• You intend to retire in Mexico or are already retired and want to move here.
• You own a house, or intend to buy a house, in Mexico.
• You live in Mexico part of the year and don’t want the hassle and risk of using visitor permit for your regular stays here.
• You intend to make a significant change in your life and work style and move your life situations to Mexico.
• You move to Mexico primarily for work reasons, usually under the auspice of a formal work contract.

Qualifying for residency in Mexico

When you have made the decision to apply for legal residency in Mexico, you will need to consider which route you will use to apply.

• Our article about the principal routes for obtaining Mexican residency summarizes the main routes most people use.
• Most applications are made via the ‘economic solvency’ route—i.e., proving that you have sufficient funds to sustain yourself here.
• If you have specified types of family connections in Mexico (including marriage/common-law partnership to a Mexican national or a foreigner with legal residency in Mexico), you may apply for residency via the Family Unit rules.
• If your income or savings are insufficient due to the recent rises in those qualification criteria, there are some other routes that might be open to you.

Type of residency in Mexico

Mexico offers two main residency types: Temporary Residency (Residencia Temporal), and Permanent Residency (Residencia Permanente).

Permanent residency is obtainable without having temporary residency first, but the situations that allow this are very limited, and thus most applicants begin holding temporary residency first.  After four consecutive years of holding temporary residency, you may apply to exchange this for permanent residency.

• Learn about the difference between temporary and permanent residency.
• If you’re a couple applying for permanent residency together, read this.
• Note that temporary residency does not automatically come with permission to work in Mexico—this needs to be applied for and granted separately.

The residency application process

When you have determined how you will qualify, and what type of residency you will apply for, you can begin the application process.

• Most applications for residency must begin at a Mexican Consulate abroad.
• If your application through a Mexican Consulate abroad is successful, a residency visa sticker will be placed in your passport. This sticker must be exchanged for a residency card in Mexico before the visa’s expiry date—usually six months after its issue date.
• Family Unit applications and applications through special procedures can be made at an immigration office in Mexico.
• If your application is one of the few that can be made at an immigration office in Mexico, you will exchange your visitor permit (or other visa type you might have) for a residency card in-country.
• Learn more about the government fees for residency permits, and typical time scales for obtaining residency in Mexico.

Residency card renewals and exchanges to permanent residency

When you take possession of your residency card, you will gain certain legal rights and obligations as a resident in Mexico and you’ll need to manage your ongoing status, thus:

• In most cases, your first temporary residency card is issued for only one year*
• After the first year, you can apply to renew your temporary residency for a further 1, 2 or 3 years.
• After holding temporary residency for four consecutive years, you may apply to exchange this for permanent residency.
• If you don’t want permanent residency, you can allow the temporary residency card to expire and restart the process with one year of temporary residency.
• Permanent residency cards issued people aged 18 years and older never expire. Minors (aged under 18 years) need to renew their permanent residency cards periodically until reaching the age of 18.

*Spouse of a Mexican national or foreign resident: If you’re applying as a spouse of a Mexican national or an existing foreign resident see this article for details about time scales.)

Mexico residency card use and management

Your Mexico residency card serves as a form of official identification in Mexico, and may be accepted abroad as form of government-issued ID.

• You must present your residency card when you enter Mexico, and each time you leave the country.
• If have a temporary resident card, or if you’re the parent or guardian of a minor (aged under 18 years) with a permanent residency card, you’ll need to manage renewals to keep your legal residency status valid.
• You need to file notifications about certain changes in your personal circumstances at your local INM office.
• If you lose your residency card, or it becomes damaged beyond use, you’ll need to apply for a replacement.

For more details, read our article about managing your resident card and residency status in Mexico.

Learn more about residency in Mexico

Mexperience publishes information and resources to help you learn about how to apply for and obtain legal residency in Mexico:

• Learn about the principal routes to obtaining legal residency
• The difference between temporary and permanent residency permits
• Financial criteria for residency in Mexico
• Time limits on Mexico’s visitor and residency permits
• Rights and obligations when you have legal residency
• Renewing your residency permit
• Temporary residency: expiry and renewal

How terrain influences the local climate

If you’re planning to visit Mexico, and especially if you plan to live here full- or part-time, it’s worth getting acquainted with the different geographical areas which make up the country’s terrain.

The local climate influences a location’s characteristics and attractions, and so choosing the right climate zone is an important part of your decision making, especially if you’re planning to live, retire or buy a home here.

A location’s climate patterns depend upon the combination of its geographical latitude combined with its elevation above sea level.  Mexico has three distinct ‘land types’, and these are denoted in Spanish as:

• Tierra Caliente;
• Tierra Templada; and
• Tierra Fría.

Tierra Caliente

—”hot land”— comprise areas which range from sea level to around 750 meters (2,460 feet) above sea level.  These lands are predominantly found at Mexico’s beach locations and along coastal plains which extend out from mountain ranges that descend into the Pacific ocean or Gulf of Mexico. These lands are typically found in the country’s northern deserts; the lowlands on the Baja peninsula; the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (between the state of Oaxaca and the Yucatán Peninsula); and the Yucatán Peninsula proper.

Tierra Templada

—”temperate land”— comprise areas situated between 750 meters and 2,300 meters (7,545 feet) above sea level.  These include most of Mexico’s attractive colonial cities, as well as the country’s three big cities: Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey.

Tierra Fría

—”cold land”— comprise areas situated at elevations above 2,300 meters (7,545 feet) above sea level.  In Mexico, these lands are characterized by notable mountain ranges and some volcanoes, most notably Pico de Orizaba that is the highest peak in Mexico and the second-highest peak in North America, and the famous volcanoes of Popocatépetl (active) and Iztaccihuátl (extinct).

