A few weeks ago I published a video with Sergei on a special Mexican government program that allows anyone who set foot in Mexico between 2015 and 2020 to apply for a 4-year temporary residency, which can then easily be turned into permanent residency later on with minimal time on the ground (if the rules don’t change).
This special program is set to expire at the end of the year, and may or may not be extended next year.
The “normal way” to get residency in Mexico is also very doable.
There are multiple ways to get residency in Mexico, there aren’t any minimum physical presence requirements to be able to renew, and temporary residency can be turned into permanent residency after 4 years.
Sergei elaborated on how to obtain residency in Mexico in this video below.
Who is Mexican residency right for?
I see Mexican residency primarily as a plan B due to the high taxes for tax residents. The good news is that simply obtaining residency in Mexico does not make you a tax resident there – you would actually need to live there to qualify for tax residency.
I also see this as a good opportunity for those who want to work towards citizenship. Essentially, one can apply for citizenship after having been a resident for 5 years, and having physically spent 18 of the 24 months in Mexico prior to applying for citizenship.
In a world of rising uncertainty, Mexico is a no-brainer Plan B residency that is easy to obtain, and that is also extremely pleasant to spend time in. It’s a regional powerhouse of 130 million people with a diversified economy, great airline connections, amazing beaches, friendly people, sunshine, and decent food.
I’m happy to have obtained residency here in Mexico for myself and my whole family.
More information on Sergei’s services here.
To a World of Opportunities,
The Wandering Investor
Available services in Mexico:
Articles on Mexico:
- Easy 4 year residency for past tourists in Mexico
- Making a Real Estate investment in Playa del Carmen – decent diversification in Mexico
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Full transcript of “Easy: How to get Residency in Mexico”
LADISLAS MAURICE: Hello, everyone. Ladislas Maurice from thewanderinginvestor.com. So today, we’re going to be discussing how to get residency in Mexico with Sergei. Sergei, how are you?
SERGEI: Fine, thanks. Hello, everybody.
LADISLAS MAURICE: So Sergei is an agent specializing in helping people obtain residency here in Mexico. He helped me with mine, I now have permanent residency in Mexico. So can you, please, elaborate on a few of the ways, the most common ways that people can obtain residency here in Mexico?
Get Residency in Mexico through proof-of-income
SERGEI: Yeah. The first way, it’s when you have enough money incomes or savings. For example, the name of this residency is solvencia economica. If you have $2,600 monthly on the last six months, and you can show all the papers to the Mexican embassy in your country, and you can explain of this money, they can give you the special visa. And with this visa, you just need to come to Mexico, in one month, we can change the special visa to the residence temporal card for one year. After one year, we can renovate it. And after four years of the renovation, we can make permanent residency. And with the permanent residency just one year for waiting until the citizenship.
Get Residency in Mexico through proof-of-savings
SERGEI: The second way, if you have savings for the last 12 months, it should be about 40,000 to 45,000 US dollars for the each month. And it’s the same, you show the papers to the Mexican embassy in your country, they will give you, after they enter the special visa. With this visa, you come here the same way in the first option. Incomes or savings, six months or 12 months. The second option–
LADISLAS MAURICE: I think, and what’s really interesting about this is that there are no really physical presence requirements. So it’s a very good plan B. So it’s something that a lot of people are looking for nowadays, and Mexico offers this. You don’t need to spend half the year in Mexico to maintain the residency, you just need to come here to get it and then come here whenever you need to renew it. And then, after a few years, it turns into permanent residency. And permanent residency in Mexico is really interesting, because when I look at my own card here, there is no expiry date.
SERGEI: Yeah. But just for the parents, just for the adults up to 18 years old. Because for the kids it’s for four years, for the adults it’s for the whole their life.
LADISLAS MAURICE: For whole life?
SERGEI: Yes.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Cool.
SERGEI: Yes.
LADISLAS MAURICE: So that becomes very valuable. So essentially, you just start the process now and then, in four years, if things don’t change, with just a few trips to Mexico, you would get permanent residency in Mexico, and which is valid for life. And importantly, that does not necessarily trigger tax residency, okay. So you can be a resident of Mexico, and you can be a permanent resident of Mexico without triggering a tax residency in Mexico. Unless if you have the center of your interest here, or you spend, you know, at least half the year in Mexico. So I mean, I’m not giving tax advice here, but essentially it’s very possible to be a permanent resident here without being a tax resident. And that’s a very valuable residency to have in times of uncertainty such as ours.
