There are already countless articles out there that talk about getting legal residency in Mexico, but most just kind of “gloss over” or skip important details that could make or break the process. In contrast, THIS article is about MY personal journey, including all the nitty-gritty… so strap in, folks!

Why Mexico?

After many months of research, taking into consideration my personal needs and capabilities, I chose Mexico as my next host country. Even though it isn’t the most budget-friendly of my target host countries, Mexico has several important advantages over the others. Advantages such as the proximity to the USA, the large population of foreigners already living there, and – most importantly – the reasonable barrier to entry and relative ease of getting Temporary Residency (compared to the other countries that I researched).

I Had a Plan

Almost all the Consulates of Mexico in the USA require visa petitioners to apply from the consulate that matches their address (and the consulates require proof of address). This was a challenge for me, since I no longer have a physical address in the USA. However, a few consulates – including San Bernadino (CA) and Las Vegas (NV) – allow out-of-state applicants.

My plan was:

1. Lodge in Los Angeles with a fellow West African who been introduced to me by a mutual friend approximately a year prior
2. Get an appointment with the Consulate of Mexico in San Bernadino
3. Attend the consular interview (hopefully get the visa)
4. Travel to the San Francisco Bay Area for a bit, and then…
5. Move to Mexico.

How did it go? Well, I will tell you! 😅

Making A Consular Appointment

Prior to my arrival in Los Angeles, the Mexico Government’s website said that the San Bernadino Consulate processes visa petitions. I confirmed this repeatedly with other sources, as well as the consulate itself. They took a long time to respond to my email, but they eventually did.

However, while I was in Los Angeles trying to make the appointment via their website (per the Mexican Government’s instructions), their website indicated that the San Bernadino Consulate no longer processed visa petitions.

What. 😐

I refreshed the page repeatedly, emailed them again, and called them on the phone… all in vain. I couldn’t make contact with a person, nor could I find out why TF the San Bernadino consulate suddenly claims to have stopped processing visa applications.

To make matters worse, my host turned out to be a financially irresponsible narcissistic sociopath – and I no longer felt safe lodging there, so I had to Escape from LA as soon as possible.

Having been disappointed by the San Bernadino consulate, I pivoted to the Las Vegas consulate, and saw that they had appointment slots. I should have made an appointment there and then, but with all the uncertainty, I wanted to get to safety first and foremost. I took my two big suitcases on an 11.5-hour Amtrak train ride to Martinez/Concord, where I lodged with established, empathetic, long-time friends who were HAPPY to have me there with them 🤗🍻

Las Vegas Consulate

While in the SF Bay Area, I made an appointment with the Consulate of Mexico in Las Vegas. Their earliest available slot was on October 1st, a full two weeks after my arrival in Concord 😔 However it was good to finally get an appointment confirmation, as well as an email response from what seemed like a live person. The email contained “all” their requirements, things I should bring, etc.

I put “all” in quotes for a reason, which will become apparent later.

I spent the wait time catching up with my friends and some background tasks/errands. Two days before my appointment, I took a Greyhound bus back south to Las Vegas, and lodged in an aging Super 8 Motel.

Surprise Requirement

On the day of my appointment, I was excited to get over this hurdle and make progress on this project. I walked over to the consulate, signed in, and waited my turn. The interviewer lady was very nice and polite – probably because she was a new-ish employee, having worked there for less than 6 months. She didn’t need my passport photo – she took my photo herself, along with my fingerprints. Things were going well, then she asked me about the last time I visited Mexico. I told her I’d never been, but I was looking forward to going there with the visa.

That’s when she stopped the interview 🫸🏾🚫and told me that the Las Vegas consulate requires that candidates had to have visited Mexico at least once.

