Exactly in a month, the city offices of the Mexican Migration Service will go on Christmas holidays; they will be closed from December 21 and will resume work on January 3, 2023. It is still possible to complete some migration procedures in the remaining month, but most are better postponed until the new year. We proceed from the fact that in Cancun the registration period for migration procedures (purchase of a “sita”) is now about a month. In other cities in Mexico, the situation with queues is much better.
Program for acquiring a residence permit by settlement.Let us remind you that this is a program for those who have previously been to Mexico in 2020 or earlier, then left, and are now back in the country. Those whose FMM migration form or permitted period of stay on the entry stamp in their passport expires in the next month are still eligible to obtain a residence permit under this program. If your residence permit is approved this year, then most likely after the New Year you will be able to receive a resident card on a first-come, first-served basis. If you just entered Mexico, you probably received more than 30 days upon entry and will not be able to declare your intention to participate in the program until the end of the year.
There is currently no reliable information whether the immigration settlement program will be extended to 2023, when it could cover those who entered Mexico in 2021. It is also possible that if the program is stopped, the opportunity to obtain a residence permit under it will remain at the old requirements for those who entered the country in 2022, but whose FMM will expire in 2023.
Recently, figures were announced in the Mexican media according to which in the first 9 months of 2022, 8,412 US citizens received a temporary resident card for the first time on any basis. This is 85% more than in the same period in pre-Covid 2019. This is the highest figure since comparable data became available in 2010. In second place in the number of people who received temporary resident status are Canadians; in the first nine months of the year, they were issued 2,042 temporary resident cards, which is 137% more than in 2019. In addition, about 1,000 citizens of other countries received temporary resident cards in 2022, among whom citizens of Spain, France, Germany, China, India, Japan and numerous Latin American countries predominate. Colombia, Argentina, Brazil and Cuba.
It is highly likely that the published data reflects the work of the migration settlement program. Americans most often made repeated entries into Mexico, and therefore many of them were able to easily prepare a residence permit under this program. However, these statistics only increased criticism from those who advocate the slogan “Stop colonizing Mexico”, believing that the influx of foreigners into the country should be limited. The US State Department said last month that «an estimated 1.6 million US citizens live in Mexico», while Mexico's own 2020 census data shows a more modest figure— just under 800,000 people.
Exchange of a resident visa for a resident card (canje).By law, a future resident of Mexico has 30 calendar days after entry to declare his intention to change his visa to a resident card. The Christmas holidays of the migration service are not included in this period, therefore, increasing it.
You may want to spend the New Year holidays in Mexico, and in the new year contact the migration service to exchange your visa for a resident card. If not, postpone your arrival in Mexico until after the New Year, when it is possible and the queues at the migration service offices will be shorter. Fortunately, the validity period of your resident visa — 180 days — it provides.
Residence permit by marriage and birth of a child in Mexico.These are the two cases when it is possible to obtain a resident card without leaving the country. However, if at the time of contacting the migration service your FMM migration form has expired, you are subject to sanctions. First, you need to regulate the migration situation and pay a fine for violating the migration regime (exceeding the permitted period of stay), then you are allowed to receive a resident card.
If your FMM expires within the next 30 days, you will need to be very quick to get to the immigration office before they close for the holidays. After the New Year, you will still not be denied a card, but you will have to pay a fine. In this situation, the Christmas holiday period does not increase the validity of your FMM.
Renewal of a resident card.Let us remind you that you have the right to begin the procedure for issuing a new card 30 days before the expiration date of the old one or a maximum of 60 days after this date, but with a fine. If your resident card expires during the Christmas holidays, then your 30 days «until» will be counted from the actual expiration date, but the period «after» will be counted from the first working day after these holidays (January 3). Therefore, if you don’t want to get fined, try to get to the migration service offices before they close.
In all other cases, if you want to start the migration procedure before the New Year, be prepared for the fact that when you apply, you will be booked for a visit (issued with a “sit”) after the New Year.
Migration service offices at international airports in Mexico do not go on Christmas holidays, but continue to work 24/7. There you can arrange a departure if you exceed the permitted period of stay, without which you will not be put on a plane from Mexico, or if you are traveling as a resident of Mexico.
Let us add that if the period of authorized stay in Mexico has expired (your “teristic visa” has expired), it cannot be extended in any way. However, citizens of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus have the right to continue to remain in Mexico without the risk of being deported. This risk arises with citizens of other nationalities.