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Mexico permanent resident visa photo requirements

The photo rules set by Diario Oficial de la Federación (SEGOB) for the Mexico permanent resident visa, with the official wording and sources.

Based on 8 official sources · last checked Official sources Page history

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Quick answer

What are the Mexico permanent resident visa photo requirements?

Permanent residence in Mexico takes two steps, and neither needs photos under the rules in force since mid-2025. The consulate captures your face, iris and fingerprints for the visa, although checklists from Washington, New Brunswick and San Diego still ask for one passport-size photo on white without glasses. Within 30 days of arrival the INM issues the residence card and takes the photo digitally at its office, ears and forehead uncovered, without earrings or glasses.

Permanent residence (residencia permanente) lets a foreign national live in Mexico indefinitely. Most people obtain it in two steps. First a Mexican consulate issues a permanent resident visa, valid for up to 180 days and one entry, to retirees and pensioners who meet the income or savings thresholds, to close relatives of Mexicans or of permanent residents, and to relatives of recognised refugees. Then, within 30 calendar days of entering Mexico, the holder exchanges the visa for a residence card (tarjeta de residente) at an office of the Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM).

Neither step now asks for printed photos. The visa guidelines published on 25 July 2025 replace the photo with an electronic capture of face, iris and fingerprints at the consulate, and an INM agreement published the same day removed the card procedure's requirement of three child-size photos; the INM photographs applicants digitally instead. Some consulates in the United States have not updated their checklists, and their 2026 sheets for this visa still ask for one passport-size photo.

Before that change, the INM's 2012 procedures guidelines asked for three photos of 2.5 x 3 cm, two from the front and one of the right profile. That is why older advice for the residence card mentions a profile shot.

Mexico permanent resident visa photo size and specifications

The requirements as published by Diario Oficial de la Federación (SEGOB):[1]

Print sizeNo print under current rules; some consulates still ask for one passport-size print for the visa
Digital sizeNo digital file: the consulate and the INM capture the images
BackgroundWhite, where a consulate still asks for a print
ColourColour, where a consulate still asks for a print
Print qualitySan Diego consulate: printed on photographic paper

Key requirements

  • Consulate: biometric capture

    At the visa interview the consulate takes your facial image, iris and fingerprints electronically. The 2025 visa guidelines make this part of every consular application and drop the photo requirement for them.

  • Some checklists still want a print

    The embassy in Washington and the New Brunswick consulate ask for one passport-size photo, in colour, from the front, without glasses and on white. San Diego's sheet for retirees wants a recent one with the face uncovered, printed on photographic paper. None of them gives dimensions.

  • INM: digital photo at the office

    For the residence card, the INM agreement of July 2025 says applicants must authorise the immigration authority to take the photos digitally at the office that resolves the procedure, with ears and forehead uncovered, without earrings and without glasses.

  • No more profile prints

    The same agreement removed the card procedure's requirement to hand in three child-size photos. Under the INM's 2012 guidelines these were 2.5 x 3 cm, two front views and one right profile, on white, and instant photos were refused.

  • Exchange the visa within 30 days

    The visa only gets you in. Within 30 calendar days of arrival, take your passport, the visa and the entry record (FMM) to an INM office to exchange the visa for the card, together with the application form and proof of payment.

  • Basic form completed at the office

    Since the 2025 agreement, the basic data form (formato básico) for the card is filled in electronically and in person at the office handling your case. The photo is taken and your signature collected during the same visit.

  • Spouses begin as temporary residents

    The spouse or partner of a Mexican or of a permanent resident is never issued a permanent resident visa. They receive a temporary resident visa, hold that status for two years and can then apply for permanent residence if the relationship continues.

Do's and don'ts

Do

  • Check your consulate's 2026 checklist for a photo requirement.
  • Bring one passport-size colour print on white if the checklist lists it.
  • Pull your hair back so your forehead and ears show for the INM photo.
  • Take off earrings and glasses before the INM camera.
  • Exchange the visa at the INM within 30 days of entering Mexico.
  • Fill in the INM application form online, then print and sign it before you go.

Don't

  • Do not bring three child-size prints to the INM: that requirement was removed in 2025.
  • Do not prepare a right-profile photo for the residence card.
  • Do not wear glasses in a print for the consulate.
  • Do not let the 30-day exchange deadline pass.
  • Do not expect a spouse of a Mexican to receive permanent residence straight away.

Glasses

No glasses in either step. The INM agreement says the card photo is taken without glasses (anteojos), and the consular checklists that still ask for a print say the same: sin lentes in Washington and New Brunswick, sin anteojos in San Diego.

The INM also asks for no earrings, a condition that was part of its old print requirement and carried over to the digital capture.

Headwear and religious dress

The INM photographs the card holder with the forehead and both ears uncovered, so hats, headbands and hairstyles that hide the ears or forehead need adjusting for the picture. The INM's 2012 print requirement used the same wording.

For the visa, San Diego's checklist asks for an uncovered face. Neither the visa guidelines nor the INM agreement publish an exception for religious head coverings.

Babies and children

Minors receive permanent resident cards with shorter validity: a child under 3 renews the card every year, and from age 3 until adulthood every four years. Each renewal goes through the INM's card procedure, where photos are now taken digitally at the office. On reaching adulthood the holder replaces the card, presenting the permanent resident card they hold.

For the visa itself, both parents sign the application at the consulate. Washington's sheet adds that a parent who cannot attend sends a notarised authorisation, and that a child of a Mexican qualifies only if under 18, unmarried and without the right to Mexican nationality.