😲

I was quite taken aback, because in the 6 months of extensive research leading up to my visa petition, this requirement had NEVER come up, no one had EVER mentioned it, and the Las Vegas consulate’s communications with me NEVER mentioned it. IF they HAD mentioned it, I could have ALREADY gone to Mexico and back! I had the time! 🤬

As one can imagine, I was quite deflated and unhappy 😟 I pleaded with the interviewer to please check with her boss to see if they could make an exception this time, based on the fact that the consulate did NOT tell me about this requirement when I communicated with them! She reluctantly went and presumably asked, but in vain. To her credit, she was quite understanding and apologetic (probably because she could sense the deep frustration in my eyes and old-man face) 😔 She took all my documents and biometrics and made me a follow-up appointment for October 9th, so that I could visit Mexico and return to continue the visa application process.

When I got back to my motel, not gonna lie, I almost shed “grown-man tears” of frustration 😪 I briefly courted the idea of giving up on my residency plans, and heading to Europe for a year or two instead.

But, having come so far already – literally and metaphorically – I was determined to see this process to the bitter end. So, I booked a last-minute bus trip on Las Vegas Shuttles, plus a 5-day AirBnB stay in Tijuana.

Unplanned First Visit to Mexico

Another uneventful 11-hour bus trip later, I was at the USA-Mexico border for the first time in my life. Travelers crossing into Mexico are supposed to fill out an FMM form ahead of time, but when I went through border control, they didn’t even ask for it. They also didn’t stamp my passport page. They just stamped an FMM mini-document and put it in my passport before giving it all back to me. Since I was staying just 5 days, they didn’t charge me any tourist fee either.

Within 30 minutes I was in Tijuana proper, in an Uber headed to my lodging. I spent a few days chilling in that semi-cramped AirBnB, researching more about Mexico, and teaching English online as usual. I also did some urban hiking in downtown Tijuana, had a tasty lunch at a Chinese-Mexican Fusion restaurant, practiced Spanish with a few random locals, and took a few photos.

On October 7th, I was back at the TIJ Airport bus terminal for my 12-hour overnight Greyhound bus trip back to Las Vegas. Halfway through the trip, a female passenger boarded and sat beside me, who smelled like she hadn’t washed herself “down there” in AGES 🐟🪰 😷🤢🤮 God DAMN! Anyway, I persevered because I was looking forward to my…

Second Appointment

I came back to Las Vegas two days before my second appointment. On that day, I was extremely nervous, worried that – knowing my luck historically – my visa petition would get denied and all of my time, effort, and expenses would have been for naught.

Once again, I gave her my passport, this time with the FMM mini-document showing my entry and exit in and out of Mexico. After about an hour she called me back into her office – the bosses had granted me the Temporary Residency visa! 🥳 I was all like…

I thanked the nice interviewer lady, then paid the $56 visa issuance fee in cash. I walked back to my hotel with a big feeling of relief.

That same night, I started planning my relocation to Mexico, targeting the end of October.

Arrival in Mexico

On October 25th I took a Volaris flight to GDL airport, and lodged in tiny, awkward AirBnB – the best lodging this homeless “brokie” could afford 😔 – in a working-class, sorta industrial neighborhood called Morelos.

Getting Local Mobile Phone Service

I went to the Telcel website and bought a prepaid mobile service, downloaded the eSIM code, and loaded it up on my phone. I then followed the subsequent instructions and registered my new phone line with the government using my passport (this step is required, or else the line would be disabled after like, 7 day). The whole process took about 20 minutes, and I never had to leave my lodging to visit a Telcel store.

Having a Mexican phone line is basically a requirement for many businesses in Mexico, especially banks and government agencies. That’s why I mentioned my mobile phone line process, to show you how straightforward it was on Day 2. Also, more relevantly, Mexico Immigration likes to see that the visa holder has a local number already.

Picking an Immigration Office

Through extensive research, I had already found out that the Guadalajara INM office is kind of a hot mess 😄 overshadowed by the much better Chapala office… which doesn’t even require appointments. So, I decided to wait a few days when I would be in Chapala.

Canje Conversion

After figuring out my temporary (two-week) living situation, I assembled the documents that I needed to execute my Canje conversion process at an INM office.