Climate characteristics by terrain type in Mexico

Learn more about elevation in Mexico

For more insights about visiting and living in places situated at high elevation in Mexico, read:

• Breathing Easy at High Elevation and
• Why 7,000 Feet Can’t Deliver a Free Lunch

Discover Mexico’s weather and climates

Mexperience helps you to discover Mexico’s diverse topography and climate as you make your lifestyle and leisure plans:

• Discover Mexico’s climate through the seasons
• The rain season begins in May/June and yields to the dry season in October/November
• Learn about the climate differences between coastal places and highland colonial cities
• Why choosing a suitable climate zone in Mexico ought to be a part of your lifestyle planning
• Check individual travel guides here on Mexperience for climate by location. You can get full details about the weather by region and season on our guide to climate in Mexico.
• Browse the latest articles about climate and weather in Mexico

Comprehensive and detailed guide to living and cultivating a lifestyle in Mexico, continually revised and updated. Free—no payment or subscription needed.

Complete and detailed guide to Living & Lifestyles in Mexico that’s continually updated

Our extensive guides and articles offer insights to anyone exploring prospects for living, working, retirement and cultivating your lifestyle in Mexico.

They provide practical insights, incisive local knowledge, and meaningful guidance that helps you to discover opportunities, consider your choices, and make informed decisions.

Discover what lifestyles Mexico offers, identify opportunities of interest to you, weight up the compromises, consider your options, and plot a course based on the things that are important to you.

Guides to lifestyles in Mexico, for all life stages

Our continually-updated guides help you to begin weaving together the key components which create a workable and realistic lifestyle plan in Mexico, whatever planning stage and life stage you are in presently:

• To those considering a move to Mexico, whether you are single, with your partner, or a family with young children, Mexperience helps you to discover the country and evaluate living and lifestyle choices available here.  Our guides also offer thoughtful guidance about setting out your intentions and reshaping your situations.
• To those planning their retirement or seeking a place to retire, Mexperience guides provide specific guidance about matters related to retirement planning and retirement lifestyles, as well as the practicalities of retiring in Mexico.
• When you’re already living in Mexico, our guides and articles provide practical insights that help you to settle-in, adapt, and cultivate your new lifestyle here day-to-day.
• Regardless of your life stage, the information we publish provides meaningful insights about the essential day-to-day practical matters of living in Mexico, adapting to the country, the climates and culture, and more—with extensive cross references and links to further information and helpful contacts who can help you to realize your Mexico plans.

Planning or redefining your lifestyle in Mexico

Obtain practical insights, get incisive local knowledge and meaningful guidance that helps you to consider opportunities, weigh up your choices, and make informed decisions about planning or redefining your lifestyle in Mexico.

Mexico as a place for your retirement

We publish comprehensive information to help you plan a retirement here, whether you’re planning ahead or already retired and considering Mexico as a potential retirement haven.

Exploring locations and finding a place to live in Mexico

Our extensive articles help you to consider key aspects as you explore your options and make choices about your lifestyle and potential location types in Mexico.

Getting your residency permit for Mexico

Mexico’s immigration laws are reasonable and allow non-Mexicans with the financial means or family roots, and/or skills, to live here legally. We publish extensive knowledge to help you, including:

Moving and settling-in to life in Mexico

When you’ve decided to move to Mexico and made key decisions about where and how you’ll live, there’s the move a period of adapting and settling-in.  We publish extensive guides and articles to help you settle.

Learn how to keep in touch when you’re in Mexico

Our guides include detailed information about how to keep in touch when you’re in Mexico: by phone, by internet, as well as using postal and courier services here.  Our local knowledge helps you to choose a mobile phone plan, explore choices for high speed internet in Mexico (even if you live in a remote area) and our cost of living guide includes a section about the cost of communications services.

Detailed insights into the practicalities of living in Mexico day-to-day

Our articles and guides also include comprehensive insights about day to day living in Mexico that help you to plan your lifestyle, settle-in, and make the most of your life and activities in Mexico.

Mexico’s living costs and managing your finances

Financial considerations are an important aspect of any move.  Mexperience helps you to calculate your cost of living in Mexico and offers practical tips for managing your money and finances here.

Mexico as a place for working-age professionals

Working-age professionals, especially those plying a trade in the knowledge economy, are also considering Mexico as a base to live and work.

And more… resources for Living & Lifestyle in Mexico

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.  Our resources include:

• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free
• Regularly-updated articles about lifestyle planning  in Mexico
• Insights about day to day living with Mexico Home Life

Cover for critical situations

Medical air evacuation isn’t for patients who are mobile and suffering from turista or sea-sickness, it’s for those who suffer catastrophic illness or accidents while away from home; primarily cardiac events, strokes, or serious vehicle accidents.

No matter where in the world you are going, from the most remote region to an urban center teeming with people, if you have a serious health issue and want to make certain that you can get from wherever you are to specific medical facilities back home as quickly as possible, you’ll need a medical evacuation plan designed to transport you to your doctors, your family, your healthcare network—and a hospital of choice in your home country.

You may have arrived at your destination aboard a commercial airline, but if you’re showing signs of serious illness, you may not be allowed to board to get back home. If you can’t get home, you may have a long convalescence period in a foreign country —away from family and friends— unless you are evacuated.

