Upvote:8
I urge you to be extremely careful here, and to follow the advice given elsewhere to think carefully about if the request is legitimate or a scam.
If you are certain of your friend's identity and conclude that you do indeed want to help them pay for a passport, you can indeed to so by credit card. According to the step-by-step instructions on the Colombian government's website, you must go to https://tramites.cancilleria.gov.co/apostillalegalizacion/pago/inicioPagoTC.aspx, enter the payment reference number created when your friend applies for their passport, and follow the further instructions there. Note that the URL ends in .gov.co
, so you can be sure it is a Colombian government website and not some imposter. Given the existence of this site, be especially wary for requests for funds by Western Union or some other non-refundable, non-traceable method.
The cost for a Colombian passport issued in BogotΓ‘ is 169,000 Colombian Pesos as of this writing, plus an additional 2,200 pesos for paying by credit card, a total of just over US$45 at current exchange rates. Again, be especially wary of claims that you will have to pay significantly more than this.