Marriage to a resident of Mexico gives the right to obtain a residence permit in the country. A valid marriage certificate is required to verify this right. A residence permit on this basis has some nuances, and here we will talk about them.
To obtain a residence permit for marriage with a resident, you should contact one of the offices of the Mexican Migration Service. It doesn’t matter how long ago or where the marriage took place. If the marriage took place in Mexico, you will need a recent certified copy of the marriage certificate («short certificate»). For a marriage not registered in Mexico, you need an original foreign certificate (a notarized copy is not suitable), certified with an apostille stamp and translated into Spanish by an official translator in Mexico.
If a spouse applies for a residence permit when his permitted period of stay in Mexico has already expired, this will not be a reason for refusal to issue a resident card. But first, the migration service will offer to go through the settlement procedure, in other words, pay a fine, only then will the process of issuing a card begin.
Before preparing a resident card, the migration service has the right to check whether the spouses actually live together. In this regard, the second spouse, when opening the process of obtaining a resident card, must indicate the general address of residence. In practice, the migration service almost never conducts such checks, unlike marriage with a Mexican citizen.
Whatever residency status a Mexican resident has — temporary or permanent, his spouse will only receive temporary resident status. The first temporary resident card will always be valid for 1 year. It can then be extended for 1, 2 or a maximum period of 3 years, but no longer than the validity of the spouse’s resident card.
Second spouse card — resident becomes «attached» to the first spouse's card — resident If the first resident for some reason does not renew his card, the second resident will also not be able to renew his card and will lose his residence.
Divorce of spouses may also cause the second spouse to lose their residence. However, after registration of permanent residence (after 4 years of temporary residence), the divorce no longer affects anything.
Deadline before applying for Mexican citizenship for the second spouse — always 5 years from the date of acquisition of a resident card for the first time, even if the first spouse receives citizenship earlier. The basis for applying for citizenship will be the passage of 5 years in resident status. The marriage of spouses does not affect the possibility of obtaining citizenship for each of them.
In addition, read our largepublicationon how to prepare residency status in Mexico by kinship.