Medical evacuation coverage is far more than a private flight home

We spoke with Grant Conway of Travel MedEvac Insurance, a US-based medical evacuation insurance plan provider for travelers and foreign residents, to learn more about air medical evacuation. What we discovered is that medical evacuation is much more than a private flight.

Yes, there are planes with pilots and medical personnel on standby; however, to offer a safe, reliable, and high quality bed-to-bed service—where you are taken from one hospital room via ambulance to the nearest airport, flown to your destination city abroad, with another ambulance to the hospital of your choice—it’s essential to have a highly-accredited provider who can manage the complex logistics.

With a medical evacuation plan in place, everything is taken care of for you: including consultation with all the relevant medical professionals, and fully-managed ground and air transportation in tandem with the complex logistics involved to carry out international medical repatriations.

It’s expensive and complex if you don’t have a cover plan

Although you can work directly with an air-evacuation company, the costs are high—typically in the tens of thousands of US-dollars per incident. Most people who receive a medical evacuation do so under the auspice of a medical evacuation plan from a company like Travel MedEvac insurance, that offers fully-underwritten medical evacuation insurance plans lasting from days to a whole year.

While air evacuation plans may not necessarily be considered  by some foreign residents and snowbirds who intend to receive all of their medical care in Mexico, there are some who prefer being treated in their home town, by doctors they know and trust—and near the support of family and friends as they recover. Having a medical evacuation plan can facilitate that when warranted by the circumstances.

You can learn more on our extensive guide to Medical Evacuation from Mexico—that describes in detail what a medical evacuation service is, who needs it, and how to arrange a suitable plan.

In addition to the notarization, official documents that are not originally presented in Spanish (e.g. those issued by Spain) must also be accompanied by a copy of the document(s) officially translated into Spanish.

Documents that most commonly need to be translated into Spanish include birth, marriage, divorce, and death certificates; academic and professional diplomas; and certificates of company incorporation.

Only certified translations into Spanish are accepted

Translation of official documents into Spanish (and their accompanying notarization/apostille certificates) must be undertaken by an authorized translator in Mexico certified by the Mexican judiciary to translate official documents.

Certified translators use a special stamp that is applied to translated documents, and their name/details are checked against a central register when the documents are filed.

How to get your documents translated into Spanish

Our associate can help and will be pleased to assist when you need to get your official documentation translated into Spanish by a certified translator.

They are certified to translate documents from English to Spanish, and German to Spanish.

Simple and streamlined process

Our associate offers a streamlined process to create a certified translation of  document(s) for you:

• The original documents as well as their notarized/apostilled certificates (where relevant) will need to be officially translated into Spanish.
• Our associate will ask you to send them a digital copy of the original document(s) you want to get translated.
• They will undertake the translation work using the digital images.
• Then they’ll print-out the translation on physical paper for you, and stamp/sign the papers using their certified credentials.
• These certified papers will be shipped to an address you specify—or you can arrange pick-up.

Document delivery options

When the translation is completed, it will be printed, certified, and shipped—or you can arrange pick-up.  These are the delivery options:

• Our associate will arrange for the the physical documents to be sent to you by courier, at your expense. (Courier fees vary by destination and our associate will advise you about these.); or
• You can arrange for a courier of your choice to pick them up; or
• You may pick them up yourself (or arrange Uber or Didi to fetch them) from the associate’s offices in Mexico City or Cuernavaca.

Typical delivery time scales

The table below describes the typical time scales required for translation work.

1 Page = 200 words.
Time scales exclude shipping/courier times.
If you have many documents to translate, our associate will quote an estimated time scale.

Fees for Certified Translations (2026)

Fees are based on a page count, and one page is = 200 words, minimum fee is 1 page.
Part-pages are rounded up to the nearest half-page, e.g., 1.2 pages=1.5, 1.6 pages=2.
Fees exclude shipping/courier costs to send you the certified translation copies.

Urgent translations: If your need is genuinely urgent, the associate can prioritize your translation for a 50% increase to the fees quoted above, and subject to the associate’s availability.

Make a service request

Complete the request form below and our associate will contact you directly to organize a certified translation of your documents into Spanish.

What happens next?

• After you complete the form, our certified translation associate will contact you to discuss your requirements, quote you for the work, and arrange payment for the translation.
• When you’ve paid, they’ll begin the translation procedure and send you the physical documents wherever you are based in Mexico (or abroad).
• Mexperience will send you an email to confirm these details.

How you approach a potential move to Mexico, or approach changes to your lifestyle if you’re already here, will usually depend on your personality and the evolving priorities of your life situation.

Approaches to living in Mexico

Some people may throw caution to the wind and make an impulsive move to Mexico; others might pass through the logistical mechanics of a move here without carefully considering what propelled them to do so in the first place—perhaps due to extenuating or serendipitous circumstances.  Some people make a detailed plan, perhaps years in advance.

Taking a step back to reflect on what is motivating you to consider moving abroad, and Mexico in particular —and through that, defining your lifestyle intentions— will help to underpin some of the most important choices you make in relation to your move.

If you’re already living here, this exercise can serve a means to reflect upon and redefine your priorities and reorganize your situations in Mexico, if necessary.

Whether Mexico will suit you depends on a range of factors; some you might be able to foresee, and others you will not be able to grasp until you come here and begin to settle in and cultivate your new life amidst the charms and challenges that Mexico will present to you.

Familiarity helps

To have some idea about how you might cope with living in Mexico, you ought to have visited the country, probably more than once. Although there are success stories involving ‘love at first sight’ situations and impulsive decisions that led to a successful long-term residency and settlement here, don’t underestimate the effort it takes to adopt Mexico as your home country and settle-in here.

