How to check a provider's REPSE registration in Mexico, step by step

Go to repse.stps.gob.mx. The page opens by stating that, under articles 13 and 15 of the Federal Labor Law, providers of specialized services or works, and companies that provide complementary or shared services within a corporate group, must be registered with the STPS, and that the platform is where they apply for, renew and update that registration.[1]

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Scroll down to the card titled Iniciar Sesión/Registrarse. Signing in there is only for providers and works exclusively with an e.firma, the key, certificate and password of the company that applies.[1] You do not need it: click Consultar Padrón to open the public registry.

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The panel explains that you can search and download the public registry of contractors and review the list of contractors whose registration is cancelled.[1] Type in the Razón Social box: it searches by folio, RFC or company name and suggests registered names as you type. Searching by the company’s RFC avoids confusing two companies with similar names. Pick the match and click Buscar.

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The record opens in a window titled Padrón Público de Contratistas de Servicios Especializados u Obras Especializadas.[1] Check each field against the provider’s contract and invoices:

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Because the fine reaches you, not only the provider. Since April 2021, Mexico’s Federal Labor Law bans personnel subcontracting and allows subcontracting only for specialized services or works that are not part of the client’s corporate purpose or predominant economic activity, delivered by a provider registered with the STPS.[2] The contract must be in writing, and the client is jointly liable if the provider fails its obligations to the workers.[2]

Subcontracting personnel, or subcontracting without registration, is fined 2,000 to 50,000 UMA, and the same fine applies to whoever benefits from the services.[3] At the 2026 value of the UMA, MXN 117.31 a day, that is about MXN 234,620 to MXN 5.87 million.[4] The client is also jointly liable for the provider’s social security contributions, and registered providers must report their contracts to the IMSS every four months.[5]

The provider, not the client. The registry’s own guidance lists two groups: individuals or companies that put their own workers at the disposal of a third party, with the workers carrying out their activities at a workplace owned or run by the client on a permanent, indefinite or periodic basis; and companies that provide complementary or shared services within the same corporate group.[1] It also says what can be subcontracted: specialized services or works that are not part of the beneficiary’s corporate purpose or predominant economic activity and that require putting staff at its disposal.[1]

A US company that contracts a registered provider does not register itself; its job is to confirm that the provider is in the registry, that the registration is in force, and that the registered services match what the contract buys.

Do not sign, or ask for the registration before the start date. Registrations must be renewed every three years,[2] and the public registry also lists the providers whose registration has been cancelled.[1] Since June 2026, registration, renewal and cancellation run through a single STPS procedure, with an answer in five working days for providers with up to 10 workers and 15 working days for larger ones,[6] so a provider that is not yet registered can say when it will be.

Not on its own. Registration is a condition for legal subcontracting, but the law still requires the service to be specialized and outside the client’s corporate purpose,[2] and it does not specifically address a foreign client with no establishment in Mexico. Our guide to hiring in Mexico covers the hiring routes and what to ask an employer of record before you sign.