# How long can Legal Mexican Permanent residents stay out of Mexico?



## NYSean (Jul 25, 2014)

How long can Legal Mexican Permant residenats stay out of Mexico? I hear that its 3 years but i did not find any legal text to support that.


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

If you exit from Mexico by car or bus, not by air, INM will not even know that you're gone.


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

Strange response, joaquinx.
There is no limit as to how long a Mex. perm. resident can be out of Mexico. 
But INM does want residents to check in and out no matter what form of transportation you are using. And if you ever want to apply for Mex. citizenship, you will need an official record of your entries and exits.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

surabi said:


> Strange response, joaquinx.
> There is no limit as to how long a Mex. perm. resident can be out of Mexico.
> But INM does want residents to check in and out no matter what form of transportation you are using. And if you ever want to apply for Mex. citizenship, you will need an official record of your entries and exits.


I think there used to be a limitation on time out of the country for permanent residents, but maybe it went away with the current system.

There is a limit on time out of the country when applying for citizenship. I think they look back three years and the limit was 150 days or maybe 180 days. More than that and they won't accept your citizenship application, at least not for naturalization by residence. By family may be different.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

surabi said:


> Strange response, joaquinx.
> There is no limit as to how long a Mex. perm. resident can be out of Mexico.
> But INM does want residents to check in and out no matter what form of transportation you are using. And if you ever want to apply for Mex. citizenship, you will need an official record of your entries and exits.


That used to be true but no longer is for either RT or RP. Years ago there were limits for time out of the country but those have been removed. Since it doesn't matter if you are in or out of the country there is no real need to track it. The citizenship process no longer has any maximum 'time out of country' requirements. Correction: They only require you to sign a letter that lists all of you exits and entrances in the last 2 years. 

I have tried and tried to get INM to give me an FMM at the border when I leave by land and for the last 5 years or so they insist that they no longer do that. If you leave by air they do still require you get an FMM. I think that has more to do with FAA than INM. I have left a few times by land and returned by air and in that case you simply create a new FMM upon your return to Mexico.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

circle110 said:


> That used to be true but no longer is for either RT or RP. Years ago there were limits for time out of the country but those have been removed. Since it doesn't matter if you are in or out of the country there is no real need to track it. The citizenship process no longer has any maximum 'time out of country' requirements. Correction: They only require you to sign a letter that lists all of you exits and entrances in the last 2 years.
> 
> I have tried and tried to get INM to give me an FMM at the border when I leave by land and for the last 5 years or so they insist that they no longer do that. If you leave by air they do still require you get an FMM. I think that has more to do with FAA than INM. I have left a few times by land and returned by air and in that case you simply create a new FMM upon your return to Mexico.


When did SRE (Secretaria Relaciones Exteriores) drop the maximum time-out-of-country requirement for citizenship. I applied in 2015 and they checked my time-out-of-country very carefully. I was close to the limit but under it and was approved. My Carta de Naturalization came through in 2016.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

TundraGreen said:


> When did SRE (Secretaria Relaciones Exteriores) drop the maximum time-out-of-country requirement for citizenship. I applied in 2015 and they checked my time-out-of-country very carefully. I was close to the limit but under it and was approved. My Carta de Naturalization came through in 2016.


I was just reading the SRE requirements and they only require you to sign a document 'bajo protesta de decir verdad' listing exits and entrances in the last 2 years. It doesn't mention a numeric limit, only that you document them. I don't know this by personal experience - just from reading the regulations on the sre.gob.mx site. SRE may be like INM and the rules are interpreted differently depending on office. 

It is an odd rule anyway since INM won't give you an FMM if you have an RT/RP and you leave/return by land. Because of that there is no way for them to accurately document your comings and goings, so I suppose that is why they make you sign the document, theoretically adding in dates for any trips by land. As joaquinx said, they never know you're gone if it's by land or sea.

My guess is that INM and SRE didn't get together and think this all through when the INM rules were revised back in 2012.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

circle110 said:


> I was just reading the SRE requirements and they only require you to sign a document 'bajo protesta de decir verdad' listing exits and entrances in the last 2 years. It doesn't mention a numeric limit, only that you document them. I don't know this by personal experience - just from reading the regulations on the sre.gob.mx site. SRE may be like INM and the rules are interpreted differently depending on office.
> 
> It is an odd rule anyway since INM won't give you an FMM if you have an RT/RP and you leave/return by land. Because of that there is no way for them to accurately document your comings and goings, so I suppose that is why they make you sign the document, theoretically adding in dates for any trips by land. As joaquinx said, they never know you're gone if it's by land or sea.
> 
> My guess is that INM and SRE didn't get together and think this all through when the INM rules were revised back in 2012.


I had to get a list from INM to give to SRE. Then I had to give them my own list. Then they checked both lists in detail against the stamps in my US passport to check for any discrepancies. They found one trip where my list was off by one day from the date stamped in my passport and I had to correct it. The whole naturalization process required very precisely done paperwork. They were perfectly fine with my redoing it to get it right but it took lots of trips to get everything in the form they wanted. Fortunately, the office was never crowded so there was never a wait during each trip. And fortunately I live about 20 minutes from an SRE office.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

I'm glad it worked out for you and wasn't as difficult as it could have been. 

I would defer to your experience over my reading of the SRE website and if/when the time comes for me to go through the process, I will make sure I keep my time out of the country to a minimum and also keep careful records.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

circle110 said:


> I'm glad it worked out for you and wasn't as difficult as it could have been.
> 
> I would defer to your experience over my reading of the SRE website and if/when the time comes for me to go through the process, I will make sure I keep my time out of the country to a minimum and also keep careful records.


It was over a year ago when I submitted my final paperwork, so things may have changed. Also individual offices may have their own interpretation of the rules. The SRE office in Guadalajara was very good about telling me what I needed and checked at the beginning to make sure I was going to be eligible before starting the process.

But if you are planning to apply for citizenship I think you are smart to check on the time-out-of-country limits and also keep copies of all the visa cards. Maybe the latter is not an issue now, but part of my qualifying time was on an old FM-2. I did not have a copy of it and had to apply to INM for a copy which added to the time the whole process took.


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