For some, the move is propelled by work situations: perhaps your company is relocating you to Mexico. If this is the case, the resources here on Mexperience will help you to get a thorough grounding in Mexican culture and prepare you for your move to Mexico.

Choosing a place to live in Mexico

If you know Mexico already, then you are likely to have a clearer impression about what location or region you might prefer to live in.

Some people are clear about the location where they want to live in Mexico through previous knowledge of being there, local connections they have, or simply a ‘gut feel.’

If Mexico is new to you, and you don’t have any friends or family here, then your approach will require more research, or your ability and willingness to experiment and adapt to new environments.

Another approach is to spend a few months or perhaps a couple of years traveling to various places in Mexico, renting homes along the way, to find a place that feels right.  This approach consumes more time and resources, but can be part of an adventure, or a sabbatical period of reflection to help you consider your life situation, needs and priorities.

The ‘structured approach’ is to research potential places to live, including recommendations from friends or family if you have those connections here, make a short-list, visit the places on your short-list for a time, and afterwards decide which one to move to for the longer term.

Mexperience publishes articles that help you to consider your location in regard to your lifestyle needs, as well as a series that helps you to discover and explore specific places in Mexico for living and working or retirement.

Financial considerations

Some foreigners approach a move to Mexico as a way of simplifying their lifestyle and reducing their living expenses.

While you can live simply and affordably in Mexico, financial reasons ought not to be the primary concern propelling your decision. Mexico can be affordable and offers good value but it’s not the ‘cheap’ destination paraded by some magazines and websites.

Our detailed guides to the cost of living in Mexico help you to get in-depth insights and plan a sensible and realistic budget based on your life stage, lifestyle choices, and your own unique life situation.

Learning Spanish is important

Spanish is Mexico’s official language, and although English is widely spoken in certain places, to get the most from your lifestyle experiences in Mexico —to get full access to the culture, and to ultimately settle-in properly— you will need to learn Spanish.

If you plan to live in Mexico, regardless of your approach to the change, you ought have or develop at least a basic conversational level of Spanish, and there is no better place to learn or improve your Spanish than by being present here in Mexico.

Mexperience connects you to helpful resources for learning Spanish including our detailed PinPoint Spanish series and connections to Spanish language courses.

Further research and resources

Whether Mexico is right for you and your lifestyle, only you and your partner/family can know—and you’ll probably need to come here and live for a while to learn the answer to that question.

Through research you can begin to make informed choices and commit to or abandon certain approaches with more confidence—and Mexperience offers you wealth of local insights and knowledge as well connections to people who can help you.

• Matching your lifestyle needs with your location
• Your motivations for moving to Mexico
• Influencing factors as you choose a place to live
• Finding your place in Mexico
• Discover places to live in Mexico
• Resources for planning a lifestyle in Mexico
• Principal routes to legal residency in Mexico
• Simple living in Mexico
• Learning Spanish
• Latest articles about lifestyles in Mexico

This article describes the typical time scales you ought to take into account when you intend to apply for a Mexico residency permit starting at a Mexican consulate abroad, as well as for residency-related procedures from within Mexico.

Principal factors that influence time scales

There are four principal factors that will influence the time scales involved in your application for residency in Mexico: from the initial application to receipt of your residency card. These are:

Supporting documentation: How long it takes you to gather the documentation required to support your application. The documentation varies depending on your situation, and may include official certificates, bank statements, investment account balances, letters of reference, etc.

Consulate appointments: If your application involves an appointment at a Mexican consulate abroad, the second factor that influences time scales is the availability of consulate appointments for your residency interview.  Availability varies by consulate and by season.  Some (but not all) consulates accept out of area applications, so if your nearest consulate has limited appointment availability, and you’re willing to travel to a consulate outside your area, you might be able to get an appointment sooner.  Our immigration associate can advise about consulates and help with appointment-making as part of their first time applicant support service.

Your arrival date in Mexico: When you have a residency visa stamp placed in your passport by a Mexican consulate abroad, you must arrive in Mexico and exchange your visa for a card before the visa’s expiry date.  Visas are typically valid for six months from the date of issue, but check the visa you are issued to be sure.

Immigration office procedures: The fourth principal factor that determines the time scales to complete your residency application is appointment availability at immigration offices in Mexico, and then the amount of time the local immigration office you file at takes to process your filing.  Some processes are completed the same day as the appointment, but can take between a few working days and 3-4 weeks to process applications at immigration offices in Mexico.  Time scales vary by location and the current workloads at that office.

More details about consulate appointments and immigration office timescales are described below.

Typical time scales at the Mexican consulate

Residency applications from outside of Mexico must begin with an appointment at a Mexican consulate.

Consulate appointments: It can take between a week and several weeks (and in some places, months) to secure an appointment for residency applications at a Mexican consulate. Lead times vary widely by location.

Procedures for consulate appointments: The procedures for booking appointments at Mexican consulates abroad varies by location:

• some consulates use an online booking system;
• others require an email request to be sent by the applicant; and
• others have walk-in dates.

Our associate can assist you with appointment scheduling as part of their application support service and in accordance with the policy and process in place at the consulate you apply at. They cannot ‘fast-track’ or get preferential treatment for any applicants.

Consulate visa time scales: Once you attend your interview at the consulate and file your paperwork, the consulate usually issues the visa sticker within 10 working days after your appointment date, if your application is successful.

