Mexico has moved from warnings to actual cellphone suspensions. Unregistered prepaid numbers ending in 0 entered the suspension process after August 15, while numbers ending in 1 must be linked by August 31. The remaining deadlines run through December 31 under the CRT’s current registration calendar.
If you keep a Mexican prepaid number for bank codes, WhatsApp, building access or ordinary calls around Vallarta, this is worth handling before the final day. Suspension does not immediately erase the number, but it cuts normal calls, SMS and mobile data until registration succeeds. That can become a larger problem when the same number receives verification codes for banking or online accounts.
When Vallarta Daily first reported Mexico’s original June deadline, the rules pointed to one nationwide cutoff. The CRT later replaced that date with a staggered schedule. Old notices that still say June 30 are outdated.
Find the deadline for each number
Use the final digit of the 10-digit Mexican phone number. It is not the last digit of the SIM serial number, IMEI or number printed on the plastic card.
| Last digit | Registration deadline |
|---|---|
| 0 | August 15, 2026 — suspensions underway |
| 1 | August 31, 2026 |
| 2 | September 15, 2026 |
| 3 | September 30, 2026 |
| 4 | October 15, 2026 |
| 5 | October 31, 2026 |
| 6 | November 15, 2026 |
| 7 | November 30, 2026 |
| 8 | December 15, 2026 |
| 9 | December 31, 2026 |
The carrier has up to 72 hours after each deadline to suspend an unlinked line. That is an implementation window, not an extra three-day registration period. You can register early regardless of the number’s final digit.
Foreigners can use a passport
The paperwork is simpler than some of the early notices made it sound.
Under the June modification to the federal rules, a foreign national may use a valid passport, a CURP issued to a foreigner, or an immigration visitor or resident card containing a CURP. A visitor without a Mexican CURP can therefore register a local prepaid line with a current passport.
Carrier systems do not always present those choices in exactly the same way. AT&T and Movistar explicitly accept a foreign passport, while Telcel lists a valid passport or a foreigner’s CURP.
If I were doing this as a foreign resident, I would take the passport, residence card and a printed copy of the CURP to the customer service center, even though the regulation does not require all three. It saves a return visit if the online system has trouble matching a long name, two surnames or different formatting between documents. A CURP can be downloaded from the federal CURP consultation page.
One person may link as many as 10 lines. A parent or guardian may place a minor’s number under the adult’s identity, but the person whose identification is used becomes the registered holder.
The cleanest way to register
- Open the official CRT registration hub by typing the address into your browser. Select your carrier from there instead of searching for a registration page or relying on an SMS link.
- Enter the Mexican phone number. The carrier will send a one-time code by SMS. If it does not arrive, check the spam, blocked or unknown-sender section of the phone’s messaging app.
- Choose the passport or other accepted document, photograph it as directed and complete the brief “proof of life” check using the phone’s camera.
- Wait for the successful-registration message and save the confirmation folio somewhere outside the phone itself. The folio may be useful if the line is later flagged as unregistered.
- If the portal repeatedly rejects a valid foreign passport, stop fighting with it and visit a full-service customer care center for the carrier. Bring the phone and original documents. The CRT also offers registration assistance through 079 and at [email protected].
Registration is free. It can be completed without prepaid balance, although you will need Wi-Fi or another internet connection if mobile data is unavailable.
Prepaid, postpaid and dual-SIM phones
The staggered deadlines are primarily for prepaid or recarga lines. The CRT’s current public guidance says postpaid numbers are already associated with the person who signed the monthly service contract and do not require a second registration.
If your monthly plan is in your name, there is normally nothing more to do. If the carrier directly tells you the line is unlinked, verify the status through its official portal or customer service number rather than following a message link.
Registration follows the phone number, not the handset:
- Two Mexican prepaid numbers in a dual-SIM phone must be registered separately. Each may have a different deadline.
- A foreign SIM in the second slot does nothing to register the Mexican prepaid number.
- Physical SIMs and Mexican eSIMs are treated the same.
- Replacing the phone does not require another registration.
- Moving the number to a different carrier does. The new carrier must link it again.
If the line has already been suspended
Do not buy a replacement SIM simply because the service stopped. The suspension is temporary, and the CRT says numbers ending in 0 can be reactivated by completing the same registration process.
Use Wi-Fi to enter the official carrier portal or visit a customer service center. Once the identity check succeeds, the carrier should restore calls, SMS and mobile data. Emergency and citizen-assistance calls, including 911, 079 and 089, remain available during the suspension, as does the carrier’s own support line.
The suspension does not pause the carrier’s normal prepaid lifecycle, so I would not leave a dormant number unresolved for months.
Treat registration messages cautiously
Real reminders are being sent. The rules require carriers to contact unregistered lines twice a week and daily during the seven days before their deadline. The SMS should identify the carrier and include the applicable cutoff date.
The safest habit is still to ignore the embedded link and begin at registratulinea.crt.gob.mx. The registration does not require a payment, credit card, bank password or remote-access app. Carriers send the final folio by SMS and do not call to confirm the registration. Never read a one-time verification code to someone who calls or contacts you through WhatsApp.
Be equally careful with supposedly “pre-registered” SIMs. Vallarta Daily reported in January that SIM cards linked to unidentified third parties were appearing on social media. A number registered under someone else’s identity can be disputed, disconnected or associated with activity you know nothing about.
People with a CURP can use the CRT’s official line-consultation directory to check the last four digits of numbers associated with their identity and request removal of an unfamiliar line. Passport-only customers may need assistance directly from the carrier because many consultation portals are built around CURP or RFC searches.
The registration record remains with the carrier rather than in a public federal database. Identification images and the proof-of-life image are used for validation and must be discarded, while the carrier retains the limited record connecting the holder to the number. Vallarta Daily covered that distinction when privacy concerns over the phone registry surfaced earlier this year.
Once the process is complete, keep the folio and a note of which document was used. You will not need to repeat it when changing phones, but you will need to update the registration if you move the number to another carrier.
