How to apply for a residence permit in Mexico based on kinship

If you have close relatives — Citizens or residents of Mexico, you also have the opportunity to acquire residency status in this country. With some exceptions, you can have the same status in Mexico as your Mexican relative (except for citizenship). In the future, you will be able to increase your status or begin the process of naturalization — obtaining Mexican citizenship. The process of obtaining a residence permit in Mexico is simple, but it requires careful preparation of documents and takes time.

Who is eligible to obtain residency status in Mexico?

There are 2 types of residence permits in Mexico: temporary (Residente temporal) and permanent (Residente permanente).

Below in the table we indicate what is the residency status in Mexico — temporary (residence permit) or permanent (permanent residence) — has the opportunity to receive a non-resident whose relative is a citizen, temporary or permanent resident of this state.

Temporary residence can be exchanged for permanent residence after a minimum of 2 years (if married to a Mexican citizen) and a maximum of 4 years (other cases). You can then apply for naturalization, take the exam, and become a Mexican citizen. In total, the path to obtaining Mexican citizenship will take 2 or 5 years, depending on the basis for acquiring a residence permit. Minors can acquire citizenship only after obtaining citizenship by one of their parents or independently upon reaching 18 years of age.

For more information about how long you need to live in Mexico to obtain citizenship, see the publication onlink

Within Mexico, residency status provides almost the same rights as Mexican citizenship, except the right to vote and to buy land and seafront property directly rather than through a bank trust. But this status also imposes some non-essential obligations on the holder.

Required notes:

• Children and siblings must be minors (under 18 years of age) and unmarried.
• Children of a Mexican citizen — in the event that they do not acquire citizenship by birth.
• * Grandparents have the opportunity to establish residency status in Mexico after their children receive such residency status.
• ** If a Mexican is a naturalized citizen or resident, his grandchildren have the opportunity to become residents only after their parents, who are considered children of such a Mexican. If the Mexican acquired citizenship by birth, this sequence is not required.
• *** Minor brothers/sisters of a Mexican resident have the opportunity to obtain the same status after receiving the status by their parents, based on family ties with them.

Temporary or permanent residents of Mexico can transfer the right to obtain a residence permit to their spouses, minor children and their parents, but cannot — to their adult children.

How to obtain permanent resident status for parents of a child born in Mexico, we wrote in thisarticle.

Where to start the process of obtaining a residence permit

For most reasons, the process of acquiring a residence permit in Mexico begins outside the state, with obtaining a resident visa at consulates abroad. However, provided that a residence permit is obtained through family ties, this rule does not always apply.

If you are receiving a residence permit based on family ties, you can begin the process:

• by marriage to a Mexican citizen — in Mexico or abroad,
• parents at birth in Mexico — in Mexico or outside of Mexico (however, most often received in Mexico immediately after birth),
• in other cases — in Mexico or abroad.

There is an important note to make here. The initiator of the process of acquiring a residence permit for a foreign relative is a resident of Mexico. To do this, he must offer his resident card in the original. Where the resident with his card is currently located (in Mexico or in his country of citizenship), the process of acquiring a residence permit for a relative should begin.

The residency process, which begins outside of Mexico, consists of two parts:

• purchasing a resident visa at Mexican consulates abroad,
• arrival in Mexico, contact the National Institute of Migration (INM) to exchange a resident visa for a resident card.

However, you have the right to begin the process of acquiring resident status while already in Mexico and without applying to a diplomatic mission for a visa. You can enter Mexico with a tourist visa or without paying an electronic permit, and once in the country, contact INM. Among other things, the difference also lies in the fact that documents on economic solvency should be submitted to the diplomatic mission, but not to the INM.

But citizens of many countries need a visa to enter Mexico, for this reason they are forced to begin the process of acquiring resident status in their own country. In addition, a resident visa obtained through family ties, as opposed to a traveler visa, guarantees their entry into Mexico.

Certificate of relationship

Birth certificate — a basic document proving the relationship between you and your Mexican relative, except in the case of marriage. In some cases, you may need both a birth certificate and a marriage certificate.