Time scales at Mexico immigration offices

Mexico’s immigration offices use an online booking system for most (but not all) procedures.  Online booking is available for the most common procedures including visa-to-card exchanges and residency card renewals.

Visa-to-residency-card exchange: Although some visa-to-residency-card exchanges are processed the same day as the appointment, the ones which are not processed the same day are typically taking between 5-10 working days and may take up to four weeks in some cases to complete the visa-to-card exchange process (“canje“) in Mexico. Some offices might process the exchange the same day as your appointment, and some offices might also issue the card on the same day too—but we recommend that you allow between 5-10 working days and up to four weeks wait as part of your schedule planning, based on our associates’ recent experiences of helping others to process their visa exchange. Read more details about visa-to-card exchange time scales.

Other procedures: Time scales for other procedures, e.g. residency card renewals, vary by office location: 1-3 weeks appears to be typical at the moment; and as with visa-to-card exchanges, some offices might issue cards or complete the procedures on the same day as your appointment, but we recommend you build flexibility into your plans and scheduling as not all procedures are completed on the appointment date.

Leaving Mexico during the process

If you need to leave Mexico while you are waiting for your residency card(s) to be (re)issued, you can apply for an exit/re-entry permit after you have submitted your paperwork for the procedure and have a reference number for your filing.  There is an application form and a fee to pay for this permit.

Note that you cannot apply for this exit/re-entry permit before you have filed your paperwork at the local immigration office and been issued with a file reference number—known as a “Pieza.”  Also, you cannot apply for an exit/re-entry permit if your procedure is classified as a ‘regularization’ process.  You must also return to Mexico within 60 days or your process becomes void.

Learn more about Mexico visas and residency

Mexperience publishes extensive information about visas and immigration to Mexico, including:

• Our free and regularly-updated Guide to Mexico Immigration Guide encapsulates detailed information about applying for visas and residency permits
• Learn about exchanging your residency visa for a residency card
• Discover the principal routes for obtaining legal residency in Mexico
• Read our latest articles about residency and visas in Mexico

Factors that influence commitment levels

As we describe in our continually updated guides about living and retirement in Mexico, how much time you spend living in Mexico, and how much commitment you make to cultivating a lifestyle here will depend on many things and is ultimately a personal choice that you will probably have determined when you were defining your intentions and identifying the key factors and other matters that will influence your choices about moving to Mexico.

As noted in our guides referenced above, the key factors that influence these choices include:

• social and family ties you have in your home country;
• the attachment (or otherwise) you feel to your home country;
• the physical distance between Mexico and your home country;
• your financial resources and personal energy levels required to move twice a year; and
• your offspring’s perceptions if you have children.

These factors are addressed in detail in our guide to living and retirement in Mexico, and although they are not the only influencers, they are the principal ones which most foreign residents face as they make their choices regarding a move.

Practical matters to consider as you prepare to return to Mexico

If you are one of many foreign residents that shuttles between your home country and Mexico each year —or if you intend to do this as part of your planned lifestyle— there are several practical matters to consider as you prepare for your re-arrival to Mexico.

Your visitor or residency permit

If you use a visitor permit to reside in Mexico part-time, note that border officials appear to no longer be giving 180 days stay by default.  They can still give 180 days maximum (by law) but in many cases people are begin given fewer days—sometimes as few as 10.

If you reside in Mexico even for a few months a year, we recommend you consider applying for a residency permit that will make your border crossing smoother and prevent you from having to leave the country if your visitor permit is not issued for the length of time you intend to overwinter in Mexico.

Renewing your temporary residency

If you hold temporary residency in Mexico and you intend to keep your residency status in Mexico, you will need to renew it before its expiry date.  Residency card renewals must be done in person, in Mexico—they cannot be filed by proxy.

Your arrival in Mexico is an ideal moment to check the expiry date on your residency card(s) and file your renewal (or exchange to permanent residency) as appropriate.  If you need assistance with your renewal process or exchange to permanent, our associate can help.

Vehicles you might bring

If you intend to drive your US or Canadian plated vehicle to Mexico, consider whether you will need a Temporary Import Permit (TIP), and whether you need a TIP or not, you’ll need to purchase a vehicle insurance policy that covers your vehicle while its in Mexico.  Read our guides to driving and road trips in Mexico for insight and advice about driving here.

House and home

If you own a home in Mexico, you’ll need to talk to your local contact or agent about ‘reopening’ the property for your return if it has been left vacant in your absence.

As we remark in our guides to home maintenance and security, it’s not advisable to leave your property unattended for months.  If it has been rented out, you’ll need to liaise with your agent or the tenants to organize the checkout and hand-back, review of the property’s condition, and return of the deposit, etc.

If you rent a home while you’re in Mexico, you’ll need to liaise with the owner or the owner’s agent you are dealing with about arrangements for you to take possession of the property during the lease period.  And it’s also important to know who is renting your home while you’re away.

Health matters

If you plan to be in Mexico for a defined period up to 90-days then a short-term trip protection insurance could work well for your stay.

If your stay in Mexico will be for longer than 90 days and less than 180 days, then an extended stay emergency and medical expense coverage will help to mitigate the cost of unexpected medical emergencies, and also includes medical evacuation to your home country in severe circumstances.

Language skills

Being able to speak at least some Spanish will materially improve your lifestyle experiences while you’re in Mexico, even if you’re only living here part of the year.  There are sensible reasons for investing time and effort to learn (or improve) your Spanish, and there are courses online and in classrooms that can help you to do this.

Travel and leisure opportunities

Part-time residents in Mexico may opt to take advantage of their presence in Mexico and consider some travel and leisure opportunities that are close-by.  You can browse custom leisure tours offered by travel experts that know Mexico intimately here on Mexperience.

