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Moving to Mexico · Visas and residency · Reviewed September 4, 2026

Visas and residency in Mexico for US citizens

6 routes are tracked here, 4 of which lead to permanent residence. Each one below carries its own duration, cost, eligibility test and the government page the details were read from.

Routes tracked6Visitor, Other, Retirement, Work, Family, Study
Lead to permanent residence4 / 62 are temporary or renewable only
Open without a job offer4 / 6Temporary Resident Visa (Residente Temporal) by economic solvency, Permanent Resident Visa (Residente Permanente) for retirees and pensioners, Family unit (spouse, minor child or parent of a Mexican national or Mexican resident), Student (Residente Temporal Estudiante)
Health cover outside the system$150/moTypical private premium, one adult

This page is reference information, not immigration advice. Fees, income thresholds and processing times change without notice and are frequently amended mid-year. Verify every requirement against the official government page linked on each route before you file anything or book anything, and take advice from a licensed immigration lawyer where your case is not straightforward.

Which route fits your situation

The table maps common situations to the routes Mexico actually has in this dataset. Where a row says no route is tracked, that is a statement about the 6 routes on this page, not a ruling that nothing exists. Check the official pages before you rule anything out.

Reader situation mapped to the Mexico routes tracked here.
Your situationRoute that fitsPermanent residence
You have an offer from an employer based in MexicoCan lead to PR
You keep your US employer and work remotelyNo dedicated remote-work permit is among the ones tracked here. Working remotely while on visitor entry is not automatically allowed, so check the official pages before you assume it is.Not applicable
You are retired and living on pension or investment incomeCan lead to PR
You are investing capital or buying into a businessNo investor route is among the ones tracked here. Some countries handle business owners through a self-employment or entrepreneur permit instead.Not applicable
You are enrolling at a university, college or language school
  • Student (Residente Temporal Estudiante) · Granted for the length of the course and renewed annually inside Mexico. Time held as a student generally does not count toward the four years of temporary residency needed for permanent residence, so confirm your position with INM before relying on it.
Not directly
You are the spouse or close family of a citizen or residentCan lead to PR

Routes on this page that none of those situations covers: Visitor without permission to carry out paid activities (passport stamp, formerly the paper FMM), Temporary Resident Visa (Residente Temporal) by economic solvency.

Every route at a glance

One row per route, in the order they are set out below. The costs are the official government fees recorded in the data. They exclude translations, apostilles, medicals and legal help, which together often come to more than the fee itself.

Residence and entry routes into Mexico recorded for US citizens.
RouteCategoryValid forOfficial costPermanent residence
Visitor without permission to carry out paid activities (passport stamp, formerly the paper FMM)VisitorUp to 180 days per entry, but the days granted are entirely at the immigration officer's discretion and 30 to 90 days is now common. It cannot be extended or renewed from inside Mexico.No visa fee for US citizens. The non-resident fee (derecho de no residente) is MXN 983 for 2026, about USD 58, normally bundled into an airline ticket and paid separately for land entries beyond the border zone.Not directly
Temporary Resident Visa (Residente Temporal) by economic solvencyOtherIssued for one year, then renewable inside Mexico for one, two or three more years, to a maximum of four years, after which you can apply to convert to permanent residence.USD 56 consular visa fee, plus the INM residence card issued in Mexico within 30 days of entry: MXN 11,140.74 (about USD 657) for one year, MXN 16,693 for two, MXN 21,143 for three and MXN 25,057.82 (about USD 1,478) for a four-year card, under the tariff in force from 1 January 2026.Counts toward it
Permanent Resident Visa (Residente Permanente) for retirees and pensionersRetirementIndefinite. The card is issued without an expiry date for adults and carries full work rights.USD 56 consular visa fee plus MXN 13,578.96 (about USD 801) for the permanent resident card at INM under the 2026 tariff.Counts toward it
Temporary Resident with permission to work (employer job offer)WorkOne year initially, renewable up to four years, after which you can apply to convert to permanent residence.USD 56 consular visa fee plus the INM residence card fee of MXN 11,140.74 (about USD 657) for one year. Your employer pays separate INM fees to register and to file the job-offer petition. A 50% card discount exists for holders of a formal job offer, but from 2026 it is not automatic and must be requested with supporting documents.Counts toward it
Family unit (spouse, minor child or parent of a Mexican national or Mexican resident)FamilySpouses and concubines of Mexican citizens receive temporary residency and may apply to convert to permanent residence after two years; family of permanent residents follow the standard temporary-to-permanent track.USD 56 consular visa fee plus the INM card fee, which can be reduced by 50% under the family-unity provision. From 2026 that discount must be requested with supporting documents and is not applied automatically.Counts toward it
Student (Residente Temporal Estudiante)StudyGranted for the length of the course and renewed annually inside Mexico. Time held as a student generally does not count toward the four years of temporary residency needed for permanent residence, so confirm your position with INM before relying on it.USD 56 consular visa fee plus the INM student residence card fee.Not directly

