You bring every document you own, arrive early, take a number, and accept that the process will take longer than anyone told you.
What Is the Universal Survival Kit for Any Government Office?
Before visiting any Mexican government office, prepare these. Your passport. Your residency card, if you have one. Your CURP printout. A proof of address less than three months old. A CFE bill or bank statement works. Bring at least three photocopies of everything. Government offices in Mexico do not make copies for you. Some have copy shops nearby. Many do not.
Bring a pen. Bring cash in small bills. Bring water. Bring your phone fully charged, because you will wait, and you will need it to look up documents they ask for that nobody mentioned online. Arrive at least 30 minutes before the office opens. The turno (number ticket) system fills fast. INM offices in Tijuana start running out of daily turnos by mid-morning.
Every office listed below operates Monday through Friday only. None open on weekends. Mexican federal holidays shut everything down, and the week around Semana Santa is effectively dead.
How Does INM (Immigration) Work?
INM (Instituto Nacional de Migracion) handles everything related to your legal status in Mexico: visa renewals, residency card exchanges, address changes, and travel permits. If you live in Baja, this is the office you will visit most often.
The Baja California INM office is at Calle Diamante s/n, Fraccionamiento La Esmeralda, Delegacion San Antonio de los Buenos, C.P. 22640, Tijuana. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. That is six hours of service per day. Plan accordingly.
In Baja California Sur, the INM office is in La Paz on the Carretera al Norte near the Fidepaz area. Same hours: 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Los Cabos does not have a full INM office. Cabo residents drive to La Paz for most immigration procedures.
INM requires appointments for most procedures. Schedule through the INM website (inm.gob.mx) or call their national line. Walk-ins are sometimes accepted, but not guaranteed. The appointment system frequently has multi-week wait times. Book early.
What nobody tells you: INM officers have discretion on document requirements. Two people filing the same renewal can be asked for different supporting documents. Bring everything you can think of. If they reject one proof of address, have a backup. If they want an extra photo, have extras in your bag (tamanio infantil, white background, no glasses). Sears photo booths in Plaza Rio Tijuana and in La Paz’s city center produce INM-compliant photos for about $80 pesos.
How Does SAT (Taxes) Work?
SAT (Servicio de Administracion Tributaria) is Mexico’s tax authority. You need SAT for your RFC (Registro Federal de Contribuyentes), which is Mexico’s tax ID number. If you earn income in Mexico, rent out property, or open a Mexican bank account, you will need an RFC.
SAT offices in Baja California are in Tijuana, Mexicali, and Ensenada. In Baja California Sur, the office is in La Paz. All SAT offices require appointments booked through sat.gob.mx or by calling MarcaSAT at 55 627 22 728. There is no walk-in option. Without a cita (appointment), you will be turned away at the door.
Appointments are the hardest part. SAT’s online booking system shows available slots weeks or months out. Check multiple office locations. Sometimes Ensenada has openings when Tijuana does not. The La Paz office tends to have shorter waits than Tijuana.
For RFC registration, bring your passport, CURP, proof of Mexican address (utility bill under three months old), and your residency card. The appointment takes 30 to 60 minutes. SAT will issue your RFC immediately and set up your e.firma (electronic signature). The e.firma is a digital certificate you need for filing taxes online. Do not skip this step. Without e.firma, every future SAT interaction requires an in-person visit.
SAT offices open at 8:30 a.m. and close at 3:00 p.m. Arrive with your appointment confirmation printed. Phone screenshots sometimes do not scan at the entrance kiosk.
How Does CFE (Electricity) Work?
CFE (Comision Federal de Electricidad) is Mexico’s state electricity monopoly. You deal with CFE to set up power service, report outages, dispute bills, and manage your account. They are the only power company in the country.
Tijuana has 10 CFE offices. The main ones are the Centro office at Canon Aviacion No. 1889 (open 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.) and the Santa Fe office (open 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., the longest hours of any CFE branch in the city). La Paz has 4 CFE offices in the urban area plus one in Todos Santos.
