AN INTRODUCTION TO THE IMMIGRATION LAW OF MEXICO

©2003 Latin America Translations, LLC All Rights Reserved

This article provides information about The Immigration Law of Mexico and general background on Mexico’s immigration law. It concludes with a summary of the law.

Overview

Here in one volume (450 pages in the ebook; about 350 pages in hard copy) we present English translations of the immigration statute, regulations and procedures manual of Mexico, followed by the original Spanish.

These are the three important legal texts on immigration law in Mexico. In this era of NAFTA, growing US-Mexico interdependence and increasing interest in travel, investment and retirement in Mexico, we hope this volume will serve to bridge a gap in the legal literature.

We invite you to evaluate our work by reviewing sample pages from the volume, accessible by clicking on the buttons to the left.

Mexico’s immigration law is sophisticated and detailed. The fundamental statute enacted in 1974, the General Population Act, consists of 157 articles. The latest regulations of the Act, published in April 2000, consist of another 239 articles. The Immigration Procedures Manual, published in September 2000, ties together the Act and the Regulations in a well-organized and highly readable compendium of visa procedures that filled over 175 pages of the Official Federal Daily (Diario Oficial de la Federación) of Mexico.

We believe this volume contains the latest version of these documents, current as of March 2003. We intend to update these translations promptly whenever the Mexican government makes changes to the original documents. We invite you to check this Web site periodically for any changes.

Please note that the volume provides a work of translation only and is not intended as a legal treatise or a substitute for consultation with a qualified legal advisor. Moreover, readers are cautioned that any legal advice they receive concerning Mexican immigration law, in addition to being provided by a competent legal advisor, should be based on sources of law in the original Spanish text and not on translations thereof.

We welcome your comments about this volume and suggestions you may have for future translations from our company. You may contact us at authors@lawtranslationsonline.com.

A Word About the Ebook Format and Downloading

The page margins in this volume are formatted for easy reading on screen and when printed. As a result, the number of pages is greater than it might otherwise be. The English translation is over 200 pages long, as is the Spanish original. Accordingly, patience is required in the downloading process. We do not think you will be disappointed with the product!

Purchasers may make additional copies of the translation provided they are for the purchaser’s use. For example, we fully expect libraries to make multiple copies on digital media to loan to their patrons.

Editorial Notes

Good translation requires editorial choices. For the sake of consistency, throughout the volume we capitalize the names of the immigration categories, although the original Spanish texts do not consistently capitalize them. We also adopt the conventions of he/she and his/her, although these do not appear in the original texts, since the Spanish language uses gender-neutral pronouns.

The original Spanish names of the principal governmental agencies and laws related to immigration matters are included in the translated text the first time any such name appears in any given document. A Glossary of Agency Names is found in Section V.

To be consistent with the theme of immigration law, a few sections of the Regulations that do not concern immigration matters do not appear in these translations. These omitted sections are in the chapters concerning population policy, the National Population Council, the National Population Registry, and the distribution of funds for compensation and economic stimulus. Otherwise each document is translated in its entirety.

All three documents (the General Population Act, the Regulations of the General Population Act, and the Immigration Procedures Manual) contain references to the ‘minimum daily wage in effect in the Federal District.’ This is a government-set minimum wage commonly used as a benchmark figure for purposes of calculating fines and other economic amounts established in various laws and regulations. It is usually published every December in the Diario Oficial), to be effective the following January 1. The minimum daily wages for 2003 were published in the Official Federal Daily of December 26, 2002.

Appendix 2 of the Immigration Procedures Manual includes a copy of the official Immigration Procedure Application Form (Solicitud de Trámite Migratorio) used for almost all immigration procedures in Mexico. Many portions of this form are in bilingual format, and the translated text in English contains many errors. Since this is an official form we have left it “as is” and have not attempted to correct the translation.

Appendix 3 of the Manual includes a schedule of fees applicable to immigration procedures, as of 12/31/2000. The reader is reminded that the Mexican government may change fees from time to time and therefore those published in the manual may not be current.

The Bottom Line

We respect your budget. With years of experience with legal translation, we also understand the absolute need for quality. Therefore we’ve priced the ebook at US$70 and the hard copy at $98 (with a free download of the ebook).

Here’s why these prices are a bargain: The original documents in Spanish total more than 70,000 words. Let’s assume you find a competent translator whose speciality is legal documents and who normally charges 12 cents per word (a rare find in the U.S. today). Then let’s assume she or he bids the job at 10 cents a word, based on the size of the project and the fact that there is a certain amount of repeated text (mostly in the Manual). Those 70,000 words at 10 cents a word comes to US$7,000! Small wonder that many people who could really use and study these laws, but who are not fluent in Spanish, could do so - until now!

We prefer our role as translators and scholars, rather than givers of sales pitches. So we will leave it at that.

