--- title: "INM Appointment and Resident Card: The Canje, Step by Step" description: "After the visa comes the part nobody explains: filing the canje with INM in 30 days, the biometrics appointment, the fee and collecting your Mexican resident card." url: "https://getmexicovisa.com/inm-appointment-resident-card" canonical: "https://getmexicovisa.com/inm-appointment-resident-card" og_type: "website" og_title: "INM Appointment and Resident Card: The Canje, Step by Step" og_description: "After the visa comes the part nobody explains: filing the canje with INM in 30 days, the biometrics appointment, the fee and collecting your Mexican resident card." og_image: "https://getmexicovisa.com/og-home.jpg" twitter_card: "summary_large_image" crawl_date: 2026-09-22 last_modified: 2026-09-10 language: "en-US" author: "Hassan Yassine" author_profile: "https://getmexicovisa.com/about" publisher: "GetMexicoVisa" source: "https://getmexicovisa.com, build-time prerender" --- Last updated: September 10, 2026 # INM appointment and resident card: the canje, step by step The consulate said yes and you are in Mexico. This is the half of the process that happens in Spanish, on a deadline, and that almost nothing published in English explains. Quick answer Within **30 calendar days** of entering Mexico you file the canje with INM through its Spanish-language portal, with a formal letter, and pay the card fee (**MXN 11,140.74** temporary, **MXN 13,578.96** permanent). INM then gives you a biometrics appointment, resolves within a published **15 working days**, and issues a card you must **collect in person**. It carries your CURP, which everything else in Mexico depends on. Written by Hassan Yassine Founder of GetMexicoVisa. Legal review by a licensed Mexican immigration lawyer is being added. Until then every regulatory figure on this page cites its primary source directly, listed at the foot of the page. ## Where you are in the process You have a visa sticker in your passport and an entry stamp that says **canje**, not tourist. That means the consulate approved you and the border recorded you correctly, which is most of the risk behind you. What you do not yet have is residency. The sticker was permission to come and start an exchange. The card is the status, and everything below is how you get it. If your stamp says tourist Stop and read the [canje stamp page](https://getmexicovisa.com/canje-stamp-mexico) first. A tourist admission spends a single-entry resident visa, and filing against it does not work. The remedy is a new consular application from outside Mexico, and finding that out now is better than finding it out at the INM counter. ## The filing, and the clock on it Article 59 of the Reglamento gives you **30 calendar days** from the date of entry. Calendar days, so weekends and Mexican public holidays count, and the second half of December is a genuinely bad time to leave it late. The filing goes through the INM portal and normally includes: - The completed **solicitud**, the application form for the exchange. - A **formal letter** addressed to INM, in Spanish, stating what you are asking for (see the next section). - Your **passport**, the **visa sticker** and the **entry stamp**, as scans and later as originals. - Proof of the **fee payment**, made at a bank against a reference the portal generates. - A **photograph** to specification. The fee is **MXN 11,140.74** for a one year temporary card or **MXN 13,578.96** for a permanent one, both doubled on 1 January 2026. The [cost page](https://getmexicovisa.com/mexico-residency-cost) has the full schedule. File early in the window rather than late. Not because the deadline moves, but because a filing that comes back with a problem on day 12 is fixable and one that comes back on day 29 is not. ## The letter, which is the part people underestimate Mexican administrative practice expects a written request, addressed to the authority, that says who you are, what you are asking for and under what provision. It is not a covering note. It is the document that frames the filing, and it is in Spanish. A workable letter identifies you and your nationality, gives your passport and visa details, states the date and place of entry, asks specifically for the exchange of the visa for a resident card in the corresponding condition of stay, and cites the article it is made under. It is signed by you. This is the single most common reason a self-filer gets stuck: not because the Spanish is hard, but because the expected form is not written down anywhere in English and a letter that reads like an email gets a request for a proper one. ## The biometrics appointment Once the filing is accepted, INM gives you an appointment at the office covering where you are staying. Bring the originals of everything you uploaded, your passport, and the fee receipt. At the appointment they take **fingerprints, a photograph and your signature**, which are what go on the card. It is usually a short visit once you are seen. The variable is