Route by route

The facts in each panel come from the Mexico data and the official page beside it. The paragraph underneath describes how routes of that class usually work, wherever they are issued, so you know what the application will ask for before you open the form.

Visitor without permission to carry out paid activities (passport stamp, formerly the paper FMM)

VisitorNo direct path to permanent residence

Valid for
Up to 180 days per entry, but the days granted are entirely at the immigration officer's discretion and 30 to 90 days is now common. It cannot be extended or renewed from inside Mexico.
Official cost
No visa fee for US citizens. The non-resident fee (derecho de no residente) is MXN 983 for 2026, about USD 58, normally bundled into an airline ticket and paid separately for land entries beyond the border zone.
Permanent residence
Not directly

Who qualifies. US passport holders enter visa-free for tourism or business. You may not work for a Mexican employer or earn Mexican-source income. Air arrivals now receive a passport stamp rather than a paper form and can download the digital FMMd from INM.

Typical of visitor routesVisitor entry is not residence. It permits a limited stay, does not permit local work, and the clock is usually enforced across a rolling period rather than per entry. Many countries also require a residence application to be filed from outside their territory, so arriving as a visitor and switching status inside the country is often not possible.

Temporary Resident Visa (Residente Temporal) by economic solvency

OtherCounts toward permanent residence

Valid for
Issued for one year, then renewable inside Mexico for one, two or three more years, to a maximum of four years, after which you can apply to convert to permanent residence.
Official cost
USD 56 consular visa fee, plus the INM residence card issued in Mexico within 30 days of entry: MXN 11,140.74 (about USD 657) for one year, MXN 16,693 for two, MXN 21,143 for three and MXN 25,057.82 (about USD 1,478) for a four-year card, under the tariff in force from 1 January 2026.
Permanent residence
Yes, time on this permit counts

Who qualifies. Applied for in person at a Mexican consulate in the United States, never from inside Mexico. The 2026 thresholds are multiples of the UMA (MXN 117.31 per day): 680 UMA of monthly net income over the past six months (MXN 79,771, about USD 4,300 to USD 4,700), or an average monthly bank or investment balance of 11,460 UMA over twelve months (MXN 1,344,373, about USD 73,000 to USD 79,000). Each dependent spouse or minor child adds a further 220 UMA of income or savings, MXN 25,808, about USD 1,400 to USD 1,520. Consulates apply their own exchange rates, so the dollar figure differs between posts. This status permits work for a foreign employer paid from abroad; Mexican-source income needs separate INM authorisation.

Typical of other routesRoutes outside the standard categories carry their own conditions and are the most likely to change between one application cycle and the next. Read the official page in full before you build a plan around this one.

