Mexico, at your own pace.
For people without a Mexican employer, Mexico's residency system runs on proof of steady income or savings, checked by a consulate before travel rather than assessed only after arrival.
When rules change mid-way, the date your application is filed is what often decides which rules apply to you. Where are you right now?
Pick by how you live
3 routes, grouped by what Mexico's system asks of you day to day — not by which visa is most talked about. Every figure below is what Immimaps has verified against Mexico's official programme rules.
A pension or other steady income from outside the country, and no plan to take a local job.
Most of these sums are shown, not spent.
On most remote-work and retirement routes, the figure is proof of means — it sits in your own account until it's checked, and nothing is transferred. Routes where money genuinely moves are marked below.
routes ask you to show a balance or income — once it's checked, it stays yours.
routes place capital that is exposed until the hold period or conditions are met.
What keeping the visa actually asks of you
Counted from each route's own rules. Some routes lead to permanent residence or citizenship and some don't; the route cards below say which.
Pick a route, see the real commitment
Every official figure below is what Immimaps has verified for that route against Mexico's official programme rules — not a marketing minimum. Service fees are what independent firms publish for the route, shown only once five or more are on file.
The direct-to-permanent route for people who can show sufficient savings or income without needing to pass through a temporary status first.
The temporary version of the same income-or-savings test — a way to commit to a shorter runway before deciding on permanent status.
For people coming to work for a Mexican employer, with the job itself — not personal savings — carrying the application.
What each route costs, stage by stage
Added up from the official figures on file for each route — split into money spent for good, money locked and returned later, and money shown but never transferred. Not a modelled estimate.
Permanent Residency▾
At application
Decision — reported: 1 month.- Shown, never leaves youMX$5,378,664 shown as proof of means — nothing is transferred.
Government fees not on file for this route.
Temporary Resident Visa via Economic Solvency▾
At application
- Spent for goodOfficial fees: MX$11,140.74, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves youMX$79,770.80 shown as proof of means every month — nothing is transferred.
2 ways to qualify — shown: the cheapest. Alternatives: MX$79,770.80 (shown) / MX$1,344,372.60.
Temporary Resident Visa with Work Authorization▾
At application
Decision — reported: 1 month.- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: $340, paid to the government for the initial application.
The order Permanent Residency follows
No confirmed rule change has been flagged for Mexico since it was last checked against the official diputados.gob.mx portal on 2026-08-29. Immimaps keeps watching official immigration sources and will list dated changes here as soon as one is confirmed.
Check the diputados.gob.mx portal directly →The cost calculator separates money spent for good from money that's only shown or locked up.
Open the cost calculatorUpload it and Immimaps checks it against what Mexico's official programme actually requires, and reads the contract clause by clause. Free, no account.
Check my documentEvery official figure on this page is checked against Mexico's official immigration sources. Service fees are what independent firms publish for a route — not an official figure, and never any one firm's price. Immimaps does not publish success rates, approval odds or any probability score — here or anywhere else.
Don’t take a life-changing move on someone else’s word.
Immimaps is not an agency and takes no placement fees. We show the real figures on every route, show the working, and tell you what it actually costs.
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