Moving to Mexico from the USA: Residency Options, Money Tests and Taxes

No. US citizens can visit Mexico as tourists or for business meetings without a visa. The immigration officer decides how many days you get, up to 180, and records it on your entry form (FMM), which is now often digital. A visitor stay cannot be extended, and visitors cannot earn money from Mexican sources.

Bring a valid US passport book for air travel. See visiting Mexico as a tourist for entry rules, and working remotely from Mexico if you plan to work online during a visit.

To live in Mexico for longer, you need residency.

Mexico has no separate digital nomad visa; remote workers use the solvency route. After 4 years as a temporary resident you can switch to permanent residency.

The financial tests are set in days of UMA, a peso unit updated every February. For 2026 (UMA of 117.31 pesos):

US consulates convert these to dollars at their own rate. For example, the Las Vegas consulate's 2026 sheet lists US$4,630 a month or US$78,025 in savings for temporary residency, and San Diego lists US$4,510 or US$75,950. At the rate implied by the Las Vegas sheet, retiree permanent residency works out to about US$7,762 a month or US$312,170 in savings. Your consulate's own figure is the one that counts.

Check your numbers with the solvency calculator and see 2026 solvency thresholds.

You apply in person at the Mexican consulate that serves the area where you live. Mexico has one of the largest consular networks in the US. Guides to some of the busiest consulates:

• Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Phoenix
• Houston, Dallas and Denver
• Chicago, New York, Miami, Atlanta and Seattle

Most US consulates book appointments through the MiConsulado system (citas.sre.gob.mx). Green card holders and people with other legal status in the US can also apply at the consulate for their district. See the full list of Mexican consulates.

After the visa is issued, you enter Mexico within 180 days and apply for your residence card at the National Migration Institute (INM) within 30 days.

• Social Security. US citizens can generally keep receiving Social Security while living in Mexico. The Social Security Administration (SSA) can pay into a US account and, for many countries, directly to a local bank account. Use the SSA's payments abroad tool to confirm your situation.
• Pensions and retirement accounts. Private pensions, IRAs and 401(k) withdrawals keep their US tax treatment. How Mexico treats them depends on your Mexican tax residency and the US-Mexico tax treaty.
• Medicare generally does not pay for care in Mexico. Many retirees buy Mexican or international insurance or join IMSS, and keep Medicare for care on trips to the US. See private health insurance and IMSS for foreigners.

For a broader overview, see retiring in Mexico.

• You still file US taxes. The US taxes citizens on worldwide income wherever they live. The foreign earned income exclusion or foreign tax credits can reduce double taxation.
• You may become a Mexican tax resident once your home is in Mexico. Mexican tax residents are taxed on worldwide income, with credits for tax paid abroad under the treaty.
• Report foreign accounts. If your foreign accounts together exceed US$10,000 at any time in a year, an FBAR is generally required, and FATCA reporting may apply.
• No totalization agreement in force. The US and Mexico signed a social security agreement in 2004, but it has not entered into force.
• State taxes. Some US states keep taxing former residents who do not clearly end their state residency.

See taxes for residents and talk to a cross-border tax professional.

• Your car. Temporary residents can keep a US-plated car on a temporary import permit (TIP). Permanent residents cannot; the car must leave or be legally imported. See temporary vehicle import permits and Mexican plates.
• Household goods. New residents can bring used household goods once, without import taxes, with a consulate certificate: permanent residents import them definitively, and temporary residents bring them in under a temporary import for their stay. See menaje de casa.
• Pets. Dogs and cats are inspected on arrival by SENASICA; plan for US rules if you ever bring a dog back.
• Settling in. Get your CURP, an RFC tax ID and a bank account.

Yes. Most applicants need 5 years of legal residence before applying for naturalization; spouses of Mexican citizens and people with Mexican children can qualify sooner. You take a Spanish and Mexican history and culture exam. Mexico asks naturalizing applicants to renounce their other nationality; the effect on US citizenship depends on US law, so get advice before you apply. See naturalization and dual citizenship.

Americans with a Mexican parent may already be Mexican by birth.