Menaje de Casa: Importing Your Household Goods to Mexico Tax-Free

Menaje de casa means household goods: furniture, kitchenware, clothing, books, tools, appliances, electronics and other items for your home. Mexico's Customs Law lets people moving to Mexico bring their used household goods without paying the usual import duties and taxes, under set conditions.

The benefit is for household goods only:

• Vehicles are not household goods. Cars have their own rules. See temporary vehicle import permits and Mexican plates.
• Goods for business or resale are not covered.
• New items may not qualify as used household goods. Consulate guidance treats goods as used when you have owned them for at least 6 months.
• Restricted items such as weapons, some medicines, plants and food follow their own rules.

Consulates also ask that you have lived abroad for more than 6 months before the move. Because the treatment differs between temporary and permanent residents, ask your consulate or customs broker what happens to temporarily imported goods if your status changes later. See temporary residency and permanent residency.

Most people start with a menaje de casa certificate from the Mexican consulate that serves the place where they live. Requirements vary a little between consulates. As an example, the Mexican consulate in Kansas City's 2026 instructions ask for:

• A valid foreign passport or ID.
• Your Mexican residency visa or permanent resident card, issued no more than 6 months earlier, or a temporary resident card if that applies.
• A letter to the consul, in Spanish, stating under oath that you have never imported household goods tax-free before, with your address abroad and your future address in Mexico.
• An itemized list of your goods, in Spanish, by box number, with brand, model and serial number for electronics, and your signature on every page.
• Copies of all documents (Kansas City asks for four sets).
• The certificate fee: US$195 at Kansas City in 2026. Other consulates set their own fee in local currency.

Kansas City asks applicants to email scanned documents for review first, then attend an appointment. Check your own consulate's page; see Mexican consulates.

Customs rules link the import to your own move. The goods generally have to travel with you or arrive within a set window before or after you enter Mexico with your residency. Consulate guidance describes windows of a few months before or after your arrival, and up to 6 months after it in some cases, with no extensions.

Plan your shipping so that:

1. You get your residency visa at the consulate first (the certificate depends on it).
2. You get the menaje certificate soon after, while your visa or card is less than 6 months old.
3. Your goods arrive inside the window your consulate and broker confirm.

If you move in stages, ask before you ship: the benefit is used once.

• By moving company. International movers work with a licensed Mexican customs broker (agente aduanal), who files the import declaration (pedimento) using your certificate and inventory.
• Driving in with your goods. You declare the goods at the border crossing. Bring your certificate, inventory, residency documents and copies. Customs may inspect the load.
• Inspection. Customs officers compare the goods with your inventory. Items not on the list, new items, or goods in commercial quantities can be taxed or held.
• Keep your paperwork. Keep the certificate and pedimento with your records; you may need them later, for example when you sell items or leave Mexico.

Ask for a written quote that includes customs brokerage and any storage fees.

• Number every box and list its contents in Spanish.
• For electronics and appliances, write the brand, model and serial number.
• Keep values reasonable and consistent with used goods.
• Do not mix in items for sale or for someone else.
• Pack medicines, alcohol and food separately and check their rules first.
• Sign each page, and keep an identical copy for yourself and your mover.

Pets are not part of the menaje. See moving with pets. For overall moving costs, see cost of living.