How to get an appointment at a Mexican consulate in the United States

We are a private service. The appointment is free at citas.sre.gob.mx and you can do the procedure yourself. If you prefer our support, we charge for our service.

In short

• An appointment at a Mexican consulate in the U.S. is free. You book it through MiConsulado (citas.sre.gob.mx) or at +1 (424) 309-0009, by phone or WhatsApp. Each person needs their own appointment.
• If you are Mexican, you can also be seen without an appointment. A protocol published on May 21, 2025 in the Diario Oficial de la Federación (DOF), Mexico’s federal gazette, requires each consulate to have a daily number of walk-in spots and to handle emergencies the same day (DOF).
• Government fees are paid at the consulate. In 2026, the 10-year passport costs USD 209 and the consular ID card (matrícula consular), USD 41. Birth registration, with its first copy, is free (Ley Federal de Derechos 2026, the Mexican law that sets these fees).
• The visa for foreigners always requires an appointment (Mexican visa).

How to book the appointment yourself

MiConsulado is the appointment system of Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE). It replaced MEXITEL on March 1, 2022 (Vive USA, February 25, 2022).

1. Go to citas.sre.gob.mx. You can also call +1 (424) 309-0009 or send the word “CITA” on WhatsApp to that number (Consulate in San Diego, March 2026).
2. Create your account with an email address or with LlaveMX. LlaveMX requires a phone number registered in Mexico. If you don’t have one, use an email address (El Cronista, February 26, 2026).
3. Choose the consulate and the exact service. In San Diego, for example, birth registration is booked as “Registro Civil - Nacimiento - Recepción de Documentos.”
4. Enter the person’s details exactly as they appear on their document.
5. If the system asks you to, upload your documents before the appointment. The SRE describes the “pre-upload and pre-validation of digital files” in MiConsulado (Primer Informe de Labores 2024-2025). Not every procedure or every consulate asks for it.
6. Save your appointment confirmation and bring it that day.

“It is a free service for members of the public who wish to schedule an appointment for various procedures.” “Appointments are personal and non-transferable.” — SRE, page on appointments by phone and online (gob.mx, published in 2015 and checked on September 21, 2026; translated from Spanish).

That is why each person needs their own appointment, children too. For birth registration, the Consulate in San Diego’s sheet puts it this way: “An appointment for each person being registered is required” (March 2026).

There is no single rule for when appointments open. It varies by consulate and by procedure. In San Diego, dual nationality appointments open only on Fridays (March 2026).

Walk-ins and emergencies, if you are Mexican

The protocol for service at consular offices was published in the DOF on May 21, 2025. It says this:

“Access to the premises may not be made conditional on requiring a prior appointment.” — Section 12 (DÉCIMO SEGUNDO) (DOF, May 21, 2025; translated from Spanish).

“Cases without an appointment will be handled in a number equal to the daily average of missed appointments that consular offices record.” — Section 13 (DÉCIMO TERCERO) (DOF, May 21, 2025; translated from Spanish).

In practice:

• You can enter the consulate even if you don’t have an appointment.
• Each consulate sees a limited number of people without an appointment each day: the average number of appointments nobody shows up for.
• Anyone who says they are “in an emergency or urgent situation” is seen the same day (section 8, OCTAVO).
• Your Mexican ID is accepted even if it has expired. Those documents “will not be subject to a validity period” (section 11, DÉCIMO PRIMERO).
• An emergency passport carries a 30% surcharge. It is not charged if you need the passport because of theft or loss, an immigration appointment, medical care, education or a protection case (section 8, OCTAVO, and Ley Federal de Derechos 2026).

Having the right to enter does not mean everything can be done without an appointment:

• The protocol protects Mexican nationals. The visa for foreigners always requires an appointment at citas.sre.gob.mx.
• 9 of the 19 procedures in the protocol require an appointment (section 21, VIGÉSIMO PRIMERO). They include the passport, the consular ID card, the voter ID (INE card) and civil registry procedures.
• Each consulate organizes walk-in service in its own way. The one in New York stopped handling passports without an appointment on July 14, 2026, according to Conexión Migrante. Before going without an appointment, check your consulate’s page.

