Moving to Mexico from the US with your family

Residency for a US family

Under Mexico's Migration Law, a visitor can stay up to 180 days without working for a Mexican employer. If you drive in, the US Embassy says most land travellers need an FMM entry permit, which you can get online or at the border. Use visitor status for scouting trips. Residency starts with a consulate appointment in the US, so apply before you move.

Temporary residence covers stays longer than 180 days and up to four years. It lets you work for an employer that pays you from abroad, which suits a parent with a remote US job. Most families qualify through economic solvency. Using the 2026 UMA, Mexperience and MexLaw put the test at net monthly income of 680 UMA days (about MXN 79,771) for each of the last six months, or an average balance of 11,460 UMA days (about MXN 1,344,373) over the last 12 months. Mexperience adds 220 UMA days (about MXN 25,808) for each dependent spouse or child and says you can't mix income for one person with savings for another. On those figures a couple with two children showing income would need about MXN 157,195 a month.

In dollars, the Consulate General in San Diego asks for $4,049 a month in income or $68,241 in savings in 2026. Its fee is $56 in cash, appointments go through MiConsulado, and it can take up to ten business days. Other consulates use different rates, so work from your own consulate's sheet. San Diego asks for apostilles only on documents from countries other than Mexico and the US, but you'll want apostilled birth and marriage certificates for later steps in Mexico. For state-issued vital records, the apostille comes from that state's secretary of state.

Permanent residence comes after four years as a temporary resident. Retirees living on a pension can apply for it directly. The 2026 tests are 1,140 UMA days a month in income (about MXN 133,733) or 45,850 UMA days in savings (about MXN 5,378,664).

This isn't legal advice. Every consulate publishes its own figures and they change, so check with your consulate or a qualified immigration lawyer before you book anything.

• Step one: the consulate interview in the US, where they take biometrics and put the visa in your passport.
• Step two: within 30 days of entering Mexico, swap the visa for a residence card at an INM office. MexLaw lists the 2026 fee for a one-year temporary card as MXN 11,141.
• Your CURP, Mexico's population ID number, is assigned automatically when INM issues your foreigner number (NUE).

Cost of living and safety

We're updating our city figures, so none here. Broadly, rent and groceries cost much less than in most US cities, and the gap is smaller in the neighbourhoods and resort towns where foreign families cluster. Two costs close it further: private health insurance and international school fees.

If your income stays in dollars, exchange rates matter too, because the solvency test is set in pesos. Try your own numbers in our cost-of-living calculator.

Safety depends on the state, and then on the neighbourhood. The State Department reissued its Mexico advisory on 29 May 2026 at Level 2, Exercise Increased Caution, for the country as a whole, and gives each state its own level. In LATAM Travellers' summary of that advisory, Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas are at Level 4, Do Not Travel. Seven states are at Level 3, including Guanajuato (home to San Miguel de Allende) and Jalisco (Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta). Mexico City, Quintana Roo, Oaxaca and Querétaro are at Level 2, and Yucatán and Campeche are at Level 1. The advisory also asks US citizens to follow the rules for US government staff, who may not travel between cities after dark or drive between border cities and the interior, with limited exceptions.

Schools

Public schools teach in Spanish and follow the national curriculum set by the SEP, the education ministry. Since 2015 the SEP hasn't required apostilles or certified translations of school and identity documents for children arriving from abroad, at basic and upper-secondary level.

Private bilingual and international schools are concentrated in Mexico City and a few other cities, and many don't publish fees. If your teenagers may go to a US college, check how the diploma is accredited. Some families homeschool or use a US online school instead, which our post on homeschooling abroad covers.

Healthcare: IMSS and private cover

Most US families use private doctors and hospitals and carry private insurance. Check the policy covers residents, not just travellers.

Residents without other social security can join the IMSS family health insurance (Seguro de Salud para la Familia) voluntarily. You pay a year in advance, per person, by age. From 1 March 2026 the fees run from MXN 9,300 for under-20s to MXN 22,150 for people 80 and over. IMSS excludes several pre-existing conditions, including cancer, chronic kidney failure and heart valve disease. Cover starts on the first day of the following month, and IMSS doesn't refund payments.

Driving, cars and banking

To drive a US-registered car into Mexico you need a temporary vehicle importation permit from Banjercito, either at a CIITEV module at the border or online 10 to 60 days before you cross. The US Embassy lists a non-refundable fee of $45 to $59 and a refundable deposit of $200 to $400, depending on the car's age. Cancel the permit at the border when you leave, or you lose the deposit and may not be able to bring the car back. You don't need a permit for the Baja California peninsula, the Sonora Free Zone, Quintana Roo or the border zone. Banjercito describes the program as being for tourists and Mexicans living abroad, so check the rules for residents first.

Your US car insurance doesn't count in Mexico, and you need a separate Mexican policy. We couldn't find an official Mexican source on how long a resident can keep driving on a US licence, so ask your state transit office once you've arrived.

Mexico has a FATCA agreement with the US, which means Mexican banks report accounts held by Americans. Keep a US account and card open for income while you set up Mexican banking.

Taxes on both sides

The US taxes its citizens wherever they live, so you keep filing a US return every year, with an automatic extension to June 15 while you live abroad. The foreign earned income exclusion covers up to $132,900 of earned income in 2026 if you pass the bona fide residence test or the physical presence test (330 full days abroad in 12 months). It doesn't reduce self-employment tax. The foreign tax credit, which offsets US tax with tax paid in Mexico, is the other main tool.

You'll also report Mexican accounts. An FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) is needed if your foreign accounts together go over $10,000 at any time in the year. It's due April 15 with an automatic extension to October 15. Form 8938 applies to people living abroad with foreign assets over $200,000 at year end (or $300,000 at any time) if single, or $400,000 (or $600,000) if married filing jointly.

Mexico's Fiscal Code makes you resident if you set up your home in Mexico. If you keep a home in the US as well, you're resident where your center of vital interests is, which the code ties to more than half your income coming from Mexican sources or your main professional activity being in Mexico. If your only home is in Mexico, the first test applies wherever your income comes from. The US and Mexico income tax treaty, signed in 1992 and amended by a 2003 protocol, decides which country taxes what when both claim you.

This isn't tax advice. Talk to an adviser who knows both US and Mexican tax before you move.

A realistic timeline

1. 6 to 9 months before

   Pick a city with safety and schools in mind, then check your income or savings against your consulate's current figures.

2. 4 to 6 months before

   Order birth and marriage certificates and get state apostilles. Gather six months of income statements or twelve months of savings statements.

3. 2 to 3 months before

   Book a visa appointment for each of you through MiConsulado. Arrange private health insurance.

4. Before driving down

   Apply for a Banjercito vehicle permit and buy Mexican car insurance.

5. Within 30 days of arrival

   Swap each visa for a residence card at INM. Your CURPs follow automatically.

6. First few months

   Open a bank account, enrol the children, and talk to a cross-border tax adviser about Mexican residency.