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 your visa for a residency card.
Our associate provides tele-support 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.
Tele-assistance throughout the exchange process
When you request the service, our associate will:
- Schedule a personal consultation with you to discuss your plans and intended arrival dates in Mexico to make the visa-to-residency card exchange.
- Send you a personalized checklist of documents you’ll need to take with you to the immigration office in Mexico to complete the procedures.
- Complete the online forms you need (in Spanish) to request the exchange; they also write the covering letter (in Spanish) that you need to present alongside the forms.
- Register the procedure online, and send the files of the completed electronic forms and the covering letter to you by email. You print, sign, and take these with you to the immigration office in Mexico—so you’ll attend fully prepared for the exchange filing procedure.
- Provide you with the details/address of the local immigration office where you intend to make the exchange, with instructions about what to do when you arrive.
- The service also provides ad-hoc advice and troubleshooting (if needed), as you move through the exchange process.
There are no online appointments at INM offices. You need to attend the office in person to exchange your visas for cards, as part of the process involves taking your picture and fingerprints digitally.
Speaking Spanish. Some people tell us that their Spanish is limited (or non-existent). Our associate prepares all the paperwork for you ahead of time and many readers who don’t speak much or any Spanish have successfully navigated the procedures themselves without trouble using the assistance of our associate’s tele-support service.
How soon should I request assistance?
You can request assistance anytime after the residency visa is issued inside your passport(s). Remember that you must complete the exchange within 30 days of your arrival in Mexico and before the visa expires, otherwise the visa becomes void.
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.
This is not a line-hopping service
Our associate helps you to move through the visa-to-residency exchange procedures in good time, but cannot obtain preferential treatment for any applicant, and they cannot guarantee appointment date availability or ‘fast-track’ appointments or processing time scales.
Visa exchange service fees (2023)
Our associates charge a fixed fee of US$129 for the first applicant, plus US$99 for each additional applicant in the same family/group. The fee is for the tele-support to prepare all the paperwork and help you prepare for your visit to the local immigration office in Mexico where you’ll make the visa-to-card exchange.
You must pay the government fees separately.
Don’t have a visa yet? Apply for Residency for the first time
Card renewal? Renew an existing residency card
Questions before you request the visa exchange service?
If you have a question about how the immigration assistance service works before you make the request, please contact us.
Make a service request
To hire our associate, please complete the request form below.
What happens next?
- After you complete the form, our immigration assistance associates will contact you directly to request payment
- When you’ve paid, they’ll get in touch to schedule your initial consultation and begin the visa exchange assistance service
- Mexperience will send you an email to confirm these details
