The Registry

The national registry of mobile phone users RENAUT - Registro Nacional de Usuarios de Telefonía Móvil (link in Spanish) was created in 2009 to keep a list of mobile phone users. The stated purpose was to make it easier to track phones used in crimes, although there are obvious holes in that argument. It has no connection with the French car company!

Do you need to register?

If you are using a mobile phone account from another country (for example AT&T from the US), roaming on networks in Mexico, you do not have to (and cannot) register on the Mexican national phone registry. That's just one of the obvious holes in the crime-fighting usefulness of the register.

If you brought a Mexican mobile phone SIM (from Telcel, Movistar etc) after 10 April 2009, you should have been required to provide identity at that time, usually with a passport copy. Without it, it wouldn't be possible to activate the line. So you should be already registered, and there should not be anything you need to do.

Mexican sim cards (or phones with sim cards in them) brought before 10 April 2009 are the remaining case. The current plan is that these lines will be automatically switched off on 10 April 2010 unless registration details are provided before then. It doesn't matter if you gave details to Telcel or Movistar when you first opened the account, this information is not being made available to RENAUT, so you will still need to register.

Each line is supposed to be registered in the name of the user, not the person who brought it or who pays for it. For example, mobiles for children are supposed to be in their names, not their parents names. Each user can register multiple lines.

There are two ways to register: with a CURP number, or with a passport.

How to register with a CURP number

If you have a CURP number, it's easy to register. A CURP number looks like FRXX851130HF65RC02. It's roughly the Mexican equivalent of a US Social Security Number, although it's not so widely (mis)used. Most FM-3 visa holders and tourists in San Felipe will not have one. In some other parts of Mexico they are routinely issued along with an FM-3.

You can check if your CURP number is valid at Consulta tu CURP (in Spanish), or you can look it up there from your name, birthdate etc.

If you have a CURP number, just send a text from your phone to the number 2877 with:

 Alta.FRXX851130HF65RC02

That's ALTA, followed by a period (full stop), and then a CURP number.

You should receive a confirmation text message on your phone within a hour or so (see below).

If you don't have a CURP number, and really want one, they should be available on demand (with an FM-3) from the Mexicali municipality office across from the post office and next to the fire station on Mar Blanco Sur in San Felipe. Currently that seems to be unnecessary, as there is another alternative. If you don't have a CURP, you can use a copy of your passport to register.

How to Register with a Passport

To register an existing phone number with a passport, you should go to a Telcel (or Movistar) company store with your passport, plus a photocopy of the passport (just the page(s) with the picture and number), and an address. The store will be able to register it immediately, and within an hour or so you should receive a confirmation message (see below).

However, we don't have any Telcel company stores in San Felipe. You could do this at a Telcel office (not just a dealer) in Mexicali if you're passing through there before April.

There is another way. Find a helpful dealer in San Felipe who can register the phone here, using the same process as if it was a new line. I went to Veronica at CSI (across from Bar Fandango at 316 Mar de Cortez Sur). She copied my passport, and added the phone numbers, phone types and dealer name. This was faxed in, and then she phoned up to check it was received OK and being processed. If you're not buying anything, expect to pay $5 or so for this time-consuming process, a dealer is under no obligation to help out like this when they're not selling a new sim card. Well worth it to save a trip to Mexicali, and hunting for the Telcel office there!

I've used Telcel in this example, as this is what most people have here. Movistar is the same, register it at a company store in Mexicali, or at a helpful dealer locally. You also need to register IUSACell (Unefon) or Nextel MX phones, but few here will have them as they don't work in San Felipe.

In all cases, make sure the dealer is aware you're wanting to register with RENAUT, not the phone company. Some dealers may not understand the passport process is required for non-Mexicans (those with no CURP number), but most in San Felipe should.

Confirmation message

Within an hour or two of registering, you should receive a text message on your phone like El numero 686 123 1234 ha quedado registrado desde el ... followed by the date and time. If you registered with a CURP, that will also appear in the message (before desde). If you get any other message, or no message, it likely didn't get registered, check with where you registered it or try again.

I'm not aware of any way to check whether an existing phone is registered or not. Since 2010-Mar-19 you may get a recorded message before making a call if your number is not yet registered.

There isn't a way to see if a registration was successful, other than receiving that confirmation message. If you got a recorded message before each call, that should now stop.

Stolen phones

The purpose of the registry is to make each user legally responsible for the use of their phone line. This means it's important to report stolen or lost phones, as you will be assumed to be the user of it until you do.

To report a Movistar phone as lost, call 01800 888 8366 (or *611 from a mobile). Telcel's 24-hour theft reporting number is 01800-8381500 (or *264 from prepaid, *110 from a contract). It is also possible to report a Telcel phone as missing via their website if you have previously registered.

Stage Two

The second stage of collecting cell phone user information in Mexico will be adding fingerprints and iris scans to the existing database! This is planned, but no date when it will start has been announced yet. It will probably require a trip to a company store, as it's unlikely every dealer will be provided with the scanning equipment.

Alternatives

If you don't want to use a phone that is identified with you, there are still a few countries that allow prepaid phones to be brought for cash with no ID. One of these is the US. If you get an AT&T Go Phone there it can be used in San Felipe at 25c/min to call the US/Can/MX, so mostly cheaper for outbound calls than Telcel (but it's more difficult and expensive for anybody local to call you). The Go Phone cannot be used in Mexico to call outside of North America, use a US number to access a calling card for that. If privacy is your objective, remember not to recharge it from your credit card! Of course another alternative is to not use a cell phone...