Colombia Club Part IV

[Mononoke28 135]

I am starting this new thread as a continuation to the previous Colombia Club threads that are located in the US Embassy and Consulate Discussion Forum. It seems that most new members end up in the Latin & South America forum to look for answers anyway, so it makes more sense to keep the threads here. Remember, this thread is mainly for English speakers since there are separate Spanish Colombian threads already.

Here are the links to the previous Colombia Club threads. Feel free to browse through them to get more information regarding all kinds of things such as USCIS, NVC, embassy, lodging, air ticket fares, etc.

Colombia Club Part I

Colombia Club Part II

Colombia Club Part III

Diana

[Mononoke28 135]

Hello everybody,

Please try to use this thread to keep all Colombia Embassy topics (in English) together so that it's easier for all members to find info/answers to their questions. If individual topics are created, they tend to move down to other pages due to other threads being created or due to being too old for other members to read them.

Thank you!

Diana

[Mononoke28 135]

I was wondering if anyone knows what's going on with the Police Certificate (Certificado Judicial) which the US Embassy's Instructions Package clearly states is needed. It says the beneficiary can get it from any DAS office or online but the DAS website says that this document is no longer available and when I try to go to www.certificadojudicial.gov.co, which is the link that was used to get the document online, it says the same thing, that it's no longer available.

Are any of you having an issue with this document and not having it available for you interview?

Thanks!

Diana

Edited February 20, 2012 by Mononoke28

[Jon&Clau 1]

I was wondering if anyone knows what's going on with the Police Certificate (Certificado Judicial) which the US Embassy's Instructions Package clearly states is needed. It says the beneficiary can get it from any DAS office or online but the DAS website says that this document is no longer available and when I try to go to www.certificadojudicial.gov.co, which is the link that was used to get the document online, it says the same thing, that it's no longer available.

Are any of you having an issue with this document and not having it available for you interview?

Thanks!

Diana

Hi Diana, I will ask Clau if she has made this request. Last time I spoke with her, she said she could do it on-line, but not sure she actually made the request. Will let you know unless someone else finds the answer beforehand.

Jon & Clau

[andrea y arturo 14]

Andrea and I were able to get her certificado judicial online but she also got one in person. Same document. The website mentioned above is apparently been shut down ..whether temporarily or permanently is unknown I did find this other link that works: http://antecedentes.policia.gov.co:7003/WebJudicial/

Arturo y Andrea

[Mononoke28 135]

And how long ago did they get their Police Certificates? It seems that the change was fairly recent. I asked the same question in the Colombia K1 thread and someone suggested going to the Colombia National Police website to get it, which is confusing because the Instructions Package from the US Embassy doesn't mention it at all.

Diana

[andrea y arturo 14]

And how long ago did they get their Police Certificates? It seems that the change was fairly recent. I asked the same question in the Colombia K1 thread and someone suggested going to the Colombia National Police website to get it, which is confusing because the Instructions Package from the US Embassy doesn't mention it at all.

Diana

Ok here's the police certificate quote from the latest (DEC 11) K1/K3 instructions:

POLICE CERTIFICATES: ␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣Certificado Judicial␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣or all applicants who will be 18 years of age when they travel to the U.S. It may be obtained at any DAS office or online at http://das.gov.co. Police certificates are also required from applicants who have lived in another country for more than 6 months since turning 18 years of age (except for the United States, Mexico, and Venezuela). Please visit http://travel.state.gov/visa/reciprocity/index.htm for information about obtaining police certificates for other countries. Police certificates are valid for 12 months.

When you go to the DAS website linked in the above paragraph it states that due to a decree signed Oct 2011 the DAS (Administrative Security Department) is in a state of suppression and that most of its functions have now been transferred to other government entities. Obviously it took some time for the decree to be implemented and not before the US Embassy issued its latest K1/K3 packet. There fore my advice is to go to the National Police website ( I provided that link in a previous message in this thread and obtain the Certificado Judicial. You will need the assistance of the beneficiary to fill the online request out but if you have all the right info you will be able to print it out o n the spot. Otherwise accoding to the DAS website you can still go to a DAS office and obtain it in person. That from personal experience is a pain in the a$$ so I highly recommend getting it online. The printout of the certificate is valid for 12 months.

Andrea y Arturo

[Mononoke28 135]

Thanks Andrea y Arturo.

So in summary (and for now) we can assume that the certificate is still available but it has to be obtained from the Colombia National Police and not from the DAS.

I would also like to see what other members who just received their NOA2s can add to this. Thanks!!

