Mexico's Settlement Program offers the option of obtaining residency status for those who have already visited the country in 2023 or in previous years. At the moment, this is one of the easiest ways to obtain a residence permit in Mexico. Along with the main applicant, all members of his family have the right to become residents of Mexico. Now we will tell you what papers you will need for this. And if you want to know about all the conditions of the settlement program, read thispublication.
Primary recipient
We call the main recipient of a residence permit the one who entered Mexico in 2023 or earlier. There may be more than one primary recipient in a family if both spouses or a spouse and a child visited Mexico in 2023.
To apply for a residence permit under the settlement program, the main recipient only needspassport, according to which it is now located in Mexico. Most often, this is the passport with which he issued his last entry, unless he changed it after entry. If entry in 2023 or earlier was issued using a different passport, that passport is not needed (but it will not hurt), the current one is enough.
The Migration Service will scan your current passport and find all your entries into the country in their database, even if they were made on a different passport. The presence of entry records in the database will provide the basis for obtaining a residence permit under the settlement program.
If in 2023 or earlier you entered Mexico using a passport with one last name, and now you entered using a passport with a different last name, in other words, you changed your last name and, accordingly, your passport, you needdocument explaining the change of surname. In Ukraine, such documents are considered to be the Certificate of Change of Name or the Vityag of the Change of Name, and in addition to this, the Vityag from the State Register of Assets of the Civil Society of the Citizens about the need to confirm the personal name, and in Russia — Certificate of change of name and Certificate (not certificate!) of marriage registration. This document must be certified with an apostille stamp at home, and upon arrival in Mexico, translated into Spanish by an official translator of Mexico. The translation should not contain a middle name, just as there is no middle name in a passport, otherwise you will have to take it from the consulate of your statecertificate, that the patronymic (nombre patronímico) is not considered part of the first and last name. The original document + its translation must be submitted along with the new passport to the migration service. We repeat, it is not necessary to have an old passport.
You do not have the right to purchase a residence permit under the settlement program if you previously visited Mexico using a passport of one citizenship, and now entered with a passport of another citizenship.
Most often, a child who has previously been in Mexico may, in addition, be the main recipient of a residence permit under the settlement program. But some migration service offices (there are few of them) do not provide residence permits under the settlement program for minors. Then the child is able to obtain a residence permit immediately after either of his parents receives a residence permit under the settlement program. To do this, you need to have a child’s birth certificate with an apostille, which we will discuss below.
How to obtain residency status in Mexico under the settlement program and what other papers need to be completed, you can learn from thisarticles. Most often, the following documents are sufficient:
- Completed application for the migration procedure (solicitar tramite migratorio),
- Cover letter,
- Proof of residential address in Mexico,
- Receipts for payment of fines and state fees, if you will pay through a bank and not by card at the migration service office.
In Mexico City they are able to ask for confirmation of financial solvency. Then you need to provide a bank account statement.
No criminal record certificate is needed!
A question that many ask: when obtaining a residence permit in Mexico under the settlement program, the applicant’s birth certificate is definitely not required? When obtaining a residence permit, a birth certificate is definitely not required. But it will definitely be needed in 5 years, when the resident wants to apply for citizenship. For this reason, if you do not plan to return to your home country during these 5 years, but want to obtain Mexican citizenship, obtain a birth certificate now. It should only be in the original, which will be taken from you. He should have an apostille stamp on it.
Family members
Family members who were not in Mexico in 2023 or in previous years can, in addition, purchase a residence permit, but only after at least one of the family members receives a residence permit under the settlement program. Not at the same time, but after. To do this, they must document their relationship with a family member who already has a residence permit.
You should propose to your spousemarriage certificate.
A minor child must giveyour birth certificateto confirm relationship with the parent. An adult child is not able to obtain a residence permit through kinship with a parent.
The parent must providechild's birth certificate, minor or adult, to confirm relationship with him.
If the certificate was not issued in Mexico, it should be certified with an apostille stamp in its home country, and upon arrival in Mexico it should be translated by a Mexican official translator. In this case, you need to make sure that the translator does not include the middle name in the translation.
If the names on the certificate and passport are different, you mustdocument explaining the change of surname. We talked about this above.
Next, family members apply for a residence permit in Mexico as relatives of the resident, according to a procedure most often called «family reunification». It is described on our website.
We wrote above about the need to have an original birth certificate if, after 5 years, a relative plans to acquire Mexican citizenship.