Permanent Resident Visa (Residente Permanente) for retirees and pensioners

RetirementCounts toward permanent residence

Valid for
Indefinite. The card is issued without an expiry date for adults and carries full work rights.
Official cost
USD 56 consular visa fee plus MXN 13,578.96 (about USD 801) for the permanent resident card at INM under the 2026 tariff.
Permanent residence
Yes, time on this permit counts

Who qualifies. Retirement or pension income of 1,140 UMA per month over the past six months (MXN 133,733, about USD 7,200 to USD 7,900), or an average monthly balance of 45,850 UMA over twelve months (MXN 5,378,664, about USD 290,000 to USD 318,000). Also available to anyone who has held temporary residency for four consecutive years and to close family of Mexican citizens. Note that permanent residents may not hold a Temporary Import Permit for a foreign-plated car.

Typical of retirement routesPassive-income routes ask you to show recurring money you do not have to work for: pension, annuity, rental or investment income, in your name, evidenced by statements and award letters rather than projections. Local employment is typically ruled out, and health cover is almost always a condition of the first permit.

Temporary Resident with permission to work (employer job offer)

WorkCounts toward permanent residence

Valid for
One year initially, renewable up to four years, after which you can apply to convert to permanent residence.
Official cost
USD 56 consular visa fee plus the INM residence card fee of MXN 11,140.74 (about USD 657) for one year. Your employer pays separate INM fees to register and to file the job-offer petition. A 50% card discount exists for holders of a formal job offer, but from 2026 it is not automatic and must be requested with supporting documents.
Permanent residence
Yes, time on this permit counts

Who qualifies. Your Mexican employer must hold a valid Constancia de Inscripcion del Empleador with INM and file an oferta de empleo petition on your behalf. Once INM issues the authorisation number you have a limited window to collect the visa at a US consulate, then exchange it for a residence card in Mexico within 30 days of entry.

Typical of work routesEmployer-sponsored routes normally start with a signed offer, not with you. The employer usually has to prove the role was advertised or that it sits on a shortage list, and the permit is tied to that job, so changing employer generally means notifying the immigration authority or filing again. Time held on a work permit is the kind that most often counts toward permanent residence.

Family unit (spouse, minor child or parent of a Mexican national or Mexican resident)

FamilyCounts toward permanent residence

Valid for
Spouses and concubines of Mexican citizens receive temporary residency and may apply to convert to permanent residence after two years; family of permanent residents follow the standard temporary-to-permanent track.
Official cost
USD 56 consular visa fee plus the INM card fee, which can be reduced by 50% under the family-unity provision. From 2026 that discount must be requested with supporting documents and is not applied automatically.
Permanent residence
Yes, time on this permit counts

Who qualifies. Documented family relationship with a Mexican national or a permanent resident: spouse or concubine, minor or dependent child, parent, or minor stepchild. Foreign civil documents must be apostilled and translated by an officially recognised translator.

Typical of family routesFamily routes turn on the sponsor’s status rather than yours, so the sponsor usually has to meet an income or housing standard. The bottleneck is civil documents: marriage, birth and sometimes divorce certificates, apostilled and translated by an approved translator. Relationships that are genuine but poorly documented fail more often than relationships that are questioned.

Student (Residente Temporal Estudiante)

StudyNo direct path to permanent residence

Valid for
Granted for the length of the course and renewed annually inside Mexico. Time held as a student generally does not count toward the four years of temporary residency needed for permanent residence, so confirm your position with INM before relying on it.
Official cost
USD 56 consular visa fee plus the INM student residence card fee.
Permanent residence
Not directly

Who qualifies. SRE requires this visa for any student staying longer than 180 days, regardless of nationality. You need an acceptance letter from a recognised Mexican institution plus proof that you or a sponsor can cover tuition and living costs. The financial threshold is set well below the economic-solvency route. Limited work authorisation can be requested from INM once you are enrolled.

Typical of study routesStudy permits are tied to an accredited institution and an unconditional acceptance letter. Alongside tuition you normally have to show living funds for the year, accommodation and health cover. Work rights are capped at a set number of hours, and the permit ends when the course does, though many countries offer a post-study period to look for work.

