Starting next year, the government of Mexico will grant legal temporary residency status at no cost to any undocumented migrant that entered the country before January 2015, according to a news release issued by the Migration National Institute of Mexico (Instituto Nacional de Migración) on Monday October 17.
Last week, the Mexican immigration officials announced the revival of the country’s Temporary Program for the Regularization of Migrants, which will begin Jan. 9, 2017.
“The main objective of this program is to guarantee that the human rights of all migrants are respected and to help in the implementation of a more effective immigration policy,” reads a statement from Mexico’s Office of Human Rights and Democracy.
Foreigners who entered the country before Jan. 9, 2015, and can prove they’ve been earning the national minimum wage of about $4 per day will receive a four-year residency card along with a work permit. After the four years, all migrants who have met a set of requirements will be granted permanent residency, the release states.
The program clearly establishes documents that must be presented for consideration by immigration authorities, including a form of identification and financial statements but they are also allowing alternative forms of proof, including witness statements and certain kinds of purchase receipts and non-official documents.
“It is important to point out that any foreigner who goes into any INM office for information or to start their solicitation can be certain they will not face persecution by immigration authorities, deportation, and will not have to cover any costs associated with the application,” INM officials stated in the Monday news release.
The Temporary Program for the Regularization of Migrants was first created in January 2015 and expired later that year. The new expiration date is set for Dec. 19, 2017.