Migration Process
Dear intern, in this page you can find the complete migratory process, that you must complete in order to do your professional internship legally in Mexico.
The process consists in 2 phases, the first one is the application for the VISA in your country and the second one is the obtention of your Residence Card once you are in Mexico. Now, here are some clarifications regarding the VISA and Residence card.
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The VISA is the document stamped in your passport that allows you to enter the country. Steps 1 to 4.
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The Residence Card is the document ID that allows you to stay in the country for over 180 days. Steps 5 to 9.
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The extention of your Residence Card is mandatory if your internship is beyond 12 months and up to 18 months. Steps 10 to 13.
The steps are detailed below and in the bottom of this page you can find the expenses implicit in the migratory process for you to be financially aware.
Here is a detailed table of how much money you are going to spend in every phase of the migratory process.
Who pays? How much?
Intern AIESEC Cost MXN Cost USD
Match (you)
Shipment of the documents needed for your VISA X 900 60*
Payment for the VISA X *** ***
Arrival
Payment for the Residence Card (1 year) X 3,519 234.91*
Payment for the extention of the Residence Card (if needed) X 3,519 234.91*
*** This amount of money varies according to your country, and might change every month, ask for the Consular Fees in the nearest embassy/consulate.
* Exchange rate 14.98 MXN=1 USD from 2nd of March 2015 according http://www.banxico.org.mx/stdview.html?url=/portal-mercado-cambiario/informacion-oportuna/Fix48.html
To sum up, be aware that the whole migratory process will cost you around 400 USD, in some cases even more, depending on the Consular Fees from your nearest consulate/embassy.
Remember that eventually, you will recover this money with your monthly stipends.
Receive the documentation to your address.
The documents that you will receive in the package are:
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AIESEC Invitation Letter
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AIESEC Presentation Letter
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Mexican representative ID photocopy
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Certificated copy of Bank receipts from AIESEC
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Summary of the bank receipts
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"Constancia" document
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"RFC" document
Request an appointment & apply for the VISA to the nearest embassy/consulate from your location.
The documents that you will have to present are the same stated in the previous step, plus the payment of the Consular Fee concept for your VISA. *Please check the migratory expenses at the bottom of this page.
Please call to the embassy/consulate and verify if they need the the standard set of documents or if they need additional documentation, such as a Letter from your University, a specific paper from AIESEC, etc.
If you are from Brazil or Argentina, you will need to present in the embassy/consulate an invitation letter fom the company, your Host Local Committee has to ask for this letter.
Arrival to Mexico
Whether you arrive to Mexico by plane or by crossing the border, you will receive a Multiple Migratory Form, "Forma Migratoria Múltiple" in spanish (FMM). This document is very important for the rest of the process, keep it to yourself. The FMM looks like this:
VISA Interview
Before your interview you must be aware that under NO circumstance you are receiving payment for the activities in Mexico, or is a work.
You will do a professional internship and you will receive a stipend given to you by AIESEC, NOT a salary given to you by a company.
During the interview, if you mention the words "work" or "salary", your VISA Request will be denied, and you wont be able to apply for the VISA in that Mexican embassy/consulate for a second chance.
If you follow all the instructions from this website and from your Host Local Committee VP, you will obtain your VISA and you will be ready to arrive to Mexico.
For further information regarding the interview in the mexican embassy, please refer to this link:
VISA
Request the documentation in the "+180 days internship" tab and follow the instructions.
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2
3
4
Residence Card
Expenses
a
Residence extention
b
c
5
Residence card procedure
Once you get to the city where you are going to perform your internship, do not waste time and preferably go to the local migration office before your first day of your internship, in order to start the precedure in order to obtain your Residence Card.
You have 30 days from the day of your arrival, for you to go to migration office and begin the process.
At least one representative from AIESEC has to go to with you to migration office. He can help you for filling the forms.
At the migration office, you have to present the following documentation:
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Original and photocopy of passport
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FMM
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Formato de solicitud de canje (given at migration)
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Formato básico (given at migration)
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Formato de derechos de pago (given at migration)
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Comprobante de derechos de pago (bank receipt)*
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Three small size (2.5 x 3 cm) photographs (go to a phograph study nearby)
*Please check the migratory expenses at the bottom of this page.
Please refer to the following link for the official site:
http://www.inm.gob.mx/static/Tramites_2013/permanecer_mexico/expedicion/CANJE.pdf
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Process tracking
After starting the process, they will give you a paper at the migration office, it has important information that will allow you to track your process trough the migration portal, clicking the following button will lead you to Migration's tracking portal.
*Through the website, they will notify you if you have to return to migration office, be in comunication with the migration office and with the AIESEC representatives.
**After starting the process, you will have to return at least two more times at working time (they dont open on saturdays), so tell your boss and the company that you will have to arrive late or leave the office early one or two days for migratory issues.
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8
Receive your Residence Card
Voilà ! After several steps, as soon as you have to go to migration office to receive your migration card that allows you to stay 1 year (12 exact months) in Mexico (from the day of your arrival) . The card looks like this:
Important to keep in mind
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You have up to 30 days from the day of your arrival to start the process.
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You have to finish the process within 3 months, from the day when you started the process, If not, your Residence card request will be denied.
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Your Residence Card process could take one week, or even two months, it depends on the offices from each state. (It wont be longer than the 3 months mentioned in the previous bullet).
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With this card, and other documents you can open your bank account.
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This is your official ID in Mexico, despite this, we recommend to avoid carrying it with yourself everyday, carry it only when needed. If you lose it, you will have to pay for another one.
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You have to return the Residence Card with the migratory authorities at the airport when you leave the country after you finish your internship. It Is your ticket out of the country. If you don't have it, migration authorities will fine you.
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If you leave the country after the expiration date of the Residence Card, migration authorities will fine you.
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If your internship is from 12 to 18 months you must extend your residence, this process is detailed in the further steps.
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Before you apply
Dear intern / VP , you are consulting this section is because you need to extend the Residence Card for the final part of the internship.
This is applicable if your internship is 18 months lenght OR if your one year internship is extended by the company due to your performance, congratulations!