The Department of State recently updated its reciprocity schedule for Mexico to show that police certificates are now required for immigrant visa applicants who are 18 or older. This new requirement applies to Mexican nationals and third country nationals who have resided in Mexico for more than six months after age 18. The Mexican government does not provide police certificates for anyone under age 18.

Applicants who start the process of obtaining an immigrant visa with the National Visa Center on or after March 6, 2017, must submit a Mexican police certificate to the visa center if the applicant is 18 or older and resided in Mexico for more than six months after age 18. The NVC will schedule appointments for these cases when all required documents – including the required Mexican police certificate – are submitted to NVC and the case is determined to be complete.

For immigrant visa cases that were already in process when the reciprocity schedule was updated, the NVC will qualify the case and schedule an appointment without requiring the applicant to submit the Mexican police certificate. For these cases, however, the NVC will send a letter to applicants advising them of the requirement to bring the appropriate police certificate to the consulate at the time of the visa interview. Applicants in this category should take this into account when preparing for their visa appointment.

For immigrant visa cases that were already documentarily qualified at the NVC before the reciprocity section was updated, the NVC has scheduled the visa appointments and sent the cases to the appropriate consular section for interview. Applicants should be warned that consular officers may still request the police certificate at the time of interview.

For more information on how applicants can obtain either a state police certificate -- or federal record if the state record is not available -- see the updated reciprocity schedule at travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/fees/reciprocity-by-country/MX.html.