If you’ve never been to the country and want to find out if Mexico is for you, enter on a tourist visa, which allows you to stay for 180 days, plenty of time to find out if you want to stay longer and apply for a more suitable type of residency.
After that you can apply for a Temporary Resident Visa. This is a one year visa that can be renewed up to fours years after which time you need to apply for a permanent residency visa. There are a number of ways that you may be eligible for this visa as follows:
- Show that you have had an average monthly balance of $27,654.00 Canadian dollars during the past twelve months.
- Prove a monthly tax-free income greater than $1,106.00 Canadian dollars during the past six months.
- Be a scientific researcher in Mexican waters.
- Have an invitation from a public or private organization to participate in unpaid activity in Mexico.
- Applying for the Youth Mobility visa (see below)
- Family Unity ie. your common law partner or spouse is a temporary or permanent resident in Mexico.
- You own property in Mexico to the value of at least 3,201,600 Mexican pesos
- You have shares in a Mexican company to the value of at least 1,600,800 Mexican pesos
Retirement
You can apply for a retirement visa, pensionada, when you can prove your monthly income is at least USD2200 or you have an investment or bank accounts with an average monthly balance equivalent to $85000 for twelve months.
Living in Mexico on a retirement visa means you are not allowed to engage in any kind of employment so if you wish to start your on business or do something on the side you will probably need a different kind of residency.
Youth Mobility Visa:
- If you are a citizen of Canada, France, Germany, South Korea and New Zealand between the ages of 18-29, you may be eligible under the Working and Holiday Visa programme. Note: you may need a letter of government support to undertake this type of visa.
- f you are a citizen of Chile, Colombia or Peru you may be eligible for the Pacific Alliance Working Holiday Visa in Mexico.
To find out if you need a tourist visa to visit <country>, please use the VisaHQ tool below.
Family Visas:
- If your spouse is a citizen or permanent resident of Mexico, you are probably eligible for residency. If your spouse is a citizen, you can apply for citizenship after living together in Mexico for a period of 2 years. Please note that your status of spouse needs to be legally recognised in this country.
- If one of your grandparents is a Mexican citizen or permanent resident, you can live in Mexico and after 4 years of living in Mexico you can apply for permanent residency.
- If your spouse has a Mexican grandparent or grandparent who is a permanent resident, you can live in Mexico and after 4 years of living in Mexico you can apply for permanent residency. Please note that your spouse needs to be a recognised and registered spouse or partner as per local laws.
Citizenship by Birth
- If you were born within the territory of Mexico, you are most likely a Mexican citizen.
Citizenship Through your Family
- If one or both of your parents were citizens when you were born, you are probably also a citizen.
- If your spouse is a citizen or permanent resident of Mexico, you are probably eligible for residency. If your spouse is a citizen, you can apply for citizenship after living together in Mexico for a period of 2 years. Please note that your status of spouse needs to be legally recognised in this country.
If you invest more than USD180,000 in a mixture of real estate and shares in Mexico, you can apply for temporary residency. After 4 years, you can apply for permanent residency and then citizenship after an additional one year.