You are able to independently assess what papers you will need. As we said, there should be a clearly visible family connection between you and the Mexican relative. For example, if you changed your last name, you should provide additional documentation about this. Below we describe possible cases.

For all documentation issued outside of Mexico, you must have it apostilled in the issuing country.

Documents must also be translated into Spanish, and the translation must be certified. To submit to the Mexican consulate, you must first translate the document in your country at a translation agency, and then have the translation certified by a notary (this is a common practice for all consulates, however, the Mexican consulate in Moscow can accept the document without translation). To submit a document to the National Institute of Migration in Mexico, it must be translated only by a Mexican sworn translator. Therefore, if you are starting the process of acquiring a residence permit from abroad, you will need two translations of each document, made abroad and in Mexico.

Contacts of Mexican sworn translators can be foundHere. At the same time, it is also possible to negotiate the translation of a document with Mexican sworn translators remotely.

If the documentation was issued in Mexico, it can be provided as is, without translation.

Applying for a resident visa

If you plan to apply for residency once you arrive in Mexico, skip this section.

While outside of Mexico, you can apply for a resident visa at that country's consulates abroad. Contacts of such consulates can be found herelink. There may be queues at Mexican consulates, so you need to sign up in advance through the MiConsulado system or by email. Personal submission of documents is required; an interview is conducted during the admission process. The usual period for issuing a resident visa is — on the day of the visit, but according to the regulations this period can be up to 10 days. You can check the current price for purchasing a Mexican resident visa (visa fee) here.page.

As we said, the initiator of the process of acquiring a visa for his relative is a resident of Mexico. If the resident is stationed in Mexico and the relative — in the country of his citizenship, a resident should contact the office of the National Institute of Migration and obtain pre-authorization of a visa — document for obtaining a visa for a relative at a foreign consulate. Then his relative independently goes to the consulate in his country and, based on pre-authorization, receives a visa.

If the resident and a relative are located in their country of citizenship, they can go together to the Mexican consular office, where the relative will be issued a visa.

In both cases, a Mexican resident must have two original documents: a Mexican resident card and a certificate of relationship (marriage or birth).

The following documentation should be provided to the diplomatic mission:

Financial solvency must be confirmed only by monetary assets. Read about how financial solvency papers are prepared for the Mexican consulate.Here. Proof of financial solvency is not required if the Mexican relative — citizen of this state. Their parents confirm their financial solvency for the children, and they also sign the documents.

If the minor child who is requesting a resident visa will be traveling to Mexico unaccompanied by a parent or accompanied by a parent:

• A notarized document authorizing the child to travel abroad.

Read more about the documents required to enter Mexico with children.Here.

If a minor child requests a resident visa based on family ties to one of the parents — resident or citizen of Mexico:

• A notarized document in which the second parent does not object to his child living with the first parent abroad, unless the second parent has lost custody and guardianship — then there must be a court decision.

Consular officers have the right to request other documents or extend the period for issuing a resident visa in order to conduct additional verification.

Once your resident visa is issued, you must enter Mexico within 180 days — This is the validity period of the visa. Upon arrival you will receive a migration form.FMM, in paper or electronic form. It is important that the Mexican immigration officer indicate the permitted period of stay of 30 days (which he must do upon seeing your visa), and not 180 days, like a guest of the country.

Upon arrival in Mexico, you must begin the procedure for obtaining resident status by family ties and a resident card within 30 days, not counting the day of arrival.

Obtaining a Mexican Resident Card

Purchasing a Mexican resident card under any conditions always follows almost the same procedure, which we have described more than once in other articles. While in Mexico, you should contact the regional office of the National Institute of Migration (INM) at your place of residence to obtain status and a resident card of the country. Personal presence is required. In addition, the presence of a Mexican relative is desirable, but not required.

Important: if you receive a resident card based on marriage to a Mexican resident, he must first notify the migration service of the change in marital status (seeHere), only then are you able to apply for your resident card.

