Marriage to a Mexican citizen provides the option not only to acquire resident status, but also after 2 years to apply for citizenship of this state. In fact, this is the shortest path to Mexican citizenship, not counting the birth of a child. But even if you do not plan to apply for citizenship, after 2 years you have the right to acquire permanent residence, and this is the shortest path to permanent residence in Mexico, again, not counting the birth of a child.
The question of where to find a Mexican bride or groom is something everyone decides for themselves. The option of simply buying a marriage certificate will not work, since both when applying for a residence permit and when applying for citizenship you will definitely be asked to bring your living spouse. Even a fictitious marriage will have to be registered for real. Civil registry office employees will not know that the spouses do not have a goal to start a family, that the spouses do not plan to live together, run a common household and have children. The goal is to resolve the migration issues of one of the spouses, so the very fact of registering a marriage is important and it is important to purchase a marriage certificate. We know of no obstacles from the registry office to the marriage between a Mexican and a foreigner, at least in the state of Quintana Roo, where only a passport is needed to register a marriage.
Registered marriage — the next day, take your Mexican spouse, marriage certificate and go to the National Institute of Migration (INM) to obtain a Mexican temporary resident card. The presence of your spouse is required; he signs your request for a resident card. Migration service personnel have the right to ask questions in order to find out whether the marriage is fictitious. And they are capable of not asking — as they decide for themselves. Questions — This is a formality and common practice, and there is no need to be afraid of it. Spouses may be asked when and how they met, what they know about each other, where they live, whether they have photos together, etc. Mexican immigration legislation also stipulates that before a decision is made on issuing a resident card, spouses can come home with a migration check, in particular, to ask neighbors whether the spouses really live together, or to check social conditions and ask questions of the spouses. But we have never encountered or heard of migration service workers coming to the home of newlyweds.
A temporary resident card due to marriage to a Mexican citizen is issued with a validity of 2 years. After 2 years, you must obtain either a new temporary resident card or a permanent resident card. For the purpose of acquiring Mexican citizenship, it does not matter which card you receive. To purchase a new card, a letter is again required on behalf of the resident spouse, but with the signature of the Mexican spouse. But whether the physical presence of a Mexican spouse is required is at the discretion of the migration service officer. One way or another, you are allowed to come to an agreement with the migration service officer if there is no Mexican spouse. But if you have the opportunity, it’s better to bring your Mexican spouse. Although only the resident spouse will still be allowed inside the migration service office to issue a new card.
Once you have received your new resident card, you can begin the naturalization process to acquire Mexican citizenship. You will have to bring your Mexican spouse to apply for citizenship, where he, in the presence of a passport office employee, must sign a letter stating that the spouses have lived together in Mexico for the last 2 years. No one here will ask about their life together. All you need is the living presence of your Mexican spouse and his signature.
If the goal was to acquire Mexican citizenship, and the marriage was fictitious, after registration of citizenship in the form of a letter of naturalization, the spouses have the right to divorce. A divorce will not prevent a foreign spouse from retaining Mexican citizenship, since at the time of its registration he was married to a Mexican.
What happens if you get a divorce earlier? If you get divorced before you renew your temporary resident card or receive your permanent resident card, in other words, having been married for less than 2 years, you will not be eligible to receive a new resident card, in other words, you will lose your residence permit in Mexico. Divorce does not automatically lead to the cancellation of a valid resident card, but it is not possible to obtain a new one to replace the expired one, since the same criteria under which this card was first issued are not available. However, there are various tricks to avoid losing a residence permit in the event of a divorce.
If you get divorced after you receive your new resident card but before you apply for citizenship, you will not be able to apply for citizenship. Your new Temporary Resident Card will continue to be valid until the end of its validity period, but you will not be able to renew it. That's why we recommend that after 2 years of marriage, you get a permanent resident card, which does not need to be renewed and which will continue to be valid even if you get a divorce.
What happens if you divorce one Mexican citizen and then marry another? If you do not lose your resident card after the divorce, you have the right to start counting the two years again immediately after you notify the migration service of your remarriage.
And about divorce. Divorce in Mexico after 2 years of marriage — a very expensive and sometimes lengthy process, and this must be taken into account when registering a fictitious marriage.
Considering the behavior of Mexican migration service employees, there is no fear that the fictitious marriage will be exposed and its participants punished. The biggest danger of a fictitious marriage — This is the human factor, namely the unpredictability of the Mexican spouse. It is unlikely that he will inform on you, given that he himself bears the same responsibility. But he may well extort money for his presence, although greed among Mexicans is the exception rather than the rule. The presence of a Mexican spouse is needed 2 or 3 times: 2 times — at the migration service and once when applying for citizenship at the office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is important to adhere to deadlines. Therefore, joint trips to these organizations should be planned in advance.
This publication is not considered an advertisement for fictitious marriages for the purpose of acquiring permanent residence and Mexican citizenship! The purpose of this publication — explain to readers the risks of entering into such a marriage in Mexico.