Completing residency visa process

Please keep us posted on how it works out.  We will be doing the same late next year.

Mysong2 wrote:

Hola,
I recently got approved at a Mexican consulate in the U.S. for a Permanent Residency visa. I now have to go to the Immigration office in Cuernavaca.
I would appreciate learning what the process will be like for me at Immigration. I plan to bring my passport in on Nov 29 for the Canje but I am not sure what to do after that.
I speak Spanish at an intermediate level, and don't know whether it is advisable to hire a facilitator to assist me or if I can manage on my own. I do have friends who will drive me to Immigration who speak fluent Spanish, however.
Any help or advice anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Muchas gracias,
Rona Lee
[email protected]

So the critical thing is to be sure to let them know you have been given a permanent visa status so when you arrive they can process your paperwork correctly.  your paperwork should be labeled Canje. They are quickly processing visitors so they need to know you are not a visitor. You talk like you are already in the country, so perhaps you have already done that. INM is mostly just tedious paperwork and fees. Here is a direct link for current information https://www.gob.mx/inm/acciones-y-progr … igratorios

Once in the country, you must go to Immigration within 30 days. If you miss that time frame you are back to square one and have to reapply. Once you have completed those things it's in their hands and you just have to keep checking online to see your status. They will have given you passwords and ID information in order to access them online. Timing seems to depend on which state you apply in and things like holidays. You are in the holiday period so those fluent friends will be very helpful.  It took me 2 months because it was the holidays, but some have their Permanente ID in two weeks. There is a new president so when he comes into office in December things may change so just keep an eye on times and regulations.

I see no reason why you can't manage on your own, and your friends will help with immigration so don't stress, just pay attention to time frames and you should be fine.

Buena Suerte

For starters - it has been about 6 years since I last visited INM  to complete my RP process - so things may have changed. I'm sure it is a lot faster process than it was back then...

I don't think you will need a facilitator. But it is very unlikely anyone there will speak with you in English.

If the INM office is still on Vincente Guerro - consider taking a taxi as there is no substantive parking. And - it seems that Lomas de Cortes may not be the safest locale in Cuernavaca at the moment.

On your first visit you will register yourself into the process and walk away with a scavenger list of tasks to complete. When you have your photos taken be SURE you have no hair on your forehead - or you will be told to go try again. They will not ask you anything related to your financials.

One final (minor) point. At some point you should ask them to generate a CURP for you. Some people even have their CURP printed on their RP credentials. No big deal but it might save you an extra visit to INM down the road.

My wife and I just did the process in August 2017 by ourselves, no problem, took exactly 2 weeks at the INM in Nayarit were we now reside.

INM create and give you our CURP number and it's printed on your residency card

You follow the process and status via INTERNET, INM gives you a password on a letter.

3 visits are needed:
1st, request for your CANJE to Residency status (temporary or permanent), pictures, copies, payment at bank
2nd, acceptance of Residency status, fingerprints
3rd, pick-up of Residency cards
Y LISTO!

Adios y buen dia a todos, GyC.

Perhaps they have really stream-lined the process ? Don't you first have to visit INM to determine what your particular office will require of you - and to get the numbers for the bank payment ? And perhaps what really flavored our experience is that the process for my wife and myself fell out of sync. It took me at least two months to have card in hand and my wife beat me by at least 2 weeks. And at the time - we often spent a couple/few hours waiting our turn at INM. Our CURPs were not generated without a return visit a month or so after getting our cards. But it was a totally painless/quick visit (with prior appt).

One point I haven't seen mentioned much on sites such as this - it is not a done deal when you leave the Mexican consulate with your pre-approval. You can still screw the process up when you visit INM in Mexico. For me - the signature in my passport was drastically different from my signature at INM. My wrist was broken when I signed my passport. The young woman at INM INSISTED that I replicate the signature in my passport and gave me a pen and several sheets of paper to accomplish that. Also - on the day you visit for fingerprints it really is kind of an interview. They will ask you questions to kind of confirm what you have already stated along the way, For me - we came from a very small town in the US and whenever anyone/anywhere has asked me - where are you from - I always answered with the nearest large city. Well - with INM that was the wrong answer. They wanted the name of the very small town.

Finally - the INM website stopped reporting progress for me. So every week or so we would visit INM to see how things were going. On the last such visit the girl we were talking to reported - nope, sorry no new status to report. One of her co-workers said - wait a minute - I saw that paperwork come through a while back. In the end my folder had fallen behind the drawer in the file cabinet.

What is the expression ? Your mileage may vary...

Hi to all, in response to "Lobster Tail".
The process time varies frm one INM office to another but usually quite rapid in out of "gringo season/snowbirds".
Call or email the INM office if you need more info (pictures size, copies, etc), I did great quick response but all info is on the website
Get at the INM office before opening hours (suggestion giving by INM rep when I called) don't get there after 12:00
Copies and pictures can also be taking near the INM office
The bank codes and account numbers given and written on the INM document to show at bank teller (make sure the numbers are the same on the bank payment receipt)
INM only wants to now our birth country and living country (we lived in Quebec in a 1200 residents town with a French name.
You could request yourself the CURP number via the Mexican government website but INM does it
Fingerprints and signature:
your fingerprints are sent to Mexico INM and compared to the one taken at the Consulate when you received your entry VISA
our signature were not compared to the one our passport but needed to sign within a box.

Timeframe: agree it could vary  in each INM office but a phone call to your INM office prior to go would be great even better if you speak Spanish. We have friends that got their INM RT cards within 4 days in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero in late 2016, within 2 weeks in summer 2012 in Nayarit.

