official ICBF search.
Verified sources and resources
Official services and independent or adoptee-led resources are shown separately. Check current eligibility, security, costs and capacity before supplying personal information.
Other verified resources
Historia de Atención, active biological-family search, contact facilitation and biological-family contact registration
Things to check: Current forms can change; use latest ICBF versions
Direct online request for file copy, family-of-origin search or biological-family contact registration
Things to check: Confidential official process; no intermediary required
This country guide provides general information, not legal advice or a tracing service. Records and family finding across borders can involve privacy, consent and personal safety considerations. Verify the current official procedure before acting.
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