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Using a U.S. document in Mexico

Step by step

1. Get a certified copy of the document from the issuing office. Check your consulate's checklist for the version required (e.g. the Houston consulate asks for the long-form birth certificate).
2. Get an apostille from the competent authority of the U.S. state where the document was issued; federal documents (e.g., FBI background check) are apostilled by the U.S. Department of State.
3. If you will file it with an authority in Mexico (e.g., 'inserción de acta extranjera' at a Mexican civil registry), have it translated into Spanish by a 'perito traductor' authorized by a Mexican state superior court.
4. If you file at a Mexican consulate in the U.S., check the specific consulate's checklist: the Miami consulate says English-language documents do not need translation for consular registration.

Translation

For 'inserción de acta extranjera' (registering a foreign record in a Mexican civil registry), the Mexican Consulate in Miami states the foreign birth certificate must be 'duly legalized or apostilled, and translated by a perito traductor authorized by the Tribunal Superior de Justicia'. For registration at the consulate itself, the same page says a Spanish translation is required if the local certificate is in another language, but 'if the document was issued in English, translation will not be requested'.

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