For the coordinates of the offices of the National Institute of Migration (INM) in different states and cities of Mexico, seelink.

You can sign up to submit documentation to the selected migration service office online by following thisinstructions. Registration times (queue) vary depending on the state, but most often do not exceed several weeks.

Documentation required to purchase a resident card:

For minors who receive resident status based on family ties with one of the parents — resident or citizen of Mexico:

• A notarized document in which the second parent does not object to his child living with the first parent abroad, unless the second parent has lost custody and guardianship — then a court decision is needed.

We would like to remind you that your documents must be apostilled, translated into Spanish and certified by a Mexican sworn translator.

Proof of financial solvency is not required. In addition, you do not need permission to travel abroad for your child.

• Receipts of payment for processing the application and issuing a resident card. Usually these are two payments: a standard payment for carrying out any migration process and a payment for issuing a temporary resident card. The second depends on the validity period of the card. Most often, a temporary resident card is first issued for 1 year. See current tariffs for migration proceduresHere.

Photos are not needed; they will be taken at the migration service office when issuing a resident card.

In some cases, INM may require proof of residential address. Usually it is enough to show a utility bill (electricity, water, telephone) or a rental contract in Mexico.

Once the documents are received at INM, you will receive a confirmation. This is a document with a unique number (NUT — Número Único de Trámite), according to whichtracking pageIt is possible to track the status of your application for temporary or permanent resident status. You also have the opportunity to check the status of your application directly at the INM office.

Before issuing a resident card, the supporting document that was issued to you at INM will be the basis for your legal status in Mexico. It usually takes 5 to 15 business days before your application for residency status is approved. Usually — doesn't mean always. Official dates — up to 3 months, however, in Cancun the process of acquiring a resident card can take up to 8 months.

If the wait is prolonged and you need to temporarily leave Mexico, strictly follow the specificprocedureobtaining permission to leave, leaving and entering the country. Otherwise, you risk losing your Mexican residency status before you even receive it.

Confirmation of your application approval will be displayed on the tracking page or in an email sent to you. You will be asked to select a date and time to visit the INM office to be photographed, biometrically captured, signed, and receive your Mexican Resident Card. We do not suggest changing the appointed date!

Since there are usually long queues at INM offices, we suggest arriving early. You should have with you:

• Confirmation from INM with NUT number;
• Passport.

In general, INM offices are often a mess and papers can get lost. Therefore, we advise you to always have a complete set of documentation with you, with copies of both those that you previously submitted and those that you received from them, whenever you visit the INM office.

Most often, a resident card is issued on the day of visiting the INM office after signing additional documentation and fingerprinting. At the same time, in some cases you have the right to be asked to come back for the card in a couple of days.

Prospects

Typically, a Mexican temporary resident card (temporary resident status based on family ties) is first issued for a period of 1 year upon marriage to a resident, for 2 years — by marriage to a citizen and for the number of years indicated on the card of your Mexican relative in other cases. In the future, temporary residence can be extended for 1, 2 or 3 years, or only for 1 year if your spouse — citizen of Mexico and you were issued a card valid for 1 year. Upon completion of this period, it is possible to apply for permanent residence.

Permanent resident status (permanent residence) for adults does not expire. However, for children under 3 years of age, the card must be renewed annually until the age of 18 — once every 4 years. Additionally, in some cases, you may be required to change your permanent resident card after 10 years to update your photo.

After 1 or 2 years, depending on the type of your family ties, after obtaining a permanent residence permit, you are allowed to apply for Mexican citizenship. In other words, the entire process from obtaining a residence permit to naturalization may take 2 or 5 years. Children have the right to obtain citizenship only after their parents receive citizenship, or independently upon reaching adulthood.

A Kinship Resident Card does NOT provide permission to work or do business in Mexico. But you can easily get a work permit by having an employer and applying to INM after completing the residence card process.

How to obtain a work permit in Mexico with a temporary residence permit, readHere.

Sample letter to exchange a resident visa for a resident card