Background checks are an important part of any hiring process, especially if your business will involve working with the public or handling sensitive information. Mexico is home to one of the largest segments of the Hispanic population outside of Latin America, which means it’s also a great place for businesses that cater to Spanish speakers.
Since Mexico is right next door to the United States and shares a lot of cultural overlap, it’s easy for people who are not authorized to work in this country to cross the border and find jobs under fake identities.
In fact, there are entire industries filled with workers from south of the border who have entered the U.S. illegally and continue working here under those false identities. This guide will give you everything you need to know about conducting background checks in Mexico before bringing on new hires or contractors in your business.
Why Should You Run a Background Check in Mexico?
The United States is home to nearly 40 million people who are living in the country illegally, so it’s vital that you have a foolproof background check system in place to ensure that no one in your business is working with false identities.
For example, if you hire an attorney who is not authorized to work in the United States, that attorney can open your business up to a huge range of civil and criminal penalties. There are also plenty of cases of people in other industries using fake identify to get jobs, such as in the healthcare field. For example, one woman from Mexico was arrested in Arizona after she obtained a job as a nurse’s assistant using someone else’s social security number. She was working for a health care facility that was treating people with infectious diseases, including the Zika virus. Another
Mexico Background Check Services
Identity Verification - A search conducted through Consisa to validate the candidate's Mexican passport, Instituto Federal Electoral Card (IFE Card), or CURP number. The CURP number verification is Mexico's version of the USA's Social Security number Verification. It's a 18 alpha-numeric character ID number which sands for "“Clave Única de Registro de Población” which translates in English as "Unique Population Registry Code."
Criminal Search - There are two ways to search in Mexico: Local or Nationwide. When searching nationally, Global Background Screening conducts a search at the State Superior Tribunal of Justice Courts, Supreme Court, Federal Justico Court, and Courts of First Instance. When having to search locally, our court runners search through the state attorney general's office based on the candidate's residential address history.
Civil Search - a comprehensive national civil search conducted through Data Juridicta. Information returned will include all types of civil lawsuits, as well as, family and probate records.
Mexico Directorship Search - A search conducted through the State Registro Comercio to determine if an individual is registered as a director of a company, which may be used to identify conflicts of interests. This service only provides information on current directorships.
Credit Report, Mexico - A search conducted through the Circulo de Credito for the candidate's full credit abstract. Depending on future hiring laws, this search may be unavailable.
Motor Vehicle Report - A search conducted through the State Secretaria de Transportes based on the candidate's residential address to verify a candidate's driver's license. Information returned will include the candidate's full name, license number, date of issue, date of expiration and the type of license issued.
Note: Driving records in Mexico do not contain driving infractions. Driving related infractions are attached to the vehicle tag. GBS is unable to offer the MVR search of a vehicle tag as there is no way to tie the actual candidate to the vehicle infractions. An individual can have an infraction placed against their tag, they can sell the car, and the infraction will stay with the vehicle tag even though there is a new vehicle owner.
Mexican Criminal Court Details:
Mexico State Courts
Aguascalientes, Baja California Norte, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chihuahua, Colima, Durango, State of Mexico, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Guerrero, Michoacán, Morelos, Nuevo León, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Yucatan, Zacatecas and the Mexican Supreme Court of Justice.
The state court information is sourced from a database that provides all criminal litigations, which are derived from official bulletins published by the courts. The courts are searched based upon the residence history of the subject. The depth of information available varies by court.
State court systems in the following areas are not public or not published by the courts: Chiapas, Coahuila, Hidalgo, Mexico City, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, Tlaxcala.
Mexican Attorney General's Office (Procuraduría General de la República) and the State Attorney General's Offices (Procuradurías Generales de Justicia Estatales) of the 32 states: This search identifies a result when the name of the subject has been mentioned in the Most Wanted Lists published by these institutions.
Mexico City Attorney General’s Office: (Procuraduria General de Justicia del Distrito Federal)
Supreme Court of Justice: This is done in the form of an Amparo Search.
In most cases, people involved in criminal litigations will request an Amparo* (Writ of Habeas Corpus) before the Supreme Court. This request generates registries from any state in the Mexican Republic. The case files can be accessed through the Federal Judicial Council.
*The Amparo is a guarantee of protection of an individual's constitutional rights and is frequently used when a person is facing a criminal proceeding as a legal resource to avoid presenting himself to court, administrative sanctions or even jail time. Since it has its origins in the Mexican Constitution, the Federal Supreme Court registries contain all instances of Amparo cases regardless of the originating case’s jurisdiction.
Mexico Data Protection and Compliance
The Federal Law on the Protection of Personal Data held by Private Parties (Ley Federal de Protección de Datos Personales en Posesión de los Particulares) (the ‘Law’) was enacted on July 5, 2010 and entered into force on July 6, 2010.
The Executive Branch has also issued:
the Regulations to the Federal Law on the Protection of Personal Data held by Private Parties (Reglamento de la Ley Federal de Protección de Datos Personales en Posesión de los Particulares) on December 21, 2011 (the ‘Regulations’), same which entered into force on December 22, 2011
the Privacy Notice Guidelines on January 17, 2013 (the ‘Guidelines’) which entered into force on April 18, 2013
the Parameters for Self Regulation regarding personal data on May 29, 2014 (the ‘Parameters’), which entered into force on May 30, 2014
The Regulations apply to all personal data processing when:
processed in a facility of the data controller located in Mexican territory
processed by a data processor, regardless of its location, if the processing is performed on behalf of a Mexican data controller
where the Mexican legislation is applicable as a consequence of Mexico’s adherence to an international convention or the execution of a contract (even where the data controller is not located in Mexico), or
where the data controller is not located in Mexican territory but uses means located in Mexico to process personal data, unless such means are used only for transit purposes.
The Law only applies to private individuals or legal entities which process personal data, and not to the government, credit reporting companies governed by the Law Regulating Credit Reporting Companies, or persons carrying out the collection and storage of personal data exclusively for personal use and without the purposes of disclosure or commercial use.
Source: DLA PIPER
General Data Protection Regulation in Mexico
The effect of the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): If the candidate is a citizen of, or a non-citizen current resident of, the United Kingdom or a European Union member state, all GDPR protections apply. Protections include, but are not limited to, requiring 1.) appropriate notice and 2.) GDPR compliant consent or other lawful basis for the processing of personal information and sensitive data. Full explanation of GDPR protections
What are the major cities in Mexico?
Aside from the fact that 90% of the population lives in the temperate and tropical southern region, there are lots of cities up north.
You can note that the northern region generates over 80% of Mexico’s GDP and is home to 17 of the 20 largest cities in the country. Here are a few of the top ones: México, D.F. - Mexico City is the capital and largest city in the country. It attracts people from all over the country, especially students and families. It’s also a popular tourist destination, with over 21 million visitors each year.
Ciudad Juárez - This border city has become safer in recent years, thanks to efforts by the Mexican government. It’s also a popular tourist destination, especially for those who want to do some shopping since it’s close to El Paso, Texas.
Ciudad de México - This is another name for Mexico City, which means “the city of Mexico.” Ciudad de Veracruz - This port city is in the southeast part of the country, near the Gulf of Mexico.
