Mexican immigration law provides for the prospect of obtaining a so-called humanitarian visa, or refugee visa. This visa is issued to those who are forced to leave their home country due to emergency situations involving oppression or threats to life and liberty. Comparing the process of obtaining a residence permit for foreigners and refugees, it is possible to see that it is much easier for refugees to prepare residency status in Mexico. But on one condition: the facts of harassment and threats to their lives must be confirmed. First of all, for refugees, you must prove that returning to their homeland poses a danger to them.
Any foreign citizen while on Mexican territory has the right to claim recognition as a refugee if there are justifiable reasons. The process of obtaining refugee status in Mexico is confidential and does not require payment of any state fees.
You can also get answers to basic questions about obtaining refugee status in Mexico from thispublications
Is it possible to acquire refugee status in Mexico while outside of Mexico? No, you can't. You have the opportunity to enter the country in any available way and only then apply for protection. You can apply for refugee status through your representative with a power of attorney, but you must be interviewed in person once the application process has begun.
Who is eligible to claim refugee status in Mexico?
- You are outside the State of your nationality because of a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, sex, membership of a particular social group or political opinion and for these reasons are unable or unwilling to seek the protection of that State. The same applies to stateless persons in relation to the state where they previously resided;
- You left your home country because your life, safety or freedom was threatened by widespread violence, foreign aggression, internal conflicts, massive violations of human rights or other circumstances that seriously disturb public order;
- You are unable to return to your home country because the circumstances described above arose during your stay in Mexico.
In addition, there are additional reasons for obtaining refugee status in Mexico: minors without relatives, assistance to a relative who is seriously ill or imprisoned in a Mexican prison, etc.
Those who have received refugee status in Mexico have the right to claim not only protection from the state, but also free social and medical assistance, and in addition to free education in public educational institutions. In some cases, refugees are also able to apply for new documents allowing them to travel safely to their homeland.
We will describe the procedure below. In short, once your application for asylum in Mexico is accepted, you will be given temporary visitor status for humanitarian reasons. After reviewing the application and making a positive decision on it, you will receive permanent residence in Mexico and the status of a permanent (indefinite) resident of the country.
Refugee status process
If the situations described above apply to your case or apply to at least one of your family members, the further course of action should be as follows:
1. In the period 30workersdays after entering Mexico (according to the stamp in your passport), you are required to submit an application yourself or through your legal representative to:
1) the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR) of the Mexican Ministry of the Interior in Mexico City, Acayucan (Veracruz), Tenosique (Tabasco) or several other cities, or
2) to the Immigration Regulatory Offices of the National Institute of Migration (INM) in the rest of Mexico in the name of COMAR.
You will find the coordinates of all the offices of the Mexican Commission for Refugees on Mexican territory.Here.
If you missed the 30 day deadline to apply, read thisarticle.
The application must be in the form of a letter, handwritten in person in free form in any language, explaining the reasons for contacting COMAR. If the application also concerns members of your family, you should list them, indicating where your family is currently located.
If you apply after 30 days of entering Mexico, you must justify why you were unable to do so sooner.
After accepting the application, COMAR issues a certificate confirming the start of the process of obtaining refugee status (Constancia de Otorgamiento de la Protección Complementaria). Based on this certificate, you have the opportunity to obtain confirmation of your status as a “visitor for humanitarian reasons” from INM. with a work permit in Mexico (Documento provisional de visitante con permiso para realizar actividades remuneradas), and also CURP — Mexican Resident Identification Number. INM does not currently issue plastic visitor cards. This status gives you the right to remain in Mexico while COMAR reviews your application. During the examination period, the applicant is guaranteed not to be returned to a country where his life, safety or freedom is threatened, and is able to enjoy all the rights guaranteed by the Mexican Constitution. Having received CURP, you can not only find a formal job, but also open a bank account, gain access to education and social services.
COMAR will schedule an interview for which you must appear in person. You should not change this date, except in cases of illness, etc.
