Leaving and Entering Mexico as a Resident (Important Information)

When you’re living in Mexico as a temporary or permanent resident (or expat), you need to be careful when entering or leaving the country so as not to lose your legal residency status. In this guide, I tell you what you need to do to make sure the Mexican immigration officers don’t view you as a tourist to Mexico when you’re not.

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Being a temporary or permanent resident

When you’re a temporary or permanent resident in Mexico, it means that you’ve gone through the legal immigration process and received a visa that allows you to stay for more than the maximum of 180 days you’d get as a tourist. You received your residency card, and you’re good to stay for 1-3 years as a temporary resident, or without limitation as a permanent resident.

Normally, this process is done in person at an INM immigration office in Mexico, to which you bring the paperwork you received from the Mexican consulate in your home country. Once the INM office in Mexico approves your visa status, you get your temporary or permanent residency card issued, which you should guard well as it’s your official ID in Mexico.

Leaving Mexico as a Resident

Now, if you leave Mexico as a temporary or permanent resident, you need to get a stamp from the Mexican immigration office (INM) every time before leaving. Usually, at the airports, there’s a small booth or office where you need to show your passport and residency card. The INM officials stamp your passport with the date of your departure, and usually a short abbreviation for your residency status (RT for “residencia temporal” or RP for “residencia permanente”).

At the international Airport in Mexico City (AICM), the immigration booth is after passing the security check for your international flight, behind the duty-free area in a small corner. It’s just a small desk with one or more immigration officers sitting behind it.

Reentering Mexico as a Resident

When you return, you must be very careful that immigration doesn’t regard you as a tourist, or else you can lose your legal residency status and would have to start the whole process of getting legal residency from scratch.

So when entering, you don’t enter as a non-Mexican, but rather get in line with the Mexican locals. Present your residency card and passport, and make sure that the stamp you’re getting isn’t a tourist stamp restricted to a maximum of 180 days. Instead, you should get a stamp with the arrival date and a short abbreviation for your type of residency (RT for “residencia temporal” and RP for “residencia permanente”).

Useful Phrases

Usually, immigration officers know what to do when you present them your residency card at the airport or border crossing, and not much talking is required. However, in case there is, here are some phrases to practice beforehand:

• Buenos días/tardes/noches, ¿podría sellar mi pasaporte, por favor? – “Good morning/day/afternoon, could you stamp my passport, please?”
• Soy residente temporal/permanente, y necesito el sello para poder regresar como residente, y no como turista. – “I’m a temporary/permanent resident, and I need the stamp to be able to come back as a resident and not a tourist.”

If you’re getting a tourist stamp when entering Mexico:

• Disculpe, creo que hay un malentendido. No soy turista, sino residente mexicano. Creo que este es el sello equivocado que me dieron en my pasaporte. ¿Podría cambiarlo, por favor? – “Excuse me, I think there’s a misunderstanding. I’m not a tourist, but a Mexican resident. I think they/you put the wrong stamp in my passport. Could you change it, please?”
• No requiero un FMM (pronounced “effe-emme-emme”), porque soy residente. – “I don’t need an FMM, because I’m a resident.”

Summary

When leaving and reentering Mexico as a temporary or permanent resident, make sure to present yourself to the immigration office (INM) at the airport or border crossing with your residency card and passport. When leaving, you should get a stamp in your passport with the departure date and a short abbreviation for “residencia temporal” (RT) or “residencia permanente” (RP); the same applies when reentering for the arrival date. Take care not to be regarded as a tourist, or else you’re at risk of losing your legal residency status.

Read next:

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• How to Easily Pay Your Vehicle Tax in Puebla, Mexico (2025)
• Verificación Vehicular in Puebla, Mexico (2025) – With Step-by-Step Instructions
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