Miscellaneous practicalities

The guide to living and retirement sets out the plethora of practical matters and details which need to be considered as you move from one place to another. Many of these matters are relevant whether you move to Mexico full-time or part-time—the principal difference is that if you are living here only part time, you’ll effectively be managing lifestyles in at least two different locations simultaneously.

Practical matters as you prepare to leave Mexico

If you intend to leave Mexico for a defined period each year and return months later (or next season/year), the key matters for you to consider prior to your planned departure date from Mexico will likely include:

• ensuring your Mexico visitor permit has not expired if you don’t have a residency card (you’ll need to pay a fine when you leave, if you overstay your visitor permit date);
• if you have a residency permit, you need to ‘check out’ at the airport or other port of exit when you leave Mexico;
• if you own a house here, ensuring that your Mexican home is properly cared for in your absence, or if you plan to rent it out, ensure that you know who’s renting your home;
• if you drove a foreign-plated vehicle to Mexico outside of one of the defined Free Zones (and thus have a Temporary Import Permit—TIP), make sure you stop at the Banjercito border offices and cancel your TIP.
• if your insurance policies are not annual, be mindful of the policy expiry dates and create a reminder for yourself to restart them for your next return to Mexico.

Resources for Living & Lifestyle in Mexico

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.  Our resources include:

• Detailed guides to living and retirement in Mexico that are continually updated
• Insightful articles about living and lifestyle in Mexico
• If you’re planning your initial relocation to Mexico, browse article on our Lifestyle Planning section
• Our Mexico Home Life section contains a wealth of local knowledge to help you settle-in and make the most of your lifestyle in Mexico.
• Our section about Home Stewardship is packed with practical advice for managing your home and dwelling spaces in Mexico.
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Historic center, attractive beaches

The historic downtown area of Manzanillo is also the focal point for the town’s principal economic engine: its commercial seaport. As you travel north, you begin to discover the resort areas and main shopping and social attractions located along the two principal bays that are separated by the Santiago peninsula—host to one of the most famous resorts of the town as well as some residential developments.  Check the map for reference and a perspective of its geography.

Well-connected by road and air

The town is host to one of Mexico’s most important commercial seaports, and also home to one of the country’s naval bases. It’s situated in state of Colima (one of Mexico’s smallest states) and is a 90-minute drive to the state’s capital, Colima city. A five-hour drive north on the scenic Highway 200 leads to Puerto Vallarta; a four-hour drive northeastward leads to Mexico’s second largest city—Guadalajara. Manzanillo’s international airport offers connections to Mexico City, and several US cities.  If you have a boat, Manzanillo offers options for mooring.

Foreign residents in Manzanillo

Although the town has a congregation of existing foreign residents settled here, the influx of new foreign residents has been hitherto modest; far lower than that of nearby Puerto Vallarta, for example; and this is an attractive quality of the location for some people seeking an oceanside location to live in Mexico.

Foreign residents living locally organize social events and participate in a range of activities; some do volunteer work locally helping various charities and social organizations in the locality.  While the local activities and cultural events are not as extensive as those found in Puerto Vallarta or Lake Chapala, for example, there is ample scope for residents to organize themselves and propel and shape the development of more events and activities in the locality.

Key attractions for foreign residents

When we researched what existing foreign residents like most about living in Manzanillo, they cited several characteristics that attracted them, which include:

• They enjoy living in a tranquil, safe, and authentic Mexican coastal town without the commercialization and extravagances of the more popular beachside resort locations in Mexico
• Manzanillo is an affordable beachside location: real estate prices have not escalated as steeply as they have in Mexico’s most popular resort areas and everyday living costs remain very affordable with easy access to authentic local markets and local stores
• The town offers plenty of everyday local services and amenities including shops, supermarkets, cafés, restaurants, as well as affordable medical and health care services. Additional specialized services and amenities can be sought in Colima (90-minute drive) and Guadalajara (4-hour drive).
• Manzanillo is well-connected by modern highways and has an international airport with connections to some US cities. It’s also an important seaport, so if you have a boat, options exist for mooring and sailing here.

Warm winters, sultry summers

The climate in Manzanillo is typical of climates in other places along the Pacific coast—offering comfortably-warm fall and winter months, with increasingly hot and sultry weather during the spring and summer.  Some foreign residents use Manzanillo as a base for a second home and overwinter here, renting out their house in the summer months.  However, some have made Manzanillo their year-round home and make good use of swimming pools, ceiling fans, and air-conditioning to keep cool during the sultry summer season.

Discover more about Manzanillo

Manzanillo offers an affordable and authentic Mexican lifestyle by the coast without the high concentration of foreign residents that nearby Puerto Vallarta has, and without the higher costs that are often associated with places in Mexico that are already popular with foreign residents.

Learn more about Manzanillo as a place to live, work, or retire by connecting to our guide to Living & Lifestyle in Manzanillo

This article describes what you to do, based on the type of residency you have in Mexico, to keep your card current and your legal residency status updated.

Managing your Temporary Residency card

If you are resident in Mexico under the auspice of temporary residency —Residente Temporal— you’ll need to file for renewals and file other notifications.

