How to Get an RFC Number in Mexico City
Posted: February 22, 2025
If you want to open a bank account here in Mexico, you will need temporary residency at least, with the CURP and an RFC number. Gone are the days of being able to open a bank account on a tourist visa.
Once you have your Temporary Residency (Residencia Temporal), you can then apply for your RFC number (Registro Federal de Contribuyentes).
Once you have your Temporary Residency (Residencia Temporal), you can then apply for your RFC number (Registro Federal de Contribuyentes).
The first step, is to make an appointment at your local SAT (Servicio de Administracion Tributaria), Mexico’s tax collection agency, and to do that, you have to get online!
Step By Step Guide for Making an Appointment at the Local SAT Office
Click on >> Registrar Cita
Click the 3rd option >> Inscripción al padrón de contribuyentes Personas Físicas
Fill in your CURP number, full name, email address and then confirm your email address.
Check the box: Aceptar términos y condiciones sobre uso de cookies y Aviso de Privacidad and enter the Captcha.
Booking your appointment for the RFC number at the SAT government office:
Servicios >> Inscripción en el RFC de Personas Físicas
State >> Ciudad de México
Módulo >> ADSC Distrito Federal "2" Centro. You can see the address of each location, so keep scrolling through. I used the one on Refoma:
Av. Paseo de la Reforma Norte núm. 10, piso 2, edif.
Torre Caballito, Col. Tabacalera, 06030, Deleg.
Cuauhtémoc, Ciudad de México.
Av. Paseo de la Reforma Norte núm. 10, piso 2, edif.
Torre Caballito, Col. Tabacalera, 06030, Deleg.
Cuauhtémoc, Ciudad de México.
Select your required date and time. You'll be sent an email with your Cita (appointment) as a PDF, which you need to print out.
Documents required for the appointment:
- Print out of the SAT appointment
- Passport
- Residency Card
- Utility Bill (original)
- Print out of your CURP (https://www.gob.mx/curp/). Your CURP number is on your residency card)
- USB stick
The Interview:
This was the process at the SAT office in Mexico City:
It's a busy place. I had booked 11:30. There were appointments at 11, 11:05, 11:10, 11:15, 11:20 and 11:25, so it was just a matter of waiting and joining the relevant queue. I guess there were about 15 people for every appointment slot. You need to show your printout of your SAT appointment.
Up the stairs, join a queue at the little desks CON CITA.
You need to show your documents here and they ask if you have a USB stick, so don't forget it.
You are given a small form to fill in, detailing your address. They also want to know some characteristics of the place where you live: the colour of the building, the colour of the door, the between streets and the name of a bank, store or restaurant nearby.
You are given a slip of paper you need to put your email address and a password for your E Firma (Electronic Signature), which is the reason for needing a USB stick.
You need to wait your turn in the Sala de Espera.
When your number is called, you go to the relevant modulo. And present all your documents.
You will be asked questions like, why you are applying for an RFC, in my case, all my banking was still in England and I need to transfer it all here. And about any income you have. I was also informed by my wife and her accountant, that I should ask for 'el Régimen Sin obligaciones fiscales' - a tax regime to which individuals who do not carry out an economic activity, ie not working.
Lots of signatures are required and then you need to set up your E Firma. This is so you can enter the SAT website.
Then your documents will be taken and you need to return to the Sala de Espera and wait again for your number to be called.
At the next desk, the modulo, you will need to do fingerprints retina eye scan and more signatures. And then you are all done.
Yes, you can do it all even with limited Spanish. You do not really need a facilitator unless you are hopeless with bureaucracy.
The thing with the USB stick/thumb drive, they give you 3 documents and you need these and your password to enter the Portal de Trámites y Servicios del SAT website.
It's a busy place. I had booked 11:30. There were appointments at 11, 11:05, 11:10, 11:15, 11:20 and 11:25, so it was just a matter of waiting and joining the relevant queue. I guess there were about 15 people for every appointment slot. You need to show your printout of your SAT appointment.
Up the stairs, join a queue at the little desks CON CITA.
You need to show your documents here and they ask if you have a USB stick, so don't forget it.
You are given a small form to fill in, detailing your address. They also want to know some characteristics of the place where you live: the colour of the building, the colour of the door, the between streets and the name of a bank, store or restaurant nearby.
You are given a slip of paper you need to put your email address and a password for your E Firma (Electronic Signature), which is the reason for needing a USB stick.
You need to wait your turn in the Sala de Espera.
When your number is called, you go to the relevant modulo. And present all your documents.
You will be asked questions like, why you are applying for an RFC, in my case, all my banking was still in England and I need to transfer it all here. And about any income you have. I was also informed by my wife and her accountant, that I should ask for 'el Régimen Sin obligaciones fiscales' - a tax regime to which individuals who do not carry out an economic activity, ie not working.
Lots of signatures are required and then you need to set up your E Firma. This is so you can enter the SAT website.
Then your documents will be taken and you need to return to the Sala de Espera and wait again for your number to be called.
At the next desk, the modulo, you will need to do fingerprints retina eye scan and more signatures. And then you are all done.
Yes, you can do it all even with limited Spanish. You do not really need a facilitator unless you are hopeless with bureaucracy.
The thing with the USB stick/thumb drive, they give you 3 documents and you need these and your password to enter the Portal de Trámites y Servicios del SAT website.
You need to set it up and activate it so you can receive a notification by text or email that you have a message in your tax inbox on the Portal de Trámites y Servicios del SAT website. Yep, it's super complicated!
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