How I got my CANJE in Mexico City
A follow up to the last post on getting my Mexico temporary residency visa: an explainer
TL;DR:
In line at the Mexico City INM in Polanco by 5:30 AM;
Same day appointment obtained by 9:30 AM after pre-screening my paperwork;
Returned at 1:30 PM for appointment; done by 4:30 PM (mostly waiting);
Back the next day at 7:30 AM for biometrics and issuance of the CANJE1;
CANJE in hand and out the door by 11 AM.
Today I’m bringing you a follow up on my last post regarding how I successfully got my Mexico temporary residency visa.
So after a long struggle of trying to decide where to land in Mexico, which you can read a bit about here, I finally decided to stick to the plan and go to Mexico City.
In the linked article above, I discuss a bit about how there is conflicting information online regarding whether the INM requires proof of one’s Mexico address and in what form. This was a major worry for me because I was not then, nor am I now sure exactly where I want to rent a longer term place to stay.
Regardless, I flew down on a Monday (May 13) on a domestic flight from Cd. Juárez (I live in El Paso), and planned to go to the office of the Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM) in Polanco, early Tuesday morning.
The airport in Cd. Juárez has an immigration kiosk where they issue FMMs. The official there took a minute to review my visa. He then took my filled-out FMM and marked the CANJE box and wrote in 30 days, and stamped it. He then stamped the visa in my passport.
So as planned, I woke up around 4 AM on Tuesday and hailed a DiDi ride by 5 AM, and got to the INM office from my hotel in Centro Historico by 5:30 AM. I got in line with about 50 people ahead of me. Within half an hour, there were at least 50 people behind me.
I waited in line for about two and a half hours before the gates opened and we were all let into a small courtyard in front of the INM building. There, INM officials had a table set up with three officers reviewing everybody’s paperwork.
By 9:30 AM, I was standing in front of the table handing over mis papeles. The man who reviewed my Formato básico de datos and Formato para solicitar trámite migratorio de estancia, along with my visa and passport, seemed surprised I entered Mexico by land. It took him a minute to also realize the visa was issued on the basis of solvencia económica. I was not asked for proof of my Mexico address. I used my hotel for my address on the form.
It turns out that the majority of people at this INM office were not the stereotypical retired American most common in places like Puerto Vallarta and Playa del Carmen. Rather they were Colombians, Peruvians, Argentinians, Chinese, Haitians, an orthodox Jew from who knows where, a priest and a nun, and a surprisingly large number of españoles. Their bases for obtaining residency status, I’m sure, spanned the gamut.
Anyway, the young official who helped me wrote a small triangle at the top of my paperwork and passed me on to the lady next to him, who scribbled the date and my 1:30 PM appointment next to the triangle. By then, it was 9:30 AM. I was then free to roam until my appointment.
Me, before freely roaming a bit before coming back for my 1:30 PM appointment
After walking around a while, checking out the exterior of Carlos Slim’s Museo Soumaya, which is nearby, and hanging out in the Deportivo Decathlon sporting goods store, I returned at the appointed time and stood in front of a side entrance to the INM building until they called up all the 1:30 PM people. We were then let in and directed to the far end of the building where we stood in line for about 15 minutes until there was space to sit down on bench-like seating against the eastern and northern walls.
Above, Museo Soumaya. It was closed.
As the next in line was called up to an available taquilla, we all scooted down to the the next vacated seat like some official version of musical chairs, rotating to the next row of seats as we each reached the end of the row. This felt so ridiculous that I audibly laughed after about 20 minutes of this. Everyone else also seemed to find it amusing.
Anyway, once it was my turn, I went to taquilla 18, and stood in front of a young woman who took my paperwork, had me sign a few pages, and then asked me to have a seat.
Forty five minutes later, she handed back some of the paperwork and directed me to another office where another young lady prepared my Clave Única de Registro de Población. She then told me to come back Wednesday for the biometric process and to pick up my CANJE or residency card. It was by then 4:30 PM. I was done for the day.
The next morning, I decided to take the Metro instead of a DiDi back to the INM office. I had taken it back to the hotel the previous afternoon and enjoyed the big city experience of the masses crushed into subway cars moving at high speeds through dark tunnels. Mexico City is an infinite city and the Metro is a good place to observe it.
I got to the Polanco stop and leisurely walked 20 minutes to the INM office. I had the opportunity to stroll through some very toney areas of Polanco, Mexico City’s richest neighborhood as far as I know.
The Mansions spanned from mid century to ultra modern and many had guards at the front gates. There were not a small number of luxury condo buildings in the area as well.
Polanco has a large number of Jews living there, and you see Jewish men and the occasional teenager out and about wearing their yarmulkes. There was even a Jewish community center and school behind the INM.
Once I got to the INM around 7:30 AM, I stood in a much shorter line for about 45 minutes until we were let in and directed up some stairs to a freezing room with one official sitting at one of about a dozen taquillas who took our CURP and other paperwork and had us sit down. Other officials were streaming in one by one until about 9:30 AM when the first of about 40 of us were called up.
When my turn came, the official’s first question was “habla español?” I told him yes, and he relaxed a bit as did I. We went through the usual biometric details, height, weight, profession, etc. He then took three digital pictures: front, left profile, right profile. Then he did the digital fingerprints and the iris scan. He handed back my paperwork and directed me to wait in a room just outside the larger room we were in.
There, I was joined by four españoles, a family of Norwegians, some people from Colombia, and another European family of undetermined origin.
I waited and waited. Every person who was attended after me got their CANJE before I did. I was getting worried until finally my name was called, and I was done and out of there. It was about 11 AM by that time.
Above, I’m official.
The overall experience was fine. The INM officials work hard. Yes, it took a while and I’m sure there is room for efficiency improvements but I have no complaints. There were no less than 200 people who got appointments the same day I did, and many more were attended to and very likely given information to make their next attempt a success.
You can imagine how tempers might flare with the number of people and long waits, but everybody got through it without angry outbursts. And they had plenty of security on hand if something had happened.
Hats off to the INM!
Edit: I would like to add that it is probably easier if you speak Spanish. It’s not like you are going to be engaged in a difficult conversation if your Spanish is low to intermediate, but it sure makes the process go more smoothly.
There are plenty of lawyers and lay facilitators that will help you for a fee, but they are not necessary if you speak Spanish and have the time to wait in line.
For me as a US lawyer, I liked the challenge of trying to figure it out. If you are pressed for time or easily frustrated, then a lawyer or facilitator is the way to go.
The most I’ve been able to find out what CANJE stands for or if it’s an acronym of some kind is that it means exchange as in exchange your visa and FMM for the residency card.
Did you pay your fees at the Polanco Office for INM? I’m looking into this process for my spouse and was curious.