The National Registry of the Civil Status (Spanish: Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil) is the government agency of Colombia charged with collecting and storing the vital statistics and identifying information of all citizens, counts votes of campaigns for the Senate, presidency and the vice presidency, and to regulate the distribution and organization of identity documentation for each citizen for legal purposes.
Colombian citizens obtain their ID (cedula), to be able to vote, and also do all the permits tramits.
The current legislation made it mandatory for all citizens to carry this document and be able to present the cedula upon request by the authorities.
Lack of the cedula allows the local authorities to detain the citizen while the identity is verified in the government data base.
The cedula is a required document for entering and departing the country regardless of the place of residence or second nationality of a Colombian citizen.