Which routes actually go somewhere

Whether a permit renews forever or accumulates toward settlement decides what a decade in Mexico is worth at the end of it. These are the routes on each side of that line.

Builds toward permanent residence

Temporary or renewable only

A residence permit and tax residence are decided by separate tests, and it is common to trip the second without intending to. Mexico sets its own rule for when you become taxable there, and the US carries on taxing its citizens wherever they live. How US citizens are taxed in Mexico →

Most residence applications require proof of health cover from the day the permit starts, before you are inside the local system. What healthcare access looks like in Mexico →

How the Mexico route mix compares

Mexico has 6 tracked routes, 4 of which build toward permanent residence. Across the 15 countries on this site the median is 7 tracked routes and 4 that lead to settlement. The table counts routes by category, so if one specific door is the one you need, you can see which destinations have it.

Number of tracked routes by category. Column headings link to each country's own residency guide.
CategoryMexicoCanadaIrelandAustraliaNew Zealand
Visitor11111
Work13243
Digital nomadNoneNoneNoneNone1
Retirement1None1NoneNone
InvestmentNoneNone1None1
Study1111None
Family11None11
AncestryNoneNone1NoneNone
Other1None111

A category with no tracked route is a gap in this dataset for that country, not proof that no such permit exists. Each count is only as complete as the government pages listed on that country's own guide.

How the process usually sequences

The order below is typical rather than specific: it holds for most residence routes in most countries, and the official page for your route governs wherever the two differ. What varies between countries is the length of each stage, not usually its existence.

  1. Pick the route and read its official page end to end

    Nearly every rejected application was filed under the wrong category or against last year’s requirements. The route decides the document list, the fee and where you file, so it is the only decision that is expensive to get wrong.

  2. Order civil documents early

    Birth and marriage certificates, a criminal record check and, where relevant, degree certificates usually need an apostille and a certified translation. This step is administrative and typically the longest one, because it depends on record offices rather than on you.

  3. Assemble the money and cover evidence

    Most residence routes want bank statements covering several consecutive months, a signed employment or income document, and proof of health cover valid from the day you arrive. Statements that skip a month or arrive as screenshots are a common reason files are sent back.

  4. File the application, usually from outside the country

    Residence applications are commonly lodged at the consulate covering your US address, or through a government portal that still ends in a consular appointment. Slots can be the binding constraint on your timeline, so book before the file is perfect rather than after.

  5. Attend the appointment and give biometrics

    Fingerprints and a photograph are taken at the appointment or shortly after, and the original documents are checked against the copies you submitted. Fees are normally paid at this point and are rarely refundable if the application fails.

  6. Wait for the decision, then collect the entry visa

    The decision arrives as a visa sticker or approval letter that lets you travel. It usually carries its own window in which you must enter, which is why booking flights before approval is a gamble rather than a plan.

  7. Arrive and register locally

    Most countries expect a local registration within days or weeks of arrival: an address registration, a tax or social security number, and often a local bank account. Several of these steps depend on each other, so the order they are done in matters more than the effort each one takes.

  8. Collect the residence card and diarise the renewal

    The physical permit is issued after registration, sometimes at a separate appointment. Renewal windows open before expiry and close on the day, and continuous lawful residence is what later counts toward permanent residence or naturalisation, so a lapsed permit can reset a clock you have been building for years.

Nothing in that sequence is a substitute for the instructions on the official page for your route. Treat it as a checklist for planning your months, not as the requirements themselves.

Residency questions about Mexico

How much income do I need to get residency in Mexico?

For 2026, temporary residency by economic solvency needs 680 UMA a month, MXN 79,771 or about USD 4,300 to USD 4,700 of net income over six months, or 11,460 UMA in average savings over twelve months, about USD 73,000 to USD 79,000. Permanent residency for retirees needs 1,140 UMA a month, about USD 7,200 to USD 7,900, or about USD 290,000 to USD 318,000 in savings. Each consulate converts at its own rate.