SERGEI: Yes. Yes, absolutely.
Get Residency in Mexico through investment
LADISLAS MAURICE: So then the other way is through investment.
SERGEI: Yeah. When you buy some property by your own name, you should pay like 350,000 US dollars in total.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Roughly.
SERGEI: Yeah. Or maybe a little bit more, depends by the economic station. And the second option, you can open the company, even if you’re a tourist, you don’t need to be the resident here to open company by your own name. And you can buy this property to the company. And in this case, you just need to pay like half of the price, 175,000 US dollars, twice less. And the same, after you can start the process in any embassy outside the Mexican embassy. After they checking all the papers, so they will give you this special visa, investor visa. And with this visa on the passport, you need to come to Mexico during half a year, 180 days. And in one month, we continue the process here to get the temporary residency card.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Fantastic. So essentially, buy a house here or buy a house through a company, less money, a bit more accounting, etc. But a lot of people actually use corporations here to invest in real estate. So two interesting options, when I really look at it, generally, any person that has the money to pay $170,000 through a company or $350,000 to buy real estate directly would be able to qualify through economic solvency anyways. So in many cases, it’s a bit redundant, because anyways, there’s that easier way to qualify.
And then I think what’s important to note as well is in terms of economic solvency, it really depends on the consulate and the embassy at which you apply. So you mentioned $2,600 minimum monthly income for six months, or $43,000 to $45,000 over 12 months on your bank account. But it really depends. Some embassies want more.
SERGEI: Yeah. And some embassies have the one more interesting option for PR. When you have, for example, it’s like a retiring visa, when you have more than $4,500 incomes or about $175,000 savings on your bank account during this 12 month, it’s possible to start the process for PR for permanent residency from the very beginning. But of course, it depends by the different options by the different embassies. And always you need to check because from the beginning, we advise to send them the letter. They will explain to you exactly what you need to present and after you can start the process.
LADISLAS MAURICE: And that’s why it’s important to use someone like Sergei for this process because there are the rules, but then they’re a bit different in all the different embassies and consulates. And you know, sure, Sergei comes with a fee, but then your life is a lot easier and then but he helps you essentially choose the consulates as well, and then navigate the whole process, write the proper motivation letter, etc., and then come here, set everything up. I mean, I literally just had to show up at appointments and I got all my paperwork done. So that was an efficient use of my time.
But yes, this option of being able to immediately get permanent residency for some types of people is very, very interesting. And then, also, you wanted to mention as well if people have a child here in Mexico. Can you elaborate?
Get Residency in Mexico through giving birth
SERGEI: Yes. It’s one very interesting option, too, when you’re waiting for the baby, you can come to Mexico, just pay for the medicine like some dollars. And after the childbirth, in one month, usually or even less you can get your PR cards for the whole the family, not only for the parents, but for the siblings, for the grandmas, grandpas, and it’s really easy. And you like skip the process of the temporary residency because, from the very beginning, you get your permanent cards.
LADISLAS MAURICE: So this is absolutely amazing. So essentially, everyone should have their kid in Mexico, objectively. You come to Mexico, you have the child here, there’s great medical care. The kid becomes Mexican. And because you are the parent of a naturally-born Mexican citizen, you are entitled to permanent residency for life, as well as the other parent, as well as the grandparents on both sides, as well as the siblings. So this is absolutely a life hack.
Sergei, we’re going to do another video with this, on this very topic with Sergei, because he has an agency specializing in birth tourism in Mexico, setting up the whole package to make sure that the mother is taken care of, the good hospitals are chosen, good doctors, good care after the birth, etc. But that’ll be another video. But Sergei specializes in this as well.
SERGEI: Yeah.
LADISLAS MAURICE: So economic solvency, investment, retired people, birth tourism. Any other ways?
SERGEI: Yeah. Just two options if you have employment in Mexico, or the second option, if you’re married in the Mexican woman, for example, and it’s easy to get a temporary residency card.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Fantastic. Thank you, Sergei. So there is a link below with more information on Sergei’s services and on how to obtain residency here in beautiful Mexico.
SERGEI: Okay.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Thank you.
SERGEI: Thank you so much. Bye.