• Temporary residency cards are valid for between one year and four years, maximum.  The expiry date is printed on the card.
• To maintain your residency status, your card must be renewed within the 30-day window before the expiry date printed on the card.
• Renewals must be filed at a local immigration office in Mexico by the card holder.
• After four consecutive years* of holding temporary residency, you may apply to exchange it for permanent residency.
• If you allow your temporary card to expire, you might be able to renew it within a 60-day grace period.  See this article for details.
• If your temporary residency card is more than 60 days expired, you’ll need to restart the residency application process.
• We recommend that you set a reminder for yourself to renew your card if you intend to remain legally resident in Mexico.
• See also: entering and leaving Mexico, keeping your personal details updated, and replacing lost or damaged cards, in the sections below.

*Two years if you are married to a Mexican national.

Assistance: If you need assistance with residency card renewals, our associate can help.

Managing your Permanent Residency card

If you are resident in Mexico under the auspice of temporary residency —Residente Permanente— you won’t need to file for renewals if you are over 18, but you do need to file change notifications.

• Permanent residency cards issued to adults aged 18 and older do not expire.
• Permanent residency cards issued to minors (aged under 18 years) need to be renewed periodically and must be to be renewed within the 30-day window before the expiry date printed on the card.
• Renewals must be filed at a local immigration office in Mexico by the card holder’s parent or guardian, and the minor must also be present.
• See also: entering and leaving Mexico, keeping your personal details updated, and replacing lost or damaged cards, in the sections below.

Assistance: If you need assistance with permanent residency card renewals for minors, our associate can help.

Entering and leaving Mexico with a residency card

You must present your residency card when you enter Mexico, and each time you leave the country. If you are a legal resident here and enter Mexico as a visitor, your residency status will become jeopardized.

Keeping the immigration office informed

When you are a foreigner with temporary or permanent legal residency status in Mexico, you must attend your local immigration office to inform them about:

• Change of your home address in Mexico.
• Change to your marital status.
  (marriage, divorce, death of spouse)
• Change to your nationality.
• If you’re working in Mexico and you change jobs/company.

Filing notifications: All notifications must be started using an electronic form filled-out online, which you must also download, print out, and sign. However, your procedure does not get officially registered until you go in person to your local immigration office and file the documents.

Time scales: Notification of changes must be filed in person at the local immigration office within 90 days of the change date to avoid penalty charges.

Assistance: If you need assistance with the filing, our associate can help.

Lost or damaged residency cards

If you lose your residency card, or it becomes damaged beyond use, you’ll need to apply for a replacement.

The process for requesting a replacement of your Mexican residency card varies depending on whether you are in Mexico or abroad when you discover the loss.

• If you are in Mexico, you’ll need to file a police report if the card is lost and begin a card replacement process via your local immigration office.
• If you are abroad, you need to file a police report if the card is lost, and request an appointment at your nearest Mexican consulate.  The consulate will issue you with a residency visa sticker that you must exchange for a card when you return to Mexico.
• If the card is damaged beyond use, but not lost, you don’t need to file a police report, but you will need to hand-in your damaged card.

Filing for card replacement in Mexico: If you are in Mexico, notifications about lost and damaged cards and requests for a replacement must be started using an electronic form filled-out online, which you must also download, print out, and sign. However, your card replacement procedure does not get officially registered and processed until you go in person to your local immigration office and file the documents.

Filing for card replacement abroad: If you are abroad, you need to make an appointment at your nearest Mexican consulate first.  They will issue a residency visa replacement sticker in your passport that you need to exchange for a replacement residency card when you arrive back in Mexico.

Card replacement process: Learn about the process for replacing a lost or damaged residency card.

Assistance: If you need assistance with the filing, our associate can help.

Learn more about residency in Mexico

Mexperience publishes information and resources to help you learn about how to apply for and obtain legal residency in Mexico:

• Rights and obligations when you’re legally resident in Mexico
• The difference between temporary and permanent residency permits
• Time limits on Mexico’s visitor and residency permits
• Renewing your current residency permit
• Renewing an expired residency permit
• See also: How to apply for residency in Mexico

The new guidelines intend to bring the immigration law up-to-date since it was last revised over a decade ago in 2014.

Summary of key changes to the immigration rules

It will take a while to see how the new guidelines are adopted in practice by Mexican consulates abroad and immigration offices in Mexico. We’ll update this article with material new information as it becomes available. Meanwhile, here are some key points we have gleaned so far from researching the new guidelines:

Digital processes and documents

The new guidelines set out a framework for consulates and immigration offices to deepen their adoption of digital procedures including the issuance of visas using QR codes. For example, electronic visas may replace paper stickers in passports, and it may no longer be necessary in some cases to visit a consulate in person to apply for and get a visa processed.

The new guidelines also recognize that key documentation provided by applicants to support visa applications is becoming increasingly digitized and provides a framework for consulates and immigration offices to accept these in lieu of paper.

Tourists and short-term visitors to Mexico

People with passports from countries on Mexico’s “no visa required” list may continue to arrive in Mexico for vacations and short term visits as before. If a passport you hold is not cited on Mexico’s “no visa required” list (and therefore you must pre-apply for a visa before traveling to Mexico), the process for this visa issuance is being digitalized so that you no longer need a physical paper stamp in your passport. See also: Who needs a visa to visit Mexico?

Applications for residency in Mexico

As consulates begin to adopt the new guidelines, we are seeing some changes in the way applications for residency are processed.

UMAs adopted by consulates

A significant change in the new guidelines is related to the rules for applying for temporary or permanent residency in Mexico by means of ‘economic solvency’—using your monthly income or savings/investments balances to qualify.

Previous to these new guidelines, Mexican consulates abroad were using multiples of Mexico’s Minimum Salary to calculate the income or savings required to qualify.  The new guidelines instruct consulates to adopt UMA. Read about UMA vs Minimum Salary here.

