Residency, the canje deadline, and the two documents a border city runs on

Step-by-step

1. 1

   Establish your basis: sponsored offer or economic solvency

   The large Tijuana maquiladoras and the medical-device and aerospace groups hold a Constancia de Inscripción de Empleador with INM and file the job-offer petition for you, producing an authorisation number you carry to the consulate. If nobody is sponsoring you, the solvency route needs original bank or investment statements — twelve months of balances, or six months of income. You qualify on income or on savings, not on a blend of the two.

   Via employerWho: Employer for the work route, you for the solvency route2–4 weeks for INM to authorise an employer petition
2. 2

   Apply at a Mexican consulate abroad — San Diego and Los Angeles are the obvious ones

   Attend in person with the passport, photo, form, fee and either the employer authorisation or your solvency evidence. Because the consulates that serve southern California are among the busiest in the network, appointment availability is the binding constraint far more often than the decision itself. Book the appointment before you book anything else.

   In personWho: YouAppointment waits can be long; the decision is often the same visitA consular fee in the mid-fifties of US dollars, set annually in the Ley Federal de Derechos — check the tariff table your post publishes for the year
3. 3

   Enter Mexico with the entry record marked for canje

   Whether you fly into Tijuana airport or drive through San Ysidro or Otay, you must present the passport with the sticker and have the entry record created and marked for exchange rather than as a tourist. At a land crossing this means stopping and asking for it: southbound vehicle traffic is frequently waved through without any inspection at all, and being waved through means no entry record, which means no canje. This is the most common Tijuana-specific way to lose a residency application.

   In personWho: YouOn arrivalFree
4. 4

   Open the canje at INM Baja California within 30 days

   File the exchange on the INM portal, pay the derechos through a bank or online, and attend the office for fingerprints and photo. The 30-day window starts the day the entry record is created and is enforced strictly. Do not leave the country during it without a salida y regreso permit — which, in a city where crossing north is a daily habit, is a much easier mistake to make here than anywhere else in Mexico.

   In personWho: YouMust start within 30 days of entry; the card usually follows in 2–6 weeks2026 card fees are MXN 11,141 for one year, MXN 16,693 for two, MXN 21,143 for three and MXN 25,058 for four — halved where INM accepts family unity or a registered employer's job offer
5. 5

   Collect the card, confirm the CURP, then request the RFC

   The physical card shows your CURP; confirm and print the definitive version at the RENAPO portal, then book a SAT appointment for the RFC if you will be paid locally or need to invoice. In Tijuana the RFC matters slightly more than elsewhere, because the border-zone tax stimulus is administered through SAT registration and has its own notice deadlines.

   OnlineWho: YouCURP is immediate online; the RFC is same-day at a SAT appointment
6. 6

   Renew inside Mexico, and plan the four-year cliff

   Renewals are filed at INM in Baja California, never at a consulate again, and must be started before the card expires. Temporary residency runs to a maximum of four years in total, after which you switch to permanent residency or leave.

   OnlineWho: YouBegin 30–60 days before expiry