Can I just live in Mexico on tourist stamps?

Legally the visitor permit is up to 180 days, but the days granted are at the officer's discretion and 30 to 90 days is now common, especially for repeat long-stayers. You cannot extend it inside Mexico, cannot work for a Mexican employer, and cannot open most bank accounts. People who do border runs indefinitely are increasingly turned back or given very short permits. Get residency instead.

Is there a digital nomad visa for Mexico?

Not as a separate program. Mexico never created a dedicated digital nomad visa, and remote workers use the standard Temporary Resident Visa by economic solvency. It works well for this: the SRE states the status permits work for a foreign employer paid from abroad, it lasts up to four years, and it can convert to permanent residence afterwards. The catch is the income threshold, around USD 4,300 to USD 4,700 a month.

Can Americans buy property in Mexico?

Yes, with one restriction. Within 50 kilometres of the coast and 100 kilometres of a land border, foreigners cannot hold residential title directly and must use a bank trust, the fideicomiso, or a Mexican company. The trust is renewable, inheritable and standard practice, but it carries setup and annual bank fees. Outside that restricted zone foreigners buy in their own name normally.

Official pages and sources

Every route on this page was read from a government source. These are the pages behind them, unduplicated, so you can check the current fee and document list yourself.

Wider sources for this country

What these numbers are. Several figures on this page could not be matched to a published statistic and are reasoned estimates. Treat them as directional and check the official sources before acting on them. Where a source entry says a value is derived, estimated or crowd-sourced, that is exactly what it is: no international body publishes a like-for-like index for every category, and private insurance premiums are not published at all in most countries. Rent figures are national market averages, so a capital city will run above them. How the dataset is built.