Document Preparation

These are all the required documents, directly from my hard drive:

I already had color copies of my Passport Biographic page and Temporary Residency visa page. However, they were full-page, while the INM office wants them in their original sizes (that is, the original passport document size). More on this later.

Next, I downloaded my eFMM (Digital FMM) from this page. It took me 3 tries because I kept making typos 😅

Next, I filled out the application form. Under Transaction Type (Qué deseas hacer), I selected “Canjear o reponer documento migratorio”. In the associated dynamically-populated field “specific procedure” below it, I selected “Canje de FMM por tarjeta de visitante o de residente”. Then I proceeded to complete the form. After saving and submitting it, I clicked the Print (“Imprimir”) button and downloaded the PDF. I am glad I did this, because the completed form was NOT automatically emailed to me.

Next, I wrote a Petition Letter (“Carta de Solicitud”). Here is mine, with some sensitive information redacted, of course.

Lastly, I printed all the documents in (in color where necessary, and 2 copies each, to be safe).

Immigration Office Visit

After my two weeks in Guadalajara, I relocated to Chapala. On my chosen day, I took a brisk 20-minute walk to the Chapala INM office. When I got there around 10:30-ish, there were 3 other people sitting and waiting for their turn. One of the staff behind the counters acknowledged me, asked me to sign in, and wait to be called up. I did so, sat down and resumed reading a book while waiting (using our phones is not allowed inside there).

Eventually I was called up. The worker was bilingual and even asked me if I prefer to use English or Spanish. After the preliminary introductions – asking me about my reason for the office visit – she skimmed the documents to make sure nothing was missing, and sent me back to sit and wait while she analyzed them.

About 20 minutes later she called me back up, confirmed that the packet was good, though she noted that the copies of the passport biographic page and visa page were too big (full-page), and that their office prefers original-size copies. I paid the Temporary Residency fee of approximately U$D 610 using my phone (credit card via NFC). She took my fingerprint and photo (terrible photo, BTW 😅 – she didn’t even ask me to confirm that it looked OK), I signed a couple of more documents, and she told me to come back in a couple of hours (but before 3PM when they close).

I went back to the papelería and re-made the copies in the original sizes. Then I had lunch and just hung out in the plaza for a while.

Later, I went back to the INM office. Once again, I had to sign in and wait with a couple of elderly American ladies. This time, the wait was short – within 10 minutes the INM worker called me back up, took the document copies I had made per her instructions, and gave me my Temporary Residency card with a nice “congratulations” from both her and those two American ladies.

I thanked them all profusely, and walked out of the INM office feeling like a load had finally been lifted off my chest 😁

Key Takeaways

Here are some useful points from this story:

1. If you have more time than money, a couple of full-size suitcases, and don’t mind being on a bus for many hours… traveling between certain US cities by train and/or bus is far more economical than taking a flight.
   
2. The Las Vegas consulate requires that applicants visit Mexico at least once before applying for a Temporary Residency visa. I am not aware of the other consulates that mandate this, but most don’t.
   
3. That particular consulate also doesn’t require that applicants bring passport photos, because they take the photo (and fingerprints) during the initial interview.
   
4. One does NOT really need an Immigration lawyer for this process! I did all my research using AIs (Google Gemini and ChatGPT), message boards (mostly Reddit but also a little Facebook), and asking people who had already been through the process. Many people kept referring me to immigration lawyers, and some were even a bit rude or discouraging… but I ignored those people and pushed ahead on my own. I am not super-smart but I AM good at analyzing and following established processes – I confirmed that I qualified for Temporary Residency, I followed all the steps that Migración Mexico stipulates, I provided all required documents, I applied with confidence, and I got the expected result (approval) 👍🏾
   
   I did NOT experience that needlessly-hostile, openly-cash-grabby, soul-crushing “We denied your perfect application for no reason and with zero fucks given, but we got your money though, LOL!” bullshit that happens in Colombia 😄

So that’s it! That’s how I got temporary residency in Mexico! If YOU decide to use this guide and apply for Mexican Temporary Residency, I hope it goes as well – or even better! – for you as it did for me. As always, safe travels!