When you have been granted a temporary or permanent residency visa in Mexico and need assistance exchanging the visa sticker(s) in your passport(s) for a residency card, our associates can help.
The visa sticker the Mexican Consulate issues in your passport gives you one-time entry to Mexico as a legal resident, and you must arrive at a port in Mexico before it expires (usually six months after its issue date), and you must exchange this sticker for a residency card within 30 days of your arrival in Mexico.
Assistance with the visa-to-card exchange process
A special process exists to exchange the residency visa sticker in your passport for a residency card, and this must be done in person at a local immigration office in Mexico.
The procedures involve completing some forms, and writing a letter (in Spanish) requesting the exchange. You must attend your local immigration office in Mexico with the paperwork correctly completed to finish the residency application process and exchange the visa sticker in your passport for a residency card.
Tele Assistance or Accompanied Assistance
Our associates offer a choice of tele-assistance that enables you to attend the immigration office in Mexico yourself fully prepared with all the forms and other paperwork duly completed and ready to file, and they offer accompanied assistance at selected locations in Mexico if you want someone to prepare all the paperwork and accompany you to file at the immigration office.
Tele-Assistance for Visa Exchange
Consultation, paperwork, and online appointment. Our associate will consult with you about your situation, confirm the procedures for your filing, complete the forms, write the covering letter, and coordinate dates with you to make an online appointment at the immigration office in Mexico. They’ll email the form and letter documents for you to print and sign so you arrive fully prepared at the immigration office on your appointment date.
Instructions and checklist. Our associate will provide you with a checklist of documents you’ll need to take with you and detailed instructions about where to go and what to do when you arrive at the immigration office.
Accompanied Assistance for Visa Exchange
Consultation and paperwork. Our associate will consult with you about your situation, confirm the procedures for your filing, complete the forms, write the covering letter, and coordinate dates with you to make an online appointment at the immigration office in Mexico. They’ll email you the files to print out, sign and file on your appointment date. They’ll also give you detailed instruction/guidance about where to go and what to do when you arrive at the immigration office.
Accompaniment and instructions. Our associate will provide you with a checklist of documents you’ll need to take with you on the day. They will meet you in person on the filing date and provide you with all the paperwork to sign and present to the immigration office. If they cannot accompany you inside (some offices allow this, others don’t) they will provide you with detailed instructions about what to do when you enter.
Time scales to exchange your visa for a residency card
You must arrive in Mexico and begin the exchange process before the visa expires, which is usually 180 days (six months) after its issue date, and within 30 days of your physical arrival in Mexico—and we recommend that you don’t leave it to the last minute!
Some immigration offices process exchanges and issue the residency card(s) on the same day you attend the immigration office in Mexico, and sometimes offices ask applicants to return, usually within 1-3 weeks after their filing date, to complete the process.
You can learn more about current time scales on this article.
Learn more and make a service request
Our immigration associates are experienced professionals who have helped thousands of people through immigration procedures over the years.