  1. Banco de Mexico, tipo de cambio FIX (16.9560 MXN per USD, 3 September 2026) - the rate used for every peso-to-dollar conversion on this page — accessed September 4, 2026
  2. World Bank, PPP conversion factor for household and NPISH final consumption, Mexico (MXN 11.308778 per international dollar in 2025; MXN 10.801299 in 2024; the United States is 1.0 by construction) - the independent cross-check on the headline index. Divided by the 2024 period-average exchange rate it gives a consumption price level of 59.0 against the US at 100; rolled forward on Mexican and US all-items CPI to July 2026 and restated at the July 2026 peso it gives 62.4, which reproduces OECD's published 62 to within half a point — accessed September 4, 2026
  3. World Bank / IMF IFS, official exchange rate for Mexico, period average (MXN 19.24 per USD in 2025; MXN 18.30 in 2024) - used for the PPP price-level cross-check and the currency-risk comparison — accessed September 4, 2026
  4. OECD, Monthly comparative price levels, Mexico against the United States = 100: 62 in July 2026 (SDMX observation MEX.M.CPL.IX.USD.USA, 2026-07, OBS_VALUE 62). This is the headline col_index on this page. OECD builds it from the annual PPP benchmark for private final consumption, extrapolated with each country's consumer price index and converted at current market exchange rates, so it is a like-for-like consumer basket including rent and not a crowd-sourced sample. No crowd-sourced or user-submitted pricing is used anywhere on this page — accessed September 4, 2026
  5. OECD, PPP detailed results - price level indices, Mexico with the United States as base = 100, 2024 benchmark by COICOP division: food and non-alcoholic beverages 88.3, clothing and footwear 72.0, housing/water/electricity/gas and other fuels 42.7, furnishings and household equipment 89.7, health 46.0, transport 80.6, information and communication 65.6, recreation/sport/culture 63.3, education services 9.05, restaurants and accommodation 65.1, miscellaneous goods and services 55.0, actual individual consumption 50.9. These are the benchmark levels behind the category indices on this page. World Bank ICP 2021 agrees independently: dividing its Mexican category PPPs by the 2021 exchange rate of 20.2724 gives food 86.0, restaurants and hotels 59.3, transport 81.5 and actual housing/water/electricity/gas 38.1 — accessed September 4, 2026
  6. OECD consumer price indices by COICOP 2018, Mexico (compiled from INEGI's INPC, 2015 = 100), 2024 annual average to July 2026: all items 154.452 to 165.615 (+7.23%), food and non-alcoholic beverages 181.300 to 190.991 (+5.35%), actual rentals for housing 127.702 to 137.304 (+7.52%), water supply and other services relating to the dwelling 162.045 to 182.905 (+12.87%), electricity/gas and other fuels 132.157 to 127.968 (-3.17%), transport 161.884 to 170.856 (+5.54%), restaurants and accommodation 175.220 to 201.221 (+14.84%) - the Mexican half of the roll-forward from the 2024 OECD benchmark to July 2026 — accessed September 4, 2026
  7. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U (US city average, not seasonally adjusted), 2024 annual average to July 2026: all items CUUR0000SA0 313.689 to 333.918 (+6.45%), food at home CUUR0000SAF11 306.536 to 321.643 (+4.93%), food away from home CUUR0000SEFV 368.743 to 396.859 (+7.62%), transportation CUUR0000SAT 270.685 to 289.420 (+6.92%), rent of primary residence CUUR0000SEHA 420.060 to 447.963 (+6.64%), fuels and utilities CUUR0000SAH2 314.768 to 353.712 (+12.37%) - the US half of the same roll-forward. Series are retrievable through the BLS public API, for example https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v1/timeseries/data/CUUR0000SAF11 — accessed September 4, 2026
  8. Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis (FRED), Mexican pesos to one US dollar: monthly average 18.3256 for calendar 2024 and 17.4557 for July 2026 (series EXMXUS), daily 16.9750 on 26 August and 17.0430 on 28 August 2026 (series DEXMXUS) - the exchange-rate leg of every index on this page and the independent confirmation of the Banxico FIX rate quoted above. The category indices are computed as the 2024 OECD benchmark multiplied by the Mexican category CPI ratio, divided by the matching US CPI ratio, multiplied by 18.3256/17.4557, which puts them on exactly the same July 2026 footing as OECD's published headline of 62. At the 3 September FIX rate of 16.956 every index would be about 3% higher — accessed September 4, 2026
