The Mexico Canje Process (2026): Exchange Your Visa for a Residency Card

The timeline at a glance

Step 1: Enter Mexico the right way

When you arrive, show the immigration officer your passport with the resident visa and say you are entering to do your canje. The officer should document your entry on the migration form (FMM) as a canje entry, not as a tourist (visitor) entry.

Keep the FMM or entry record safe — it's one of the documents INM requires.

Step 2: Gather the documents

INM's current canje requirements sheet lists:

1. Passport (or identity and travel document), valid — original and copy
2. FMM, valid and current (your entry record marked for canje)
3. The valid visa issued by the Mexican consulate
4. The basic form (formato básico), completed
5. Proof of payment of the fee (comprobante de pago de derechos)

You also fill in, print and sign the online application (next step). The current sheet doesn't list photos, and INM now takes photos itself for renewals. Older INM guidance asked for three 2.5 × 3 cm photos on a white background (two front, one right profile) — carrying a set costs little in case your office still asks.

Step 3: Complete the online application

1. Go to INM's online application for stay procedures (inm.gob.mx — trámites de estancia).
2. Under ¿Qué deseas hacer? choose Canjear o reponer documento migratorio.
3. Under Especifica choose Canje de FMM por Tarjeta de Visitante o de Residente.
4. Enter your names exactly as they appear in your passport, and an email you check — INM sends your file number (número de pieza) and password there.
5. Print the application and sign it by hand.

Step 4: Pay the 2026 fee

Canje fees are the same as renewal fees. INM lists a standard rate and a 50% rate; the reduced rate applies only in specific cases defined by law (it is reported to include family-unity cases, among others) — don't pay it unless your case clearly qualifies.

• Pay at a bank using INM's payment sheet (hoja de ayuda). Register your name exactly as on your passport; for a minor, use the minor's name.
• Check the bank receipt for typos before leaving — INM rejects payments with mismatched identification data.
• Bring the receipt original and a copy.

Step 5: Submit at the INM office

Take everything to an INM office within your 30 days. You'll provide fingerprints and your signature in person. Offices differ: some need an appointment, some take walk-ins, and some are much faster than others — ask locally or in expat groups for current wait times.

If your file is complete, INM can issue the card the same day. If it's left pending, track it online using the email on your application plus the file number and password INM emailed you, and return when the card is ready.

If you miss the 30-day window

The 30 days after a canje entry are your authorized stay. Once they pass without starting the canje, your stay becomes irregular — and the regularization rules apply:

Mexico's Migration Law gives people whose authorized stay has run out a way back, called regularization (regularización):

• Deadline: apply within 60 calendar days after your authorized stay expired (Article 134).
• Fine: 20 to 100 days of the UMA — about MX$2,346 to MX$11,731 in 2026 — set by INM within that range (Article 146). It's on top of the normal card fee.
• What you file: a written request explaining what went wrong, ID, the expired document, proof the fine is paid, and the usual requirements for the status you want (Article 135).
• Going to INM is safe: INM can't detain someone who comes in to regularize, and must decide within 30 calendar days (Article 136).

After you have your card

• Your card shows your CURP — Mexico's personal ID number — which you'll need for banking, phone contracts and more.
• Tell INM within 90 days about changes of address, civil status, nationality or workplace (Article 63). Late or missing notices carry a fine of 20–100 UMA (Article 158).
• Put your expiry date in your calendar: you renew when the card has 30 days or less left. See the renewal guide.
• Next steps: open a Mexican bank account and consider IMSS enrollment.