General Summary of the Law

Mexico’s immigration law may be divided into three general areas: non-immigrants, immigrants and permanent residents. There are 21 categories of nonimmigrant and eight categories of immigrant. The nature of each of these classifications is established and described in the Act and the Regulations. The application procedures for each are set out in the Manual. There are also specific provisions governing the period of stay for each category, as well as rights (if any) to change status, extend the stay, or modify permitted activities.

Permanent residency in Mexico is obtained only after one has held immigrant status for the required period of time. The Act, Regulations and Manual prescribe in detail the procedures for changing from immigrant status to that of permanent resident.

The Table of Contents of the Manual, reproduced below, perhaps best demonstrates the comprehensive nature of Mexico’s immigration law.

TMN-I-1 Tourist

TMN-I-2 Transmigrant

TMN-I-3 Advance Entry Permit for Tourist or Transmigrant

TMN-I-4 Visitor

TMN-I-4.1 Visiting Business Person and Investor

TMN-I-4.2 Visiting Technician or Scientist

TMN-I-4.3 Visiting Pensioner

TMN-I-4.4 Visiting Professional

TMN-I-4.5 Visiting Confidential Employee

TMN-I-4.6 Visiting Human Rights Observer

TMN-I-4.7 Visiting Elections Observer

TMN-I-4.8 Visiting Board Member

TMN-I-4.9 Visiting Artist or Athlete

TMN-I-4.10 Other Visitor

TMN-I-5 Religious Minister or Associate

TMN-I-6 Political Asylee

TMN-I-7 Refugee

TMN-I-8 Student

TMN-I-9 Distinguished Visitor

TMN-I-10 Local Visitor

TMN-I-11 Temporary Visitor

TMN-I-12 Correspondent

TMN-I-13 Economic Dependent

TMN-E-14 Change of Category under Non-Immigrant Status

TMN-E-15 Issuance and Replacement of Immigration Permit

TMN-E-16 Assignment of Number in the National Registry of Foreigners

TMN-E-17 Normalization of Stay Period

TMN-E-18 Extension of Permit Period

TMN-E-19 Extension of Tourist Permit

TMN-E-20 Extension of Stay Period

TMN-E-21 Change or Broadening of Activities and/or Employer under Non-Immigrant Status

TMN-E-22 Annotation on Immigration Permit

TMN-S-23 Exit and Reentry Permit While Procedure Is Pending Resolution

TMN-S-24 Issuance of Definitive Exit Document

TMI-I-25 Immigrant Pensioner

TMI-I-26 Immigrant Investor

TMI-I-27 Immigrant Professional

TMI-I-28 Immigrant Confidential Employee

TMI-I-29 Immigrant Scientist

TMI-I-30 Immigrant Technician

TMI-I-31 Immigrant Family Member

TMI-I-32 Immigrant Artist or Athlete

TMI-E-33 Change from Non-Immigrant to Immigrant Status

TMI-E-34 Acquisition of Assimilated Person Status

TMI-E-35 Change of Category under Immigrant Status

TMI-E-36 Extension of Permit Period

TMI-E-37 Issuance and Replacement of Immigration Permit

TMI-E-38 Assignment of Number in the National Registry of Foreigners

TMI-E-39 Annual Permit Renewal

TMI-E-40 Normalization of Immigrant Status

TMI-E-41 Change or Broadening of Activities and/or Employer under Immigrant Status

TMI-E-42 Exemption from Period of Absence Calculations

TMI-E-43 Annotation on Immigration Permit

TMI-S-44 Exit and Reentry Permit While Procedure Is Pending Resolution

TMI-S-45 Issuance of Definitive Exit Document

TMR-E-46 Change from Immigrant to Permanent Resident Status

TMR-E-47 Extension of Permit Period

TMR-E-48 Issuance and/or Replacement of Immigration Permit

TMR-E-49 Exemption from Period of Absence Calculations

TMR-E-50 Annotation on Immigration Permit

TMR-S-51 Exit and Reentry Permit While Procedure Is Pending Resolution

TMR-S-52 Issuance of Definitive Exit Document

TMA-M-53 Authorization for Foreigner to Contract Marriage

TMA-D-54 Certification for Processing a Divorce or Marriage Annulment before Judicial or Administrative Authorities

TMA-A-55 Permit to Pursue Adoption Procedures

TMA-C-56 Certification for All Effects

REC-R-57 Appeal for Review

EXP-E-58 Basic File on Individuals or Corporate Entities with Foreign Personnel

DEV-B-59 Return of Security Deposit Voucher

Appendix 1: Legal Framework

Appendix 2: Immigration Procedure Application Form

Appendix 3: Fee Schedule Applicable to Immigration Procedures

Appendix 4: Comparative Chart of Procedures Recorded in the FBPR

Appendix 5: Directory and Office Hours

Appendix 6: Glossary