Which procedures require an appointment and what they cost (2026)

• The appointment column follows the protocol in the 2025 DOF. “Optional” means the procedure can be done with or without an appointment.
• The amounts are from the Ley Federal de Derechos 2026, in force since January 1, 2026. They change every year.
• They are paid at the consulate, in dollars, when you do the procedure. Confirm with your consulate which forms of payment it accepts.
• Registration to vote from abroad in 2027 is open from September 1, 2026 to February 25, 2027 (INE).

Mobile consulates and consulates on wheels

Consulates also serve people away from their main office: at mobile consulates, on service days held on non-business days, and at consulates on wheels (consulados sobre ruedas). Between October 2024 and June 2025 there were more than 1,500 of these events, according to the SRE’s Primer Informe de Labores. If your consulate is far away, check its page to see whether there will be one near you.

What tends to go wrong

• Old information. MEXITEL no longer exists. There are still unofficial pages that publish its number and costs from before 2026. Always compare with the fee table on this page.
• Using someone else’s appointment. It does not work: the appointment is personal and non-transferable, and each family member needs their own.
• Documents with errors. The Consulate in San Diego’s sheet warns: “Having an appointment does not guarantee that the procedure will go through.” If a certificate has errors, it must first be corrected with the authority that issued it. In San Diego, birth registration requires the long-form U.S. birth certificate; summaries (“abstracts”) are not accepted.
• Going without an appointment to apply for a visa. Walk-in service is only for Mexicans. The visa requires an appointment.

Before you go, check that the confirmation shows the person’s name, the procedure, the consulate, the date and the time.

Documents for the day of the appointment

Each procedure has its own list. These come up in almost all of them:

• Your appointment confirmation.
• Your ID. If it is Mexican, it is accepted even if it has expired.
• The money for the government fees, if your procedure has them.
• The documents for your procedure:
  • Passport: if the holder is a minor, both parents attend or form OP-7 is presented. The full list is in Mexican passport in the U.S..
  • Dual nationality: in San Diego they ask for, among other things, the long-form U.S. birth certificate and the parents’ certificates and IDs. An apostille is only required if the certificate was issued outside the U.S. (Consulate in San Diego, March 2026). The full list is in dual nationality.
  • Voter ID (INE card): requirements in voter ID from abroad.
  • Visa: if you are not a U.S. citizen, the original of a document that proves your legal stay in the U.S. (Lineamientos de visas, DOF of July 25, 2025). More in Mexican visa.

If you prefer our support

We support you with procedures at Mexican consulates in the U.S. and in any other country. Write to us about your case.

What it includes

• Guidance: which procedure fits your case, whether it needs an appointment or you can go without one, and what your consulate asks for.
• A review of your documents before the appointment: ID, birth certificate, the parents’ consent if the procedure is for a minor, and that your name is written the same way on all of them.
• Your appointment, of the right type and with each person’s details exactly as they appear on their document. One person per appointment; we do not resell or transfer appointments.
• Preparation: what to bring, what the appointment is like and how government fees are paid at your consulate.
• Follow-up: if the consulate cancels your appointment, we look for another one at no extra cost, and we stay with you until your procedure is completed.

What does not change: you go to the consulate in person, you pay the government fees there, and the consulate decides. We never hold on to a passport.

What we need

• The procedure and the consulate.
• Each person’s details, exactly as they appear on their document. If several members of your family are going, each one has their own appointment.

What you pay, and to whom

1. The appointment: free through MiConsulado or at +1 (424) 309-0009.
2. Government fees: paid directly to the consulate, in dollars, when you do the procedure. They are the official 2026 amounts in the table on this page; for example, USD 209 for the 10-year passport (Ley Federal de Derechos 2026).
3. Our service: our fee depends on the procedure and the case. Write to us and we will give you the cost for yours before we start.

What does not depend on us

• The date. Each consulate decides when appointments are available. No service guarantees a date.
• The outcome. The consulate decides whether the procedure goes through.
• Whether the appointment stands. The authority can cancel or change an appointment. If it cancels, we look for another one at no extra cost.