What are the latest Mexican visa requirements for January 2021?

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Immigration Attorney Mitch Burgos of Easy Legal Mexico answers some of the common questions about getting or extending a Mexican visa as of January 2021. Unfortunately, there is a lot of incorrect information and misinformation out there, so we want you to know what the true latest Mexican visa requirements are.

If you’d like for Easy Legal Mexico to help you with your visa, or if you have other questions that aren’t covered in this article, email info@easylegalmexico.com or call +52 999-944-0296 to schedule an appointment with a Mexican immigration attorney. Our team are bilingual, experienced, and dedicated to making your legal issues in Mexico as “Easy” as possible.  That’s why we’re called Easy Legal Mexico.

Q. What has changed for 2021 about the income or asset requirements to get a temporary or permanent resident visa for Mexico?

A. Now the income requirements are based on UMAS, or Unidades de Medida y Actualización which means “The Unit of Measurement and Update (UMA) is the economic reference in pesos to determine the amount of payment from obligations and alleged assumptions provided for in the federal law, for the states and Mexico City, as well as in legal provisions emanating from all of the above.” (http://en.www.inegi.org.mx/temas/uma/)

The UMAS increased from 86.88 pesos to 89.62 pesos in 2021, with which the monthly amount is 2,724.45 pesos and the annual amount at 32,693.40 pesos. “The monthly value of UMA is calculated by multiplying its daily value by 30.4 and its annual value is calculated by multiplying its monthly value by 12.”  (Also from the INEGI website)

This change is a good thing for those wishing to get a Residente Temporal (Temporary Resident Visa) or a Residente Permanente (Permanent Resident Visa).  Previously it was based on a multiple of the minimum wage in Mexico, which went up by about 20% for 2021, while the UMAS only increased by 3 pesos.  So your financial requirements are lower than they would be if they’d stayed with the multiple of the minimum wage.

Q. What are the latest Mexican visa requirements for a temporary resident visa for 2021?

A. To get a temporary visa based on economic solvency, which is the most common way to get a Mexican temporary resident visa, you have to show 26, 886 pesos (around 1,345 USD) in monthly income for the last 6 months or 448,100 pesos as an average balance in savings/ investments for the last 12 months, which is about 22,405 USD, depending on exchange rate fluctuations.

Q. What are the financial requirements for a permanent resident visa for 2021?

A. For a Mexican permanent resident visa, you’ll need to prove 44,810 pesos (about 2,250 USD) in monthly income, or 1,792,400 pesos (about 89,620 USD) in savings / investments.

Q. To get either a temporary or permanent Mexican resident visa, you still have to start outside Mexico, but not necessarily in your home country, right?

A. Yes, the process does have to start at a Mexican Embassy or Consulate office outside of Mexico, but it does not necessarily have to be in the country where you hold citizenship. Many people think it has to start in their home country, but this is not correct.

Q. Can you extend your FMM tourist visa during COVID without having to leave the country and come back?

A. Well, technically it’s not a true extension. It’s the issuance of a new FMM. But for practical purposes, the answer is yes. It is known as a regularization by expired document. Because of this, there’s no point in trying to do this before your visitor’s visa (FMM) expires. Getting this new FMM is based on economic solvency.  You must show an income of at least the equivalent of 13,443 pesos (Around 680 USD) per month in the last 6 months or 44,800 pesos (around 2,250 USD) in savings in the last 12 months.

There are fines and fees involved.  You’ll have to pay fees and fines of about 4,200 pesos (about 210 USD) – this includes a fine of around 2,000 pesos for overstaying the tourist visa and fees of 1,500 pesos (for processing) and 700 pesos (for the issuance of the new FMM).  Previously, INM (the National Institute of Migration, or Instituto Nacional de Migración) was extending tourist visas at no charge for humanitarian reasons, but that is currently no longer the case.  We don’t know whether the INM will start doing extensions for humanitarian reasons again in the future.  This is how it is right now.

Q. Why should I hire an attorney to help me with my visa?

A. You can do it yourself, but it’s often significantly easier to make absolutely sure you’re meeting the latest Mexican visa requirements to save yourself headaches and potential unexpected costs. We help people get visas all the time and we stay up to date with all changes the law implements that impact residency requirements. There are some things you’ll still need to do yourself, such as go to the Mexican Consulate or Embassy to start the process, but we’ll handle as much of the work as possible, so as to save you time, energy, headaches and more.  We also recommend that if you do hire someone, choose wisely.   There are many people and companies out there who act as attorneys but are not attorneys.  This can lead to even more problems than doing it yourself.  If any problems do arise, you’ll want an attorney on your side, not just someone who acts like one.

*Important note: as mentioned above, but important enough to repeat, the income or asset requirements for a temporary or permanent visa are now based on a multiple of the UMAS, NOT the minimum wage.  There are websites out there that have been widely shared on social media as “Authority” sites on Mexican immigration that (as of this writing) have NOT been updated with the current information.

Some sites are even stating that the temporary or permanent visa process can now start within Mexico, but we have so far been unable to verify with INM that this is a possible option.  Therefore, our recommendation is to follow the rules and begin the process outside of Mexico.

There are other types of visas you may be able to get to stay in Mexico, such as Family Unity, student visas, and so on, which are not included in this article.

For more specific questions about your particular situation if they haven’t been answered here, contact Easy Legal Mexico at info@easylegalmexico.com or call +52 999-944-0296 (the +52 is the country code for Mexico, and is not necessary if you’re calling from within Mexico, unless perhaps you’re calling from a non-Mexican phone number).

You can also visit our Immigration Services page for more information here. It has also been updated with the latest Mexican visa requirements for 2021.

We look forward to helping you!

The Easy Legal Mexico team

Source: easylegalmexico.com

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