Permanent residency

The new legal guidelines from July 2025 explicitly state that applicants seeking a Permanent Residency visa without first holding Temporary Residency must be retired/pensioned.  Temporary Residents may apply to exchange that for Permanent Residency after four consecutive years. Learn more about temporary and permanent residency in Mexico.

Types of savings being accepted

Our associates have reported that some consulates have begun refusing to accept balances in investment accounts and are now asking for cash savings only to qualify for residency when using savings.  We are monitoring this and will keep our guides updated.

We’ll keep you updated

The new guidelines began to take effect during August 2025.

We are regularly in contact with our immigration associates and as new information becomes available about how the changes are taking effect in practice we will update this article as well as other corresponding guides on Mexperience.

Sign-up for our Mexico Newsletter, published free every month, for updates, local knowledge, and helpful advice about living, lifestyle and leisure in Mexico.

Learn more about residency in Mexico

Mexperience publishes information and resources to help you learn about how to apply for and obtain legal residency in Mexico:

• Learn more about financial criteria for residency in Mexico
• Learn about UMAs and residency qualification
• Principal routes to obtaining legal residency
• Guide to Mexico’s immigration rules

Replacing lost or damaged residency cards

To show that you’re legally resident in Mexico, you need to present your residency card, either Residente Temporal or Residente Permanente.

Many foreign residents in Mexico use this card as a form of official ID on a day-to-day basis, and the card must be presented in situations where you are asked to prove your residency status for some official reason—for example, when you open a bank account.

The card also needs to be presented at the border just before you leave Mexico and again when you return.  If you fail to show your residency card when you enter the country and instead get admitted as a tourist/visitor this may jeopardize your residency status altogether.

For these reasons, a lost residency card needs to be attended to in short order.  How you go about doing this depends on whether you are in Mexico when you discover the loss, or traveling outside of Mexico.

Procedure varies depending on whether you’re in Mexico or outside of Mexico

The procedures for replacing a card vary depending on whether you are in Mexico or abroad.

• If you’re in Mexico, you can attend your local immigration office and file for a replacement card;
• If you’re outside of Mexico, you must first visit a Mexican consulate before you return to Mexico to get a visa sticker in your passport and exchange that sticker for a replacement card when you return to Mexico.

Replacing a lost card when you are in Mexico

If you discover that your residency card is lost, or becomes damaged to the point of being unusable, when you’re in Mexico, you will need to attend your local INM office to get it replaced.  If you are outside of Mexico when you discover the loss, see the next section about replacing a lost card from outside of Mexico.

This section describes the procedures.

Damaged card only

If the card is damaged and you still have the card, you’ll need to hand it in as part of the card replacement process.  The process is identical to the lost card process (see below), except that you won’t need a police report.

Lost/stolen residency card

If the card is lost, you will need to enter a specific process to get your card replaced.

• First, you must report the loss at the local Ministerio Público, or local police, and get an office report reference number for the loss.  After filing the loss, you’ll get a stamped copy of the report on paper, which you will need to take with you to the INM office.
• The replacement request process begins online, using an electronic form, which you also download and print out, sign on paper, and take with you in person to your local immigration office.
• You also need to write a letter requesting a card replacement and explaining the loss, referencing the official loss report and its file number.
• You’ll need to take the original and copies of your passport and, if you have them, copies of the front and back of the residency card you lost/damaged.
• There is a card replacement fee to pay.  Most immigration offices accept payment by bank cards; if your local office doesn’t, or you don’t have a bank card, you’ll need to pay this in cash at a local bank instead.
• The officer at the immigration office will probably interview you to ask more about the circumstances surrounding the loss of the card(s).  If they don’t issue the replacement card the same day, they will give you a receipt and the system will send you an email when the replacement card is ready to pick-up—this can take 1-4 weeks.
• You cannot leave Mexico while this replacement process is in train.  You must stay until your card is replaced.

Replacing a lost card when you are outside of Mexico

If you are abroad when your residency card is lost or damaged beyond use, you will need to enter into a process to begin to get it replaced before you return to Mexico.

If you are abroad, there is a two-stage process that begins at a Mexican consulate abroad and completes when you return to Mexico.

• Report the loss to the local police and get a report number.
• Visit or make an appointment at your nearest Mexican consulate.  (Most consulates can issue a visa for a residency card replacement, but not all, and you might have to travel to the nearest one that does.)
• The consulate will ask you for details about the loss, ask you to complete some paperwork, and you’ll need to pay a consular fee for a replacement visa sticker.  Be sure to have the police report with you.
• You will need to leave your passport with the consulate so that they can place a residency visa sticker in the passport. It can take up to two weeks to get the visa.
• You will use this visa to re-enter Mexico and afterwards request a new card via your local INM office when you return to Mexico.
• When you arrive in Mexico, you must present this sticker to the border official.  Do not enter Mexico as a visitor/tourist.
• You must then attend the local INM office where you are registered (before the visa’s expiry date, usually 30 days after its issue date) and begin the card replacement process, that is similar to the process for exchanging a visa for a residency card.

Learn more about residency in Mexico

Mexperience publishes information and resources to help you learn about how to apply for and obtain legal residency in Mexico:

• Dealing with expired Mexico residency cards
• Renewing your Temporary Residency card in Mexico
• Find the latest residency-related fees charged by Mexico’s government
• Learn about the principal routes to obtaining legal residency
• Our free Mexico Immigration Guide encapsulates essential information about visas and residency permits for Mexico.