We have written more than once that opening a company in Mexico does not provide grounds for obtaining a residence permit. But many of our readers continue to believe that this is allowed. Okay, now we will once again briefly tell you how «easy and simple» It is allowed to purchase a residence permit after opening a company in Mexico.
Anyone can open a business in Mexico, even those who came to the country as a guest of the state. You have the right to be the owner (beneficiary) of the company, but you cannot work in it. Accordingly, the director, accountant and all employees will be either Mexicans or foreigners with a residence permit with a work permit. At the same time, quotas for hiring foreigners and other formalities must be observed.
The company has received all business licenses, has been operating and paying taxes for at least 3 months. Then a representative of the enterprise (not you) collects all the papers listed below and goes to the local migration service office. There he is required to issue a Constancia de Empleador, which is a type of permit to hire foreigners. In the future, this permission will need to be reconfirmed annually.
- Founding Act — original and certified copy,
- Extract from the public register of companies,
- Extract from the treasury on opening a business,
- Annual tax payment,
- Latest tax report,
- Original identification card of the company representative,
- Confirmation of registration address — original bill for electricity or water,
- Photos of premises — 3 inside and 3 outside,
- Location indicator on Google maps,
- Forms on opal paper with a colored logo,
- RFC (number from the Federal Register of Taxpayers),
- List of Mexican and foreign employees with positions and nationalities from IMSS (Institute of Social Security),
- IMSS receipts for social payments,
- Data: address, telephone number, website and email address, etc., which are indicated in the request letter,
- Receipts of payment for the verification procedure.
It can take a long time for the migration service to check a new company; it definitely won’t be done in a month. As a result, a Constancia de Empleador will be issued. Only after this the company submits a request to the migration service to hire you, a foreigner. The fact that you are the owner does not give you any preferences.
Having received oficio, that is, approval from the migration service, the company gives you a package of documents for purchasing a work visa. You make an appointment at any foreign diplomatic mission, go there, undergo an interview, receive a work visa, return to Mexico and change your visa to a temporary resident card with a work permit and a validity period of 1 year. You act the same as any foreign employee who finds work in Mexico. After this, your company places you on staff. Congratulations, you have reached your goal!
There is no way you can avoid having to travel abroad to apply for a work visa, except in one case: you already have a work permit card, namely the humanitarian visitor (non-resident) card that you may have purchased if you applied for refugee status in Mexico. But even in this case there will be some nuances that will not make the process of obtaining a residence permit any easier for you.
If we take it as a minimum, the entire process of acquiring a residence permit in Mexico through opening a company will take approximately 6.5-7 months, namely:
- opening of the company — 2 weeks
- company work — 3 months
- obtaining the Constancia de Empleador — at least 1 month, more often several months,
- acquiring a permit to hire you — 1 month (for a new company),
- obtaining a visa at the consulate — 2 weeks
- purchasing a resident card — 2 weeks.
They wrote 6 months and were surprised: so quickly? There are companies that received licenses for several months and waited for the Constancia de Empleador for up to six months.
The costs of obtaining a residence permit in this way are quite high and are justified only when you, under any circumstances, need to open an enterprise in Mexico in order to conduct a legal business.
After a year, your temporary resident card will have to be renewed, for which you again need to prepare a series of documentation, take a fresh Constancia de Empleador and contact the migration service. The initiator of the renewal is not you, but your company. In some cases, you can extend the card for 3 years at once.
Sometimes the migration service conducts random migration inspections of enterprises, including checking the work permits of employees. Working in Mexico without the proper documentation can be dangerous. Illegal work may result in fines and deportation.
And here's anotherpublicationabout why Mexican immigration legislation does not provide for obtaining a resident visa based on opening a company in the country.