Colombia's incorporation landscape is dominated by a single, flexible vehicle, which makes setting up an entity there more predictable than in many of its neighbors. For most foreign investors, the choice of form is straightforward; the work that actually drives the timeline happens around it.
The main entity types
A handful of corporate forms exist, but in practice one accounts for the large majority of new entities:
- Sociedad por Acciones Simplificada (S.A.S.) — by far the most common form. It can be formed with one or more shareholders, is created by a private document (no public deed is needed in the standard case), and allows flexible governance arrangements.
- Sociedad Anónima (S.A.) and Limitada (Ltda.) — older, more rigid forms still used in specific cases, often where a particular regulatory or contractual context calls for them.
Foreign individuals and foreign companies can generally be shareholders, which is what makes the S.A.S. a practical landing structure for inbound investment.
The steps
The process moves through a sequence of registrations rather than a single filing:
- Confirm name availability through the registry (RUES).
- Prepare the bylaws / constitution document for the entity.
- Register the company with the local Cámara de Comercio (chamber of commerce).
- Obtain the tax ID (RUT/NIT) from the tax authority (DIAN).
- Register the foreign investment with the central bank (Banco de la República) where applicable.
What foreign investors should plan for
Most of the friction for offshore shareholders is documentary, not legal. Plan for a registered address and a legal representative in Colombia; for apostilled and certified-translated copies of foreign corporate documents; and for powers of attorney executed and authenticated for use in Colombia so the formation can proceed without every shareholder appearing in person. Bank-account opening and capital steps follow once the entity exists. A gap in the authentication chain — a missing apostille, an out-of-scope POA, an untranslated document — is the usual cause of delay.
What we handle
For Colombian formations, we coordinate the full incorporation through admitted local professionals, alongside the apostille, certified-translation, and power-of-attorney work that foreign shareholders need. You get one point of contact reporting back, so the entity is registered and the documentary chain holds together.