Visas for Mexico

Mexico’s love of all things bureaucratic is well known and documented. Notwithstanding this, the country’s immigration policies are surprisingly straightforward.

For tourists and temporary business visitors, Mexico operates a simple document, known as a FMT (Forma Migratoria Turista).  The document entitles visitors to stay in Mexico for a maximum of 180 days (thirty days for business), without the right to take up employment locally.   The fee for the document is US$22, payable when you cross a land border and travel beyond the 35km ‘free zone’.  People arriving by airplane usually have the amount included in their ticket price and don’t even realize that there is a fee for this document.

If you want to stay in Mexico for longer than six months, or if you want to work in Mexico – whether self employed or employed by another company – then you will need to apply for a work visa.  There are two principal types of visa in Mexico, and each one may have a number of ‘sub classifications’ appended to it, along with a plethora of restrictions as provided for in the rule book.

For most people visiting Mexico to live and work, a FM3 (Forma Migratoria 3) will be the most appropriate document.   FM3 visas are most often used by professionals, technicians, scientists, journalists and retirees.   FM3 is a “non migrant” visa: it gives the bearer a right to live and work in Mexico, but it does not (and cannot) lead to full residency status.   A FM3 is valid for a year, and may be renewed annually an indefinite number of times; although every five years, you’ll need to re-apply for a new document (it looks like a passport) which involves new photographs and additional paperwork.

If your intention is to move to Mexico and take up permanent residency, you will need to apply for a FM2.  This is the visa to apply for when you want to take up full residential status in Mexico, get a tax and social security number, and have access to Mexican Social Security.   With a FM2, you have the same responsibilities and rights as those of a Mexican Citizen except that you cannot vote and you cannot be appointed to any Public Office.  You do not have to surrender citizenship from your home-country, unless your home country’s immigration policy states that you must.

There exists a qualification period to become “fully immigrated” in Mexico.  For most people, this is five years: that is, you need to hold a FM2 and be resident in Mexico for that period before your residency status is confirmed.  If you get married, this qualification period may be reduced to two years; contact the immigration office or an immigration lawyer for details.

At one time, FM3’s which had been held for a period, ‘counted’ towards obtaining full residency status, when ‘exchanged’ or, ‘upgraded’ to FM2.   This is no longer the case.  If you want to gain full resident status in Mexico you must hold a FM2 for the full qualifying period.  You could live in Mexico for thirty years using a FM3 visa, but that will not count towards a FM2 residency qualification; you’d need to ‘start over’.

Last spring, the Department of Mexican Immigration, known as the Instituto Nacional de Migracion, published a survey asking foreigners about their experiences of having applied for migrant visas, and inviting comments about how the procedures may be improved.  It would appear that the recent significant influx of middle-class professionals and ‘baby-boomer’ retirees from places like the USA, Canada, Western Europe and Australasia – and the significant economic and cultural opportunity their desire to live in Mexico represents – has not gone unnoticed by the authorities here.  The introduction of their physical capital makes a welcome contribution to the local economies where these people settle; the expertise, knowledge and human energy these migrants bring may emerge as the real prize of exercising a flexible immigration policy, as Mexico seeks to modernize its economy and reduce its dependence upon oil revenues.

Application for migrant visas in Mexico requires you to have expertise in a professional field, and/or significant funding – at least enough to support yourself while you are here.  Part of the visa renewal process each year is proving that you still have resources to sustain yourself and that your ‘lucrative activities’, as stated on your current visa, continue to be valid.

To apply for a visa outside of Mexico, you should contact your nearest Mexican Consulate.  If you are already in Mexico (e.g. intending to exchange a FMT for a FM3), it is feasible to undertake the application procedures yourself, provided that you speak, read and write Spanish fluently.  If your Spanish is not up to scratch, or you simply want to avoid the paperwork, there are plenty of immigration lawyers in Mexico who, for average service fees of between US$300 and US$500, will undertake the application process on your behalf.  The fees for FM2 and FM3 visas vary, depending on the exact type, and prices are subject to change; check with the Mexican Immigration Office or the nearest Mexican Consulate in your home country for details.

You can find detailed information about matters concerning immigration on our Guide to Mexican Immigration.  If you plan to visit Mexico as a tourist, or as a temporary business visitor, connect to the guide about procedures for entry in to Mexico.