  9. ESTIMATE, not a measured statistic: utilities_index_vs_us = 27. Basis is the typical monthly household bill for electricity, heating, water and refuse for a normal dwelling, converted to USD and indexed against a US monthly equivalent of about USD 210 for the same basket, so the Mexican bill assumed here is about USD 57 a month. The consumption assumption is a two-to-three-person dwelling on CFE's subsidised domestic tariff (tarifa 1/1A-1C) staying below the DAC threshold, LP gas cylinders for cooking and water heating rather than central heating, which almost no Mexican dwelling has, municipal water, and refuse collection, which most Mexican municipalities fund from the predial rather than billing separately. The saving over the United States is driven by consumption, not price: Mexican dwellings are smaller, unheated and use a fraction of US household electricity. It could not be derived from a permitted source because INEGI (ENIGH household expenditure) times out and CFE's tariff application serves a broken TLS certificate chain, both re-tested on the access date, and because the published OECD and World Bank ICP category levels stop at housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels combined (42.7 for Mexico in the 2024 OECD benchmark), which mixes rent with utilities and so cannot be used as a utilities-only ratio. What is verifiable is the direction: Mexican electricity/gas prices FELL 3.2% in nominal peso terms between the 2024 average and July 2026 while the US fuels-and-utilities index rose 12.4%. Treat USD 57 as a central case and verify against an actual CFE bill; a DAC-tariff household running air conditioning on the hot coast can pay several times this. The URL below is the INEGI-compiled electricity/gas/other-fuels series that establishes that direction — accessed September 4, 2026
  10. ESTIMATE, not a measured statistic: rent_1bed_center_usd 765 and rent_1bed_outside_usd 495. No Mexican statistical agency publishes advertised rents by dwelling size, and no permitted source publishes a US one-bedroom rent level by centre and periphery either, so both legs of this calculation are assumptions. The checkable half is the rent index of 45, derived below from OECD's 2024 price level for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels rolled forward on Mexican and US rent CPI. Applying 45% to an assumed US metropolitan one-bedroom of USD 1,700 in the centre and USD 1,100 outside gives the USD 765 and USD 495 carried here. Mexico City, Monterrey, San Miguel de Allende and the Riviera Maya sit well above them; secondary cities sit well below — accessed September 4, 2026
  11. Servicio de Administracion Tributaria (SAT), official portal home - Mexico's own tax authority and the responsible national authority for anything on this page about Mexican tax residency or Mexican tax obligations; the IRS pages cited here cover only the United States side and have no jurisdiction over Mexican tax. The portal home is cited rather than a deeper topic page because SAT's public site is a single-page application that returns the same shell for every /portal/public/ path, so no deeper URL can be confirmed as live content from outside a browser session. The substantive Mexican rule quoted on this page is Article 9 of the Codigo Fiscal de la Federacion, cross-checked against PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries below — accessed September 4, 2026
  12. Mexican fuel-price transparency feed that every service station must publish under the price-disclosure rules administered by the energy regulator (formerly CRE, now the Comision Nacional de Energia): national mean of MXN 23.67 and median of MXN 23.99 per litre of regular gasoline across the 13,794 stations of 16,318 in the feed that posted a regular price on 4 September 2026, about USD 5.28 per US gallon at 16.956 MXN/USD - the Mexican side of the fuel comparison and part of why the transport index sits near the US level — accessed September 4, 2026
  13. Secretaria del Trabajo y Prevision Social (gob.mx), average IMSS-registered contribution base salary of MXN 671.3 per day at the close of May 2026 - basis for the average net salary figure. MXN 671.3 a day is about MXN 20,410 gross a month; deducting ISR at the 2026 resident tariff and the employee IMSS contribution leaves roughly MXN 17,600, which at the July 2026 average rate of 17.4557 MXN/USD is the USD 1,010 carried here. The daily wage is the official statistic; the step from gross to net is our own calculation and is an estimate. This is the formal-sector average and sits above whole-economy averages, because more than half of Mexican employment is informal, so the typical Mexican worker earns less than this figure suggests — accessed September 4, 2026
  14. Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores, Visa de residencia temporal (qualifying categories including economic solvency, family ties, property and investment; explicitly permits work for an employer paying from abroad; 30-day card exchange rule) — accessed September 4, 2026
  15. Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores, Visa de residencia permanente (retiree and pensioner route; spouses of Mexicans hold temporary residency two years before applying for a permanent card) — accessed September 4, 2026
  16. Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores, Visa de residente temporal estudiante (required for any student staying more than 180 days, regardless of nationality) — accessed September 4, 2026
  17. Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores, Visa de visitante sin permiso para realizar actividades remuneradas (scope of the visitor condition: tourism, business meetings, training, medical and short educational stays) — accessed September 4, 2026
  18. Instituto Nacional de Migracion (gob.mx), official site and Tarifas de Derechos Migratorios 2026, in force from 1 January 2026 - the official page publishes the fee table only as an image, so the amounts below are taken from a secondary transcription — accessed September 4, 2026