the office rather than the procedure. You attend in person. Nobody can give biometrics for you, which is why the whole of this stage has to happen while you are in Mexico. ## How long it actually takes | Stage | Published term | What people report | | --- | --- | --- | | Filing the canje | Within 30 calendar days of entry | Do it in the first week | | INM resolving it | 15 working days maximum on the trámite | More of the window used since 2025 | | Getting the appointment | Not fixed | Days to weeks, sharply worse in busy offices | | Card produced and collected | Not fixed | Same day to about four weeks | Article 128 of the Ley de Migración sets 20 working days as the general ceiling for migration procedures, and the canje trámite's own sheet says 15. Quote the 15 for this step, and treat the 20 as the outer statutory limit. Plan on **four to eight weeks** in the country from arrival to card in hand, and do not book a flight out on the assumption of the shorter end. ## Leaving Mexico while it is pending Your entry stamp gave you 30 days for the exchange. It is not a residence permit and it does not let you come and go while the file is open. What does is a **permiso de salida y regreso**, an exit and return permit that INM can issue once the canje is filed. Ask for it as part of the filing if you know you will need to travel, rather than discovering the problem with a ticket already booked. Leaving without one risks the application, which is a large consequence for a short trip. ## Collecting the card The card is handed over at the INM office and is **never mailed**. You attend, show your passport, sign, and leave with it. Check it before you leave the building. The name should match your passport exactly, the condition of stay should be the one you applied for, the validity should be what you expected, and if you are entitled to work that permission should be recorded on the card rather than assumed. Corrections are much easier at the counter than as a fresh procedure. ## Your CURP, and why nothing works before it The card carries your **CURP**, the Clave Única de Registro de Población. It is Mexico's universal identifier, and you get it through this process rather than by applying separately. It is also the practical reason the wait matters. A Mexican bank account, a phone contract, a lease in your own name, utilities, insurance and the health system all ask for the CURP. Until the card arrives you are functioning as a visitor with a bank card from home, which is workable for a few weeks and tiresome for a few months. Once you have it, remember the obligation that comes with residency: Article 63 requires you to tell INM within **90 days** of a change of address, employer, marital status or nationality, and the fine for not doing so runs from 20 to 100 UMA. ## Offices are not equal, and it is worth knowing yours The procedure is national. The experience is local, and it varies more than anything else in this process. | Office | What is reported | | --- | --- | | Mexico City | The busiest in the country, with early morning queuing reported outside | | Guadalajara | Serves the Lake Chapala and Ajijic communities, with documented appointment scarcity | | Playa del Carmen and Cancún | Heavy demand, worse in high season | | Puerto Vallarta | Busy through the winter months | | Mérida | Quieter, and often the smoothest of the popular destinations | You file where you are staying, so this is one of the few parts of the process that your choice of city actually changes. ## What goes wrong here 1. **Missing the 30 days.** Absolute. The remedy is a new consular application from abroad. 2. **A letter in the wrong form.** Fixable, and it costs a cycle of days you may not have. 3. **A prevención.** INM formally asks for more information with a deadline. Missing the deadline closes the file, and answering usually means going back in person. 4. **Leaving the country without a permit** while the file is open. 5. **A name mismatch** between the passport, the visa and the filing. 6. **Assuming the card comes by post.** It does not, and people book flights home before collecting it. This is the step where being somewhere else is genuinely a problem. A prevención answered in person within its deadline is routine. The same request, arriving while you are in another country and cannot read it, is how applications die after everything difficult has already gone right. ## Frequently asked questions ### How long do I have to file the canje with INM? Thirty calendar days from the date you entered Mexico, under Article 59 of the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración. Calendar days, so weekends and Mexican public holidays are inside the count. Filing on day 31 is refused and the remedy is to leave and apply again at a consulate abroad. ### How long does INM take to issue a resident card? The canje procedure's own published term is a maximum of 15 working days, inside the 20 working day ceiling Article 128 of the Ley de Migración sets for