🇲🇽 Mexico City · Paperwork
Registration, banking and utilities in Mexico City
CURP, RFC and a proof of address in your own name — three documents that gate almost everything else, in that order.
The thing people get wrongThe comprobante de domicilio is the quiet blocker. Banks, tax offices and phone companies all want a recent utility bill in your name, and if the bills stay with the landlord you cannot produce one — so agree at signing how you will get one.
Immigration and the first thirty days
Where a residence visa has been issued by a Mexican consulate abroad, the holder generally has to complete an exchange formality with the Instituto Nacional de Migración in Mexico shortly after entering, and the window is short. The output is a residency card, which is what everything downstream asks to see. Categories, thresholds and processing times change and vary by consulate — take this from INM or an immigration lawyer, not from an expat group.
- INM appointments are booked online and can be scarce in Mexico City.
- Keep the FMM or entry record; it is asked for at the exchange appointment.
- Any change of address or employment is normally required to be notified to INM.
CURP and RFC
The CURP is the national population registry number and is issued as part of the residency process; it identifies you across every government system. The RFC is the tax number, issued by SAT, and it is needed to be paid, to invoice, and increasingly to open financial products. Getting an RFC requires an appointment at a SAT office with your CURP, your residency card and a proof of address, and appointments are the bottleneck rather than the process itself.
- CURP: population registry number, generated once you have residency.
- RFC: tax number from SAT, by appointment (cita), in person.
- e.firma: the digital signature issued at the same office, needed for most online tax procedures.
- Facturas — formal tax invoices — need your RFC, and are how business expenses work here.
Proof of address
Mexican institutions ask for a comprobante de domicilio dated within the last two or three months: a CFE electricity bill, a water bill, a landline or internet bill, or a bank statement. In a rented flat these are often still in the landlord's name. The workarounds are to have one utility transferred into your name at signing, or to obtain a constancia de domicilio from the alcaldía, which some institutions accept. Sort this early, because nothing else will move without it.
Banking and paying for things
Opening an account generally needs the residency card, CURP, RFC and a comprobante de domicilio, and the requirements are applied strictly. Once open, transfers run over SPEI using an eighteen-digit CLABE, which is instant and effectively free — this is how rent and most bills are paid. Cash still matters more than in Europe or North America, and OXXO shops act as a payment counter for a wide range of bills and services.
- Take residency card, CURP, RFC and comprobante de domicilio to the branch.
- Ask for your CLABE; it is what people need to pay you.
- CFE bills electricity every two months, which surprises people budgeting monthly.
In order
- Complete any INM formality within the deadline after arriving.
- Collect the residency card in person once it is issued.
- Confirm your CURP is registered and printable.
- Book a SAT appointment for the RFC and the e.firma.
- Get a utility into your own name, or a constancia de domicilio from the alcaldía.
- Open a Mexican bank account and note your CLABE.
- Set up CFE, water and internet accounts, and check the bimonthly billing dates.
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