2. During the interview, you must provide convincing arguments for acquiring refugee status in Mexico. In this case, you have the right to an interpreter and a lawyer. At the interview you need to have the following documentation:
- ID card,
- any data from your past life that has the right to be verified by competent authorities to determine your identity,
- a description of the facts that forced you to leave your home country or threaten your return there,
- evidence of these facts or justification for the absence of such evidence,
- any other data that helps justify the registration of refugee status.
However, you should not provide evidence of events that changed the social order in your country.
COMAR conducts an investigation into conditions in the refugee's country, collecting the opinion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) and objective information from competent sources, and, if necessary, requests material from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The findings of the relevant departments will be attached to the response to your application.
3. COMAR will study the facts you provide and give you a response within 55 working days: 45 days to make a decision, 10 days to provide a response. If necessary, you may be asked for additional materials or invited to a second interview. In addition, the period for making a decision can be extended by another 45 working days.
COMAR's decision will include all of your family members you included on your application. If they are currently located outside of Mexico, they will have to go through additional steps to obtain refugee status.
Until the COMAR decision is issued, you cannot leave the country and change your region of residence in Mexico — you sign the corresponding obligation. In addition, you should regularly (once every 10 days) visit the COMAR or INM offices where you submitted your application, or contact them in another agreed way to confirm your location. You may request permission from COMAR to travel out of state, to change your place of residence, or to change the state in which your application will be processed. If you change your residence without notifying COMAR, your application will be automatically terminated and your refugee status will be denied.
We wrote about restrictions while waiting for refugee status in thismaterial.
4. After receiving a positive answer, you should contact the National Institute of Migration (INM) to register your residence in Mexico as a refugee.
If COMAR's answer is no, you have 15 working days to file an appeal. It will take up to 90 business days for your case to be re-examined. If COMAR's second decision is also negative, you must leave the country within the deadline specified by COMAR or continue to seek refugee status in Mexico through the courts.
According to the Mexican Migration Law, a foreigner who is denied refugee status must leave the territory of the country within a period not exceeding 30 days and not less than 15 calendar days.
Even if the decision to grant refugee status is negative, COMAR has the opportunity to determine additional measures of protection for the applicant by extending his authorized period of stay in the country or defining him as a stateless person.
Registration of a residence permit for refugee status
Contacting the regional offices of the National Institute of Migration (INM) is necessary to obtain the status and card of a permanent resident of the state. This is completelyfreeprocedure. For the coordinates of the offices of the National Institute of Migration 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 by state, but usually do not exceed several weeks.
Documentation required to purchase a resident card for refugee status:
- Bidto review your case, which must be completed online, printed, and signed. Select «Cambiar condicion de estancia» and then «… por razones humanitarias».
- Original and copy of the ID you submitted with your application to COMAR.
- The paper FMM migration form that you received upon entry into Mexico by land, or the printed electronic FMMD form that was issued to you upon entry by plane and which you downloaded and printed yourself. Or any document confirming the legality of your stay in the country, original.
- The original COMAR decision granting you refugee status and all accompanying papers.
- If you are a political refugee — original report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE).
The INM instruction does not require the refugee to fill out additional forms or provide additional documents, however, in INM offices, in order to obtain any resident card, they usually also ask for:
- Letter requesting the exchange of a visa for a resident card. The sample can be obtained and completed at the INM office.
Photos are not needed; they will be taken at the migration service office when issuing a resident card.
Once the documentation is received at INM, you will receive a confirmation. This is a document with a unique number (NUT — Número Único de Trámite), according to whichtracking pageYou are allowed to track the status of your application for temporary visitor status. You can also check the status of your application directly from the INM office.
You can see further actions in thissectionour website, in the instructions for obtaining any residence permit in Mexico.
Consideration of your request for refugee status in INM will take place according to an accelerated procedure and will take no more than a month. Let's add what you getpermanent resident status in Mexico with a work permit. 5 years after acquiring a residence permit, you are allowed to undergo the naturalization procedure and apply for Mexican citizenship. If you are from Latin America or Spain, this period will be reduced to 2 years.
You can find step-by-step instructions on how to obtain refugee status in Mexico in thismaterial.
We have described only the general practice of acquiring a residence permit in Mexico with refugee status. In reality, the unique norms of each specific situation must be taken into account.
Guide to Refugee Status in Mexico