Recognition of a Foreign Driving Licence
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Argentina on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
81 exceptions recorded across 33 countries · none match Argentina to Colombia · Driving and licence exchange
Colombia will recognise a foreign licence and issue a Colombian one in exchange, but only for people born in a country with which it has an agreement. Note the wording: born in, not merely a national of - which excludes someone who naturalised into an agreement country. And as with banking, the cédula de extranjería is required, so the immigration document gates this too.
At a glance
- Who qualifies
- People born in a country with an agreement
Birth, not nationality - naturalising into an agreement country does not bring you within it
- Registration
- Fingerprint in the RUNT
- Identity document
- Cédula de extranjería
The same document that gates banking
- Instrument
- Resolución 1244 de 2019, Ministerio de Transporte
Since compiled into Resolución 202230400 45295 de 2022
Requirements
- Have been born in a country with which Colombia has signed a licence recognition agreement
- Register your fingerprint in the RUNT, the national traffic register
- Submit the application on the ministry's published form
- A valid driving licence issued in your country of origin
- A cédula de extranjería
- Pay the issuing fee at the published rate
In detail
Three countries, three shapes of the same idea
All three make licence recognition depend on a bilateral agreement, and each draws the line differently. Argentina's arrangement with Chile lets you drive with no procedure at all for a year. Uruguay devolves the whole question to nineteen departments and currently has one agreement in force. Colombia centralises it in a national register but restricts it by place of birth rather than nationality, which is the narrowest of the three tests and the one most likely to catch someone out.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Argentina
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«La presente resolución tiene por objeto establecer los requisitos y el procedimiento para el reconocimiento de la licencia de conducción a extranjeros nacidos en los países con los que Colombia tenga suscrito convenios para el reconocimiento de licencias de conducción y la expedición de una licencia de conducción colombiana a través del sistema HQ RUNT en los organismos de tránsito a nivel nacional.»Our translation - not official
The purpose of this resolution is to establish the requirements and the procedure for the recognition of driving licences for foreigners born in countries with which Colombia has signed agreements for the recognition of driving licences, and for the issue of a Colombian driving licence through the HQ RUNT system at traffic authorities nationwide.
'Extranjeros nacidos en los países' - foreigners born in the countries. A national of an agreement country who was born elsewhere is not described by this text.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Colombia's transport ministry, which sets the rules for recognising foreign driving licences by resolution and runs the RUNT national traffic register the process depends on.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Its resolutions are amended and compiled into later ones - Resolución 1244 de 2019 has since been compiled into a 2022 resolution, which the text notes article by article. Citing the original alone can miss a subsequent change, and the list of countries with agreements is not in the resolution itself.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
«1\. Registro de su huella dactilar en el Registro Único Nacional de Tránsito (RUNT).»Our translation - not official
1. Registration of their fingerprint in the National Single Traffic Register (RUNT).
About this source
Colombia's transport ministry, which sets the rules for recognising foreign driving licences by resolution and runs the RUNT national traffic register the process depends on.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Its resolutions are amended and compiled into later ones - Resolución 1244 de 2019 has since been compiled into a 2022 resolution, which the text notes article by article. Citing the original alone can miss a subsequent change, and the list of countries with agreements is not in the resolution itself.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
Practical notes
We have not read the list of countries with which Colombia has an agreement, and do not reproduce one.
The resolution has since been compiled into a larger 2022 resolution, which is noted in the text itself - a citation to the 2019 instrument alone may be incomplete.
- issuesResolución 1244 de 2019 - Ministerio de Transporte
Ministerio de Transporte (Colombia), via the Cancillería normogram
About this source
Colombia's transport ministry, which sets the rules for recognising foreign driving licences by resolution and runs the RUNT national traffic register the process depends on.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Its resolutions are amended and compiled into later ones - Resolución 1244 de 2019 has since been compiled into a 2022 resolution, which the text notes article by article. Citing the original alone can miss a subsequent change, and the list of countries with agreements is not in the resolution itself.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source