Under the rules in force since mid-2025 there is no photo for you to supply. The consulate captures your image for the visa, and the INM captures it again for the card. The only print still in circulation is the passport-size photo some consulates list for the visa interview.

If your consulate wants that print, a 4x6 inch sheet printed at a photo counter can be cut into single passport-size photos; San Diego specifies photographic paper. The checklists give no millimetre size. Until August 2025 the visa guidelines defined the photo as at least 26 x 32 mm and at most 31 x 39 mm, width by height; the guidelines now in force set no size.

Where to submit the photo

Apply for the visa at a Mexican consulate in a country where you are a national or legal resident, after booking an interview through the SRE's appointment system; bring proof of legal stay if you are not a national there. For family unity, the Mexican or resident relative can instead file the request at an INM office in Mexico, after which a consulate issues the visa.

Once in Mexico, go to an INM office for the exchange (canje). Before the visit, fill in the online application form for a stay procedure, print and sign it, and pay the fee, which INM offices accept by card on a pin pad. Bring your passport and visa, each with a copy, and the original FMM. The basic data form, the digital photo and your signature are completed at the office.

How to get your Mexico permanent resident visa photo

  1. Check the official requirements. Read the official specification for the Mexico permanent resident visa: white background. Check the rules on pose, expression, glasses and headwear below.
  2. Take the photo. Follow the key requirements: consulate: biometric capture; some checklists still want a print; iNM: digital photo at the office; no more profile prints.
  3. Prepare a print or digital file. Under the rules in force since mid-2025 there is no photo for you to supply. The consulate captures your image for the visa, and the INM captures it again for the card.
  4. Submit the photo with your application. Apply for the visa at a Mexican consulate in a country where you are a national or legal resident, after booking an interview through the SRE's appointment system; bring proof of legal stay if you are not a national there.

Mexico permanent resident visa photo FAQ

Under the 2025 visa guidelines, no: the consulate captures your face, iris and fingerprints at the interview. Some consulates have not updated their lists, though. The 2026 sheets from Washington, New Brunswick and San Diego still ask for one passport-size photo on white without glasses, so follow your consulate's checklist.

A digital photo taken by the immigration authority at the office handling your case. You authorise it and present yourself with your forehead and ears uncovered, without earrings and without glasses. This replaced the printed photos the INM used to require, from August 2025.

No. The requirement to hand in three child-size photos, two from the front and one of the right profile, was removed from the INM's card procedure by an agreement published in the Diario Oficial on 25 July 2025. Guides that mention a profile photo predate that change.

The INM's 2012 procedures guidelines set child-size photos of 2.5 x 3 cm on a white background, with forehead and ears uncovered and no earrings or glasses, and refused instant photos. The 2025 agreement describes the removed requirement as three child-size photos without restating the size.

No. The INM agreement says the digital photo is taken without earrings and without glasses, with the ears and forehead showing. Remove them before the photo at the INM office.

30 calendar days from the date you enter Mexico. The visa itself is valid for up to 180 days from issue and allows one entry, so plan the trip and the INM visit within both limits.

Every year until the child turns 3, then every four years until adulthood. Each renewal is an INM card procedure, so the new photo is taken digitally at the office, and the parent or guardian declares that the conditions of the residence still apply.

No. The visa guidelines say a spouse or partner of a Mexican, or of a permanent resident, is never issued a permanent resident visa. They enter with a temporary resident visa, keep that status for two years and can then apply for permanent residence if the relationship continues.

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Official sources

  1. Diario Oficial de la Federación (SEGOB). Acuerdo de simplificación y mejora administrativa de trámites ante el Instituto Nacional de Migración (DOF 25/07/2025) dof.gob.mx. Checked 2 November 2026.
  2. Diario Oficial de la Federación (SEGOB and SRE). Lineamientos Generales para la expedición de visas, Trámite 7: Visa de Residencia Permanente (DOF 25/07/2025) dof.gob.mx. Checked 2 November 2026.
  3. Diario Oficial de la Federación (SEGOB). Lineamientos para trámites y procedimientos migratorios (DOF 08/11/2012) dof.gob.mx. Checked 2 November 2026.
  4. Diario Oficial de la Federación (SEGOB and SRE). Lineamientos generales para la expedición de visas (DOF 10/10/2014, repealed in 2025) dof.gob.mx. Checked 2 November 2026.
  5. Ventanilla Única, Secretaría de Economía. Solicitar tarjeta de residencia (Invertir y residir en México, paso 6) ventanillaunica.economia.gob.mx. Checked 2 November 2026.
  6. Sección Consular, Embajada de México en Washington (SRE). Residente permanente (padre o hijo de nacional mexicano): requisitos consulmex.sre.gob.mx. Checked 2 November 2026.
  7. Consulado de México en New Brunswick (SRE). Residente permanente (padre o hijo de nacional mexicano): requisitos 2026 consulmex.sre.gob.mx. Checked 2 November 2026.
  8. Consulado General de México en San Diego (SRE). Visa de residente permanente por jubilación o pensión, requisitos 2026 consulmex.sre.gob.mx. Checked 2 November 2026.

Requirements can change, so always confirm with Diario Oficial de la Federación (SEGOB) before you apply. WorldPhotoSpecs is independent and not affiliated with any government.

Cite this page

"Mexico permanent resident visa photo". WorldPhotoSpecs. Last updated 4 November 2026. https://worldphotospecs.org/mexico/permanent-resident-visa-photo

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