The interested party must visit the Protection Department at the Foreign Affairs Local Office to start the application process for child support abroad.The officer in charge of the Protection Department will give you a list of requirements that should be attached to the application form, which are the following:

• Certified copy of the marriage certificate (in case you are married) and English translation (simple translation).
• Certified copy of the child's birth certificate and English translation (simple translation).
• Photographs of the minor and of the alimony debtor.
• The information required to locate the alimony debtor such as: place of residence, social security number, place of work, address, telephone number, last place of work, etc.
• Expenses receipts, which may include electricity bills, water bills, telephone bills, tuition receipts, etc.
• In the event that due to a sentence the debtor is obliged to pay a percentage or a certain amount of money for child support, such sentence must be delivered with certified copies and translated into English by a licensed translator. A letter addressed to the Director of the Dirección de Derecho de Familia (Family Rights Office) requesting support to start a child support process abroad, including a brief explanation of events.

Once all the requirements have been submitted, you must complete the application forms, which must be certified by a notary public. Finally, after filling all the requirements and formats, they must be delivered to the Departamento de Protección de la Delegación, which will be responsible for sending them to the Dirección de Derecho de Familia at the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE). Once received by the SRE, they will be sent to the Mexican Consulate that corresponds to the district where the alimony debtor is located.

The Consulate will send this request to the central offices at the Child Support Department and Child Support and will send them to the local offices where the alimony debtor is located. 

There are some states in the US with which Mexico does not have an agreement, and if the father lives there, the cases cannot be processed by the SRE. Such states are: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, Oklahoma, Virginia and Wisconsin. If you have any doubt about the status of the city where the parent lives, please ask a SRE official directly.

Standardization of a Sentence Issued by a Family Court in Mexico

In this case, standardization refers to validate in the United States a sentence issued by a Family Court in Mexico, in which the obligation to pay an amount of money in favor of the children as alimony has been established.

In order to standardize the sentence, you need to send a Letter Rogatory to the Mexican Consulate from the Family Court where it was issued in order to request the Consular Representation for support to make it valid and hence, to start collecting the amount established from the alimony debtor.

Note: If the sentence established as an alimony obligation is a percentage instead of a specific amount, you must request the Mexican Consulate for support through a Rogatory Letter to verify the income earned by the alimony debtor. Once the income is verified, the sentence can be modified to establish a specific amount based on the information provided.