When you have been granted temporary or permanent residency in Mexico and need assistance exchanging the visa sticker(s) in your passport(s) for a residency card when you get to Mexico, our associates can help.
When the Mexican consulate abroad grants your residency application, you are issued with a visa sticker in your passport. This sticker gives you one-time entry to Mexico as a legal resident, and you must arrive at a port in Mexico within 180 calendar days of 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
After the Mexican consulate abroad places the residency visa sticker in your passport, a special process exists to exchange that sticker for a residency card at a local immigration office in Mexico.
This involves 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 complete the exchange process and get your residency card.
- Our associate helps you throughout the entire visa exchange process, including talking to you about your intended arrival dates in Mexico, completing the forms, writing the letters and preparing all the paperwork so that you can attend your appointment with everything in good order.
- This service provides tele-support that enables you to attend the immigration office in Mexico yourself fully prepared with all the forms and other paperwork completed and ready.
- You need to attend the immigration office in person to exchange your visas for cards, as part of the process involves taking your picture and fingerprints.
- Most people accomplish this (even if their Spanish is limited) without any trouble using our associate’s support service.
Time scales for exchanging your visa for a residency card
You must arrive in Mexico and begin the exchange process before the visa expires, which is 180 days after its issue date and within 30 days of your physical arrival in Mexico, and we recommend you don’t leave it to the last minute!
Some immigration offices issue cards on the the same day as the appointment at the immigration office in Mexico and some offices ask applicants to return, usually within 2-3 weeks after their initial appointment date.
The electronic appointments system is currently offline. This means that you need to request your appointment in person presently, and you cannot leave Mexico between requesting the appointment and making the exchange on your appointment date. You can learn more about current time scales on this article.
How the assistance service works
The service begins with a personal consultation with our associate to explain the procedures to you in detail and ensure that your paperwork is in good order; they will also answer any questions you have.
They offer the service for a fixed fee of US$129 for the first applicant, plus US$99 for each additional applicant in the same family/group.
The service goes on to provide practical help and tele-support as you make your own way through the visa exchange procedure including:
- providing you with a checklist of all the documentation you’ll need to gather as part of the visa-to-card exchange procedure;
- review of your documentation for accuracy and completeness;
- filling-out the various application forms required to process your visa-to-card exchange;
- writing the necessary letters (in Spanish); and
- the service also provides ad-hoc advice and troubleshooting (if needed), as you move through the exchange process.
Note: If you don’t yet have your Mexican residency visa, our associates can help with the entire residency application process.
Mexico Immigration Assistance – Visa Exchange
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, 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.
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