For "Mysong2":
Buena suerte en su proyecto

Adios y buen dia a todos, GyC.

Just a few comments :

- regarding CURP - to the best of my knowledge - ONLY INM can issue you a CURP if you are a non-citizen. There is a government website where you can query your existing CURP (and that site might even tell you what your CURP should be - but it will not be logged into the government database) but you can not generate a CURP there. I believe that is true even for citizens, who have to visit the Civil Registry (I think). btw - on several occasions recently the original black and white CURP we received from INM has not been accepted. The new format for a CURP is a letter sized/ multi-color document (which is available for download @ https://www.gob.mx/curp/

- I went looking for an INM website for Morelos (where the original poster plans on visiting) and ALL I saw was a phone number (good luck with that). No email, no additional information regarding process, bank CLABEs etc. I did find (detailed)  info for the stateside part of the process but nothing on this side of the border. Perhaps I'm getting old. If you have such a link perhaps that would be of use to some...

- There will be no where near the INM office mysong2 will be visiting where she will be able to make copies, get photos. It would be a very long walk.

- I agree about getting to INM early in the morning.

Just sharing my experiences. The process truly is different from location to location.

Thank you all for your replies. Very helpful and much appreciated. I plan to go to INM in Cuernavaca, Morelos on Thur morning, early. Thankfully with an American friend who speaks fluent Spanish. Hopefully all will go well.

Update on my Permanent Residency Visa.

Went to INM in Cuernavaca today. Got there soon after they opened (would have arrived earlier but the office has moved and we had to figure out how to get to the new location). Anyway, arrived around 9:15, submitted my passport, FMM form and showed them the stamp placed in my passport from the consulate in Sacramento, CA.

Then was given a list of instructions of things I had to complete as the next step in the process. That involved paying the visa fee at a bank, making photocopies of several documents, and completing an online form. Decided to see if we could do all this today as well, since we live at least an hour from Cuernavaca and it would save us another day's trip into the city.

Unfortunately the instructions for the online document were completely unclear and inaccurate, and the form we completed was not the correct one. With only about 45 minutes to spare before they closed at 1pm, we headed to a nearby Office Depot and found the correct form, completed it and printed it out, returning about 15 minutes before closing time. The person at the desk was very accommodating and took me right away, reviewed the docs, said all is in order, and that probably within about 10 days I'll hear from them that the residency card is ready to pick up.

So that may mean that before they close for the holidays I'll have my permanent residency card in hand. What a nice Christmas present that will be!

Again, thank you all for sharing your stories, and helping to guide me through what to expect when I went to Immigration today. I'm very grateful.

Excellent, I too will be going to the Sacramento office.  I would like to hear how that went and if there were any "hidden" items to prepare for that aren't shown on their www site.   Specifically what did you have to show for financial proof.  I'm retired State employee and I think I can get a letter from CalPers showing my lifetime benefit.

My experience at Sacto consulate was positive. No appointment needed so I arrived about 15 minutes before office opened and was first to be seen by visa officials. I brought my passport, photocopy of passport, passport sized photos (size of US passport, i.e., 2x2), document printed and and completed from website, letter from PERS and Soc Sec of my monthly payouts, bank statements for past 6 months, investment statements for past 12 months.

I presented the docs and got preliminary approval. They then took a photo and fingerprints. Told me to pay the $36 fee and return in about 3 hours. At that time I was briefly interviewed by consular officer, wanting to know where I was planning to live, why I wanted to live in Mexico, etc. Very nice and friendly. She then told me to wait for them to finish processing the doc that would be put in my passport. That took about an hour. So I arrived before 8 a.m. and finished everything by around 1:30 p.m.

I returned to Mexico a few days later and knew that I had 30 days to do the Canje (exchange) at Immigration, which I just did this morning. On FMM form I received on airplane, I made sure to check the box "Other" rather than "Tourist" and at Immigration at airport I showed them the page with the document I got at the consulate. Made sure they checked off Canje and noted 30 days (rather than the 180 days for a Tourist visa).

Wish you same success at Sacto consulate as I had.

My experience at Sacto consulate was positive. No appointment needed so I arrived about 15 minutes before office opened and was first to be seen by visa officials. I brought my passport, photocopy of passport, passport sized photos (size of US passport, i.e., 2x2), document printed and and completed from website, letter from PERS and Soc Sec of my monthly payouts, bank statements for past 6 months, investment statements for past 12 months.

I presented the docs and got preliminary approval. They then took a photo and fingerprints. Told me to pay the $36 fee and return in about 3 hours. At that time I was briefly interviewed by consular officer, wanting to know where I was planning to live, why I wanted to live in Mexico, etc. Very nice and friendly. She then told me to wait for them to finish processing the doc that would be put in my passport. That took about an hour. So I arrived before 8 a.m. and finished everything by around 1:30 p.m.

I returned to Mexico a few days later and knew that I had 30 days to do the Canje (exchange) at Immigration, which I just did this morning. On FMM form I received on airplane, I made sure to check the box "Other" rather than "Tourist" and at Immigration at airport I showed them the page with the document I got at the consulate. Made sure they checked off Canje and noted 30 days (rather than the 180 days for a Tourist visa).

Wish you same success at Sacto consulate as I had.

Awesome thanks.  We will be moving to Rosarito after our condo is done in about a year.      I wanted to start the process now, but sounds like we need to stay in Mexico a little longer than we can commit to currently to complete the process.  Anyway, it's not an issue as once we move we are in no hurry.  We will just do a couple of six month FMM in the meantime.  Knowing once we start the process the stamps are different when we cross at TJ.

Could someone please explain what a CURP is and what it is needed for.  Thanks!