migration procedures generally. Since 2025 offices have been using more of that window than they used to, and the card itself is then ready from the same day to about four weeks later. ### Can I do the INM filing in English? No. The INM portal, the forms and the letter that accompanies the filing are all in Spanish, and there is no English version. This is the point in the process where applicants who managed the consulate stage comfortably on their own most often need help. ### Can I leave Mexico while my resident card is being processed? Not on your entry stamp alone. Once the canje is filed you can ask INM for a permiso de salida y regreso, an exit and return permit, which lets you travel while the file is open. Leaving without one puts the application at risk, so ask before booking anything. ### Do I have to collect the resident card in person? Yes. The card is handed over at the INM office and is never mailed. You will normally need to attend, present your passport and sign for it, which means being in the city where you filed when it is ready. ### What is the CURP and do I get one automatically? The Clave Única de Registro de Población is Mexico's population registry number, and it is printed on your resident card. You get it as part of the process rather than applying separately. It is what Mexican banks, landlords, phone companies and the health system ask for, so in practice very little works before the card arrives. ### How much does the resident card cost at INM? MXN 11,140.74 for a one year temporary card and MXN 13,578.96 for a permanent card in 2026, both paid to INM through a bank reference generated during the filing rather than in cash at the office. Card fees doubled on 1 January 2026. ### What if INM asks for a document that was not on the list? It happens, and it is the reason this step is worth having someone in the country for. INM can issue a prevención, a formal request for more information, with a deadline to answer it. Missing that deadline closes the file. Answering it usually means returning to the office in person with the document. ### Can I open a Mexican bank account before my card arrives? Generally not. Banks ask for the resident card and the CURP printed on it, so the practical business of settling in, a bank account, a phone contract, a lease in your own name, mostly waits for the card. Plan the first two or three months on that basis. ### Do I need an appointment at INM or can I walk in? You need an appointment, booked through the INM system as part of the filing. Walking in is not a route, and in the busier offices the queue outside in the early morning is people who already have appointments rather than people hoping for one. ## Sources Primary texts read on September 10, 2026. Where a figure could not be confirmed in a primary source, the page says so in the sentence that uses it. - [INM, Expedición de documento migratorio por canje](https://www.gob.mx/tramites/ficha/expedicion-de-documento-migratorio-por-canje/INM7099) the procedure, its documents and its published resolution term. - [Reglamento de la Ley de Migración, Article 59](https://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/regley/Reg_LMigra.pdf) the 30 calendar day deadline to file after entry. - [Ley de Migración, Articles 63 and 128](https://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/LMigra.pdf) the 90 day duty to report changes and the 20 working day ceiling. - [Ley Federal de Derechos, Article 8](https://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/LFD.pdf) the 2026 resident card fees. - [Instituto Nacional de Migración](https://www.inm.gob.mx) offices, appointments and the filing portal. ## The step we are actually there for Everything before this you could do alone with a good checklist. This part is a Spanish portal, a formal letter, an office that may want something extra, and a deadline. Full Service is **USD 599, paid once**, and it runs to the card in your hand rather than to the consulate door. Get your Mexican residency handled end to end Full Service: **$599**, paid once when you sign, through to the resident card. Ask on WhatsAppSee what's included Related: [the canje stamp](https://getmexicovisa.com/canje-stamp-mexico), [renewing your card](https://getmexicovisa.com/mexico-temporary-resident-renewal), [what it costs](https://getmexicovisa.com/mexico-residency-cost), or [who runs GetMexicoVisa](https://getmexicovisa.com/about). **This page is general information, not legal advice.** It explains Mexican immigration rules as they stood on the date shown, for a general audience. Reading it creates no client relationship with GetMexicoVisa, and nobody here has reviewed your situation. Rules, fees and processing times change without notice and consular practice varies by post, so verify anything you are about to rely on against the official source (the DOF, SRE or INM) or ask us before you act. [Read the terms](https://getmexicovisa.com/terms). 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