Like many prospective expats who have considered moving to Mexico at one point or another, I had heard that the process of applying for Mexican residency, as well as actually obtaining it, was pretty streamlined and decently easy. However, along the way of my own application for residency in this beautiful, diverse slice of Latin America, I realized that there were many things I wish I knew before applying – things that would have made my experience far smoother than they ended up being!
Though the process on the whole is pretty straightforward, there are little tips and tricks that I’ve learned that will help you navigate the things that they don’t tell you about applying for Mexican Residency, either temporary or permanent, and hopefully these 4 pieces of advice help you towards moving to Mexico with a lot less hassle, and less headaches that can come with a good bit of foresight and planning! So here you go, my top 4 things I wish I knew before applying for Mexican residency!
#1: Choose The Embassy You Apply at Carefully!
Believe it or not, not all embassies are made alike, and that rule certainly applies to that of the Mexican Consulates as well, dotted all over the United States and Europe. While most may just think that the best course of action is just to go to closest embassy or consulate when trying to apply for residency, this can end up maybe not being in your favor in the long run.
Case and point – being from New York originally, I ended up going to the consulate in NYC when it came time for me to process my paperwork, however I found the experience to be very lacking in any kind of helpfulness, and left me with more questions than I had came with. This was not my experience alone – as if you were to check the Google Reviews of the consulate, you’d also find quite a few negative experiences that closely fit my own!
Now doing a proper 180 degrees – if I had chosen instead to take a quick flight to Atlanta, and instead go to the consulate there for instance, I would have had a much faster, better, friendlier, and more helpful experience, with less waiting times for appointments and the like, as told to me by friends who’d done this route, and had a much more enjoyable time.
Essentially, choosing the right embassy to apply at may not seem on the surface to be the most important factor when obtaining your Mexican residency, however you’ll soon find that the key to getting the best, streamlined experience at getting your papers with little to no hassle, does in fact revolve hugely on the staff of that consulate. Word to the wise – check Google Reviews on embassies before making an appointment, and seriously considering taking the investment out on a flight or drive to a new city to complete your application – it will definitely be worth it in the long run!
#2: Having A Full Year of Bank Statements (with ONLY 1 Bank)!
For those of you looking to apply for Mexican Temporary Residency under the Economic Solvency exception (like I did), read this tip – for others, you can skip to #3! Regardless, you might want to take heed that the official instructions about obtaining it are correct, but are not revealing explicit details that could ruin your first attempt at trying to set up your application, unless you go in knowing what to expect!
Essentially, you are supposed to be able to prove that you have adequate funds in a bank account for 12 consecutive months – this number is based on a few factors, like the Mexican minimum wage for instance, but a safe bet would be to have at least proof of having 104,000 USD in a bank account when going to apply for temporary (and eventually permanent) residency.
However, note that I said ‘a’ bank account, NOT multiple ones – despite having had more than enough cash to obtain the residency permit when I first applied in NY, because my currency over a 12 month period had been spread out between two bank accounts, I was told they would not process my application! If I had only shown them that I had the money in only one bank account for a 12 month period, I would have had no issues – for some reason, they are very finicky about technicalities like this that are nor reported to the public!
To save you the headache, just remember that if you are applying for Mexican residency under the Economic Solvency clause, you must only have 1 bank account’s statements shown over 12 months that display a balance of around 104,000 USD or more, to have any chance of proceeding with your application. As for me, I did eventually get this all solved (at a different consulate no doubt!), and now hopefully you will be able to as well!
#3: It Takes Longer Than A Few Days…
Another aspect you might want to take consideration of – obtaining Mexican residency paperwork does not take as short an amount of time as some articles have made it out to be! This again, I ended up learning the hard way – and ended up losing money on pre-purchased plane tickets for Mexico in the process!
Unfortunately, the process is not as easy as simply coming to the embassy, dropping off the passport in the morning, and coming back in the afternoon to pick it up with the residency document paperwork inside – although this might have been the case in some of the better Mexican consulates (such as aforementioned Atlanta) in the years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, sadly the bureaucratic processes have unfortunately been drawn out as a result of more and more people trying to apply for residency, to take advantage of Mexico’s lax corona-virus restrictions.
As such you should go in expecting that the process can take anywhere from 3 days to upwards of two weeks in some cases, so make sure to plan accordingly, and not go booking your plane tickets until your passport is safely back in your possession (you will have six months after receiving the residency visa to enter the country and finalize the documents at that time).
So remember to price that in if you plan on going to a embassy or consulate when applying for Mexican residency away from your home town – it isn’t exactly the cheapest option, but it will save you the hassle of re-booking flights, and stress of canceled plans (like what happened to yours truly!) in the circumstance that it does take longer than planned to get back your passport for travel.
#4: The Process Continues in Mexico!
Once you finally get your passport back – congratulations! You are finally ready to fly to Mexico – however take heed, as this does not mean you are done yet with applying for Mexican Residency just yet. In fact, you are only half done – but don’t let that discourage you, as you’re now just that much closer to finalizing your move to Mexico for real.
Once you get to your city where you’d like to reside within the country, it’s recommended that in the first 2 weeks of arrival (but definitely before 30 days have passed from your first arrival in Mexico) that you go to the National Migrant Institute (INM) and apply for your actual residency permit. Everything will be in Spanish, so if you have difficulties with the language, try to either bring a friend who speaks Spanish along, or try to utilize Google Translate to the best of your ability!
Prior to this, all you will be given is a special, single-entry visa for entry (this is what you received at the embassy or consulate you applied at), and if you wish to leave the country prior to your residency card being issued you will need to get special permissions. So make sure that you are ready to stay in Mexico for a bit (at least a few months at minimum), while the INM processes your paperwork!
After you are finally approved, the paperwork processed, and you receive back your temporary/permanent residency card – now you can really celebrate! You have 1 full year before you need to renew it again (at the same INM building you applied at prior), but you’ll have a lot less hassle to deal with the next go-around.
Obtaining any kind of residency permit can be a daunting task, and getting those permits so you can live in Mexico is certainly no exception to the rule. But if you make sure to plan out your strategy first, take these tips into account, and add a good dose of patience, the process of applying for Mexican residency can be that much smoother, so you too can be that much closer to moving to sunny, beautiful Mexico for real.
If you are interested in reading more about why your efforts towards obtaining residency in Mexico will in the end be truly worth it, then check out my article here on the top 5 countries to move to in Latin America, which provides a more in-depth breakdown of where prospective expats should be looking to move to in the region (hint, Mexico is one of my top picks)! Or, if you’re already set on Mexico, then here’s an article I also wrote about places in the country to avoid, and where you should be going to live/visit instead!
Have you ever tried applying for Mexican residency before, either temporary or permanent? What was your experience with dealing with the process as a whole, or with various consulates or embassies around the world? Let us know about your story in the comments section below – we’d love to hear from you!