  19. Migralaw (Mexican immigration law firm), transcription of the 2026 INM fee schedule - temporary resident card MXN 11,141 for 1 year, 16,693 for 2, 21,143 for 3, 25,058 for 4; permanent resident card MXN 13,579; visitor derecho de no residente MXN 983; consular visa fee USD 56; the 50% discount for family unity or a formal job offer is not automatic and must be requested with documents. Secondary source, used because INM publishes the table only as an image and Mexican consulate websites block automated access — accessed September 4, 2026
  20. Mexperience, financial criteria for Mexican residency 2026 (UMA of MXN 117.31 per day published 8 January 2026; 680 UMA monthly income and 11,460 UMA savings for temporary residency; 1,140 UMA and 45,850 UMA for permanent residency; an extra 220 UMA per dependent spouse or minor child) — accessed September 4, 2026
  21. IRS, Mexico tax treaty documents (1992 income tax treaty and 2003 protocol, both listed as in force). This is the United States tax authority and is cited only for the US side of the treaty; it has no jurisdiction over Mexican tax, so the tax authority link on this page points at SAT instead — accessed September 4, 2026
  22. IRS, Figuring the foreign earned income exclusion (maximum exclusion USD 132,900 per qualifying person for tax year 2026; USD 130,000 for 2025) — accessed September 4, 2026
  23. IRS, Totalization agreements - the page does not enumerate countries and directs readers to the SSA list of agreements in force, which does not include Mexico. The 2004 US-Mexico agreement was signed but has never entered into force — accessed September 4, 2026
  24. PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Mexico individual residence (a person is resident once they establish a home in Mexico; where a home is also kept abroad, the centre of vital interests turns on more than 50% of income from Mexican sources or Mexico being the primary place of professional activity) — accessed September 4, 2026
  25. PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Mexico taxes on personal income (2026 resident table runs from 1.92% on the first MXN 10,135.11 to a top rate of 35% on income of MXN 5,107,703.93 and above) — accessed September 4, 2026
  26. PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Mexico individual other taxes (general VAT rate 16%; a 50% VAT tax credit in the northern border region gives an effective 8% rate; employee social security contributions capped at MXN 29,103 a year) — accessed September 4, 2026
  27. PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Mexico corporate other taxes (VAT payable at the general rate of 16% on sales of goods and services, leases and imports) — accessed September 4, 2026
  28. OECD Health at a Glance 2025, Mexico country note (health spending USD 1,588 per capita PPP versus an OECD average of USD 5,967; about 6% of GDP versus 9%; 78% of the population covered for a core set of services; 2.7 practising physicians per 1,000 versus an OECD average of 3.9; life expectancy 75.5 years) — accessed September 4, 2026
  29. World Bank / WHO Global Health Expenditure Database, out-of-pocket expenditure as a share of current health expenditure, 2023 (Mexico 41.24%, United States 10.93%) — accessed September 4, 2026
  30. El Imparcial, IMSS Modalidad 33 Seguro de Salud para la Familia annual premiums for 2026 by age bracket (MXN 9,300 at 0-19; 11,550 at 20-29; 12,350 at 30-39; 14,350 at 40-49; 14,850 at 50-59; 20,600 at 60-69; 21,500 at 70-79; 22,150 at 80+). Mexican news source, used because IMSS blocks automated access to its own tramite page — accessed September 4, 2026
  31. Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (gob.mx), official IMSS portal — accessed September 4, 2026
  32. US Energy Information Administration, weekly US regular all formulations retail gasoline price (USD 4.071 per gallon, week ending 31 August 2026) - the US side of the fuel comparison — accessed September 4, 2026
  33. World Bank, total population of Mexico (131,946,900 in 2025; 130,861,007 in 2024) — accessed September 4, 2026

Nathan Brooks · Editor, Your New Country

Nathan builds and maintains the Your New Country dataset, reconciling figures from the OECD, Eurostat, the World Bank and national statistics offices, and reading each country’s immigration and tax guidance at the source before it is published.

  • Reads each country’s immigration, tax and health guidance in the original official source rather than in secondary coverage
  • Reconciles every published figure against OECD, Eurostat, World Bank and national statistics releases on a quarterly cycle
  • Publishes the derivation and the access date beside each number, and marks estimates as estimates

Data reviewed September 4, 2026 · source confidence: low ·methodology

Keep going on Mexico

Cost of livingCategory-by-category price levels, rent and a worked monthly budget.TaxesResidency triggers, the US filing obligation, treaties and FEIE.HealthcareHow the system works, what foreigners can access, what cover costs.

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