Diana

[GoingCrazy2012 16]

Hey guys! Here is my input since I'm living story and know the process PRE and POST DAS. If you are aware and follow Colombian News, per Presidential Order, the DAS disappeared as of Jan 1, 2012 and many of its functions were distributed to other Government Entities. As far as the Police Certificate or also known as Pasado Judicial, it can no longer be retrieved from the DAS website but rather the National Police website as stated in previous post.

Just to add one more thing, and here is my little secret, before when you use the DAS website, it would ask you a lot of personal information in order to verify that the person trying to obtain the certificate is in fact the applicant. I managed to ask my then fiancee (now wife) all the information over Skype (back in September), while logged into the DAS website and I was able to print the Pasado Judicial right at my printer in Florida (She is in Colombia). However, the new National Police website seems to be more lax in security. Why do I say this?

For my surprise about 3 weeks ago, I tried retrieving the same Pasado Judicial from the Police site and BAM! it only asked me for the Cedula de Ciudadania (ID Number), and shabam! that's it! It automatically generated the Certificate in a PDF format, no more questions asked.

[GoingCrazy2012 16]

Also where in this site can I find people from Colombia going for the CR1/IR1 Visa type? Most people I see from Colombia are going for the K1 Visa (Fiancee) but very few for a Spousal visa and I would like to link up with folks in my same situation to ask questions along the process and give me input as we progress in this journey. Any comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[andrea y arturo 14]

Thanks Andrea y Arturo.

So in summary (and for now) we can assume that the certificate is still available but it has to be obtained from the Colombia National Police and not from the DAS.

I would also like to see what other members who just received their NOA2s can add to this. Thanks!!

Diana

I must correct your summary in case somebody misinterprets. Your summary is ok for ONLINE certificates. The pasado judicial is still available in person from DAS offices.

[andrea y arturo 14]

Hey guys! Here is my input since I'm living story and know the process PRE and POST DAS. If you are aware and follow Colombian News, per Presidential Order, the DAS disappeared as of Jan 1, 2012 and many of its functions were distributed to other Government Entities. As far as the Police Certificate or also known as Pasado Judicial, it can no longer be retrieved from the DAS website but rather the National Police website as stated in previous post.

Just to add one more thing, and here is my little secret, before when you use the DAS website, it would ask you a lot of personal information in order to verify that the person trying to obtain the certificate is in fact the applicant. I managed to ask my then fiancee (now wife) all the information over Skype (back in September), while logged into the DAS website and I was able to print the Pasado Judicial right at my printer in Florida (She is in Colombia). However, the new National Police website seems to be more lax in security. Why do I say this?

For my surprise about 3 weeks ago, I tried retrieving the same Pasado Judicial from the Police site and BAM! it only asked me for the Cedula de Ciudadania (ID Number), and shabam! that's it! It automatically generated the Certificate in a PDF format, no more questions asked.

Wow! That's quite a change in security. Thanks for sharing the secret. I may just print a more current certificate sinc the one I have we obtained several months ago...just in case.

[Mononoke28 135]

Thanks for the info GoingCrazy2012, it helps out a lot since the embassy's Instructions Package still say that it can be obtained from the DAS' website and I'm sure a lot of people will be confused with that information.

As for CR1/IR1 members, they're all part of the Colombia Club thread. Even though most have filed for K1 visas you'll find a few that filed for a spousal visa in this thread, myself included. So if you have any questions, ask away and one of us will make sure to get you an answer. I also created a CR1/IR1 thread in Spanish if that helps: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/257024-colombianos-con-cr1/

Diana

[GoingCrazy2012 16]

Thanks for the info GoingCrazy2012, it helps out a lot since the embassy's Instructions Package still say that it can be obtained from the DAS' website and I'm sure a lot of people will be confused with that information.

As for CR1/IR1 members, they're all part of the Colombia Club thread. Even though most have filed for K1 visas you'll find a few that filed for a spousal visa in this thread, myself included. So if you have any questions, ask away and one of us will make sure to get you an answer. I also created a CR1/IR1 thread in Spanish if that helps: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/257024-colombianos-con-cr1/

Diana

Thanks I'm so excited. Wanted to share that I receive a notification this morning that my NOA2 for my I-130 was approved! Yay! ... Next stop: NVC! I guess ...

[GoingCrazy2012 16]

Wow! That's quite a change in security. Thanks for sharing the secret. I may just print a more current certificate sinc the one I have we obtained several months ago...just in case.

Not a problem. I have a question for you though. I received my I-130 approval notification (NOA2) this morning and I know for my case (CR1 Spousal Visa) everything that was currently in USCIS's possession will now be forwarded to NVC for further processing. I was looking at your timeline and I noticed you have a date for (NVC Received and NVC Left) ... how do you know when NVC got it from USCIS and when it left to the Embassy in Bogota?

Thanks!