For new service contracts, bring your passport or INE, proof of address, and either your property deed or rental contract. If you rent, your landlord’s name is on the existing account. You have two choices. Ask the landlord to transfer the account to your name, which requires their presence and signature. Or leave it in their name and just pay the bills. Most expat renters choose the second option. It is simpler.
CFE’s national service line is 071. It works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Use it to report outages, check your balance, or schedule service visits. You can also manage most account functions through the CFE Contigo app or at cfe.mx. The phone system and app work in Spanish only.
The biggest CFE trap for expats is the DAC tariff. Exceed the regional bimonthly threshold and CFE reclassifies your entire account as Domestica de Alto Consumo. That threshold is roughly 2,500 kWh in BC’s tarifa 1F or 900 kWh in BCS’s tarifa 1E. Your per-kWh rate jumps 4x or more. Getting out requires staying below the limit for 12 consecutive months. Monitor your usage on the CFE app.
How Does IMSS (Public Healthcare) Work?
IMSS (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social) provides public healthcare. If you are employed by a Mexican company, your employer enrolls you automatically. If you are self-employed, retired, or working remotely for a US company, you can enroll voluntarily through the Seguro de Salud para la Familia program.
Voluntary enrollment costs between $8,900 and $21,300 pesos per year ($490 to $1,180 USD) depending on your age. Updated rates took effect March 1, 2025. You pay the full annual premium upfront. Coverage includes medical consultations, surgery, prescriptions, hospitalization, and maternity care.
To enroll, visit your nearest IMSS subdelegation (subdelegacion). In Tijuana, the main IMSS office is the Subdelegacion Tijuana on Boulevard Diaz Ordaz. In La Paz, the IMSS hospital and offices are on the main highway near the city center. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Bring your passport, residency card, CURP, proof of address, and two passport-sized photos. The enrollment process takes one to two hours. IMSS assigns you to a clinic (Unidad de Medicina Familiar) based on your home address. You cannot choose your clinic.
The catch: IMSS imposes a 12-month waiting period on pre-existing conditions. If you have a condition you need treated immediately, IMSS voluntary enrollment will not cover it for the first year. Many expats carry private insurance (GNP, Seguros Monterrey, or Mapfre) alongside IMSS for this reason.
How Does CURP Work?
CURP (Clave Unica de Registro de Poblacion) is Mexico’s unique population registry key. It is an 18-character alphanumeric code that acts as your national ID number. You need it for almost everything: SAT registration, IMSS enrollment, bank accounts, phone contracts, even Costco memberships.
As a foreigner with residency, INM generates your CURP automatically when they process your residency card. You do not need to apply separately. Your CURP appears on your residency card. You can also look it up and print it at consultas.curp.gob.mx. Print several copies. Every office asks for one.
Sometimes the CURP system glitches for foreigners whose names contain characters it does not recognize. If yours is not generating, visit the RENAPO (Registro Nacional de Poblacion) office. In Tijuana, RENAPO is inside the Palacio Municipal. In La Paz, it is at the Oficina del Registro Civil. Bring your residency card and passport. They can correct the record in person.
What Do All These Offices Have in Common?
They all close by 3:30 p.m. They all require appointments that book out weeks in advance. They all ask for documents you were not told about when you made the appointment. They all have copy shops within a block or two of the entrance. And they all move at the pace of the person behind the counter, not the pace of the line in front of it.
Learn these three phrases: “Necesito una copia” (I need a copy). “Cual es mi turno?” (What is my number?). “Me falta algun documento?” (Am I missing any document?). The third one, asked at the start of your appointment, can save you an entire wasted visit.
One more reality: most government websites are in Spanish only, crash regularly, and have appointment systems that time out mid-booking. Try Chrome with auto-translate. Try different browsers. Try early morning when server load is low. Expect frustration. Budget twice the time you think you need.
Regulations and government processes change. This article reflects information current as of March 2026. For advice specific to your situation, consult a licensed immigration consultant or contact the relevant government office directly.