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Mexico Residency Card Exchange (Canje): Steps and Deadline

After you enter Mexico with a residence visa, you exchange it for a resident card at the immigration office. That step is called the canje, and it has a 30-day deadline. Here is how it works.

By Documx Editorial Team Official sources reviewed: November 1, 2026 View official sources

What the canje is

The residence visa a Mexican consulate gives you is not your final document. The canje is the exchange of the visa-related entry document for your resident card, at the National Immigration Institute ( INM). It applies to people who entered Mexico with a temporary or permanent residence visa. See the temporary resident visa and the permanent resident visa for the stage before it.

The 30-day deadline

30 calendar days. After entering Mexico with a residence visa, you generally must request the canje within 30 calendar days of entry. Don't wait for the expiration date printed on the visa.

This is a different deadline from the renewal of a temporary resident card, which is normally requested during the 30 calendar days before the card expires.

Before you go to the INM

  1. Check your entry record. Make sure you entered under the status that matches your residence visa, and keep the evidence. At international airports the entry record is digital: follow the instructions you were given.
  2. Find the right INM office. Use your residential address in Mexico to identify the office responsible for your application. It is not the consulate that issued the visa.
  3. Confirm the forms and fees with the INM. The consular application fee is not the same as the resident card fee.

Documents

The official procedure lists, as applicable:

  • a signed immigration application;
  • your passport;
  • the visa and your entry documentation;
  • the basic information form (formato básico);
  • proof of payment of the INM fee.

Confirm the current requirements with the INM before you go, including how the digital entry record is handled at your point of arrival.

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After you apply

  • Keep the acknowledgment and any case reference you receive.
  • Follow the INM's instructions for receiving your card.
  • When the card arrives, check your personal details, the authorized status, the expiration date if there is one, and any note about work.
  • Put the expiration date in your calendar, together with the renewal window.
  • Next steps once you have the card: your CURP, a possible RFC, and a bank account.

Traveling while your application is pending

If you need to leave Mexico while an INM application is pending, ask the INM for guidance before you go. A pending application is not a substitute for the travel documentation or the exit-and-return authorization you may need.

Frequent mistakes

  • Waiting for the date printed on the visa instead of counting 30 days from entry.
  • Going to the consulate that issued the visa instead of the INM office for your address.
  • Confusing the consular fee with the INM fee.
  • Not keeping proof of the application.
  • Not checking the card's details and work note when it arrives.
  • Confusing this deadline with the renewal deadline.

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Frequently asked questions

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