While the exact Mexican residency visa qualifications have not been officially announced yet for 2026, the government will be significantly hiking fees for next year, as I wrote about in a previous article.
The basic qualifications are not expected to differ much for next year, but several changes have already been announced that represent a break with past practices.
Let’s review them now.
Key Changes with Mexican Residency Visas in 2026
1. Fees for most immigration procedures are doubling. To share two examples…
The cost for a one-year temporary residency permit is set to increase from $5,328 MXN to $10,656 MXN.
The cost of a Permanent residency permit will rise from $6,494 MXN to $12,988 MXN. Sadly, my proposed hack to avoid paying these new, higher fees annually by applying directly for PR now doesn’t work, unless you’re retired (see below).
For more details, check out my previous article on the new fees.
2. Discounts available for some eligible applicants. A 50% discount on the new fees will be applied to residency applications related to family units and those sponsored by a company.
3. Permanent Residency is now limited to retirees and pensioners, if the applicant is not changing to PR from a Temporary Residency after four consecutive years.
Unlike in years past, when anyone who could meet the PR income and/or financial asset requirements could qualify, applicants in 2026 seeking permanent residency without prior temporary residency must be retired or pensioned. This new rule took effect in July 2025.
To reiterate, those who have held temporary residency for four straight years and seek to convert their status to permanent residency in 2026 do NOT need to be retirees or pensioners to qualify.
4. A minor’s exit must be authorized and paid for. A new fee of approximately $294 MXN will be implemented for the “Minor’s Exit Authorization Form” to help prevent the illegal removal of children from Mexico.
5. The financial solvency calculation will no longer be based on a multiple of the Mexican minimum wage, as in previous years. The required minimum threshold of income or savings to qualify for residency will now be based on UMA, which is short for Unidad de Medida y Actualización, or Unit of Measurement and Update.
The UMA value is published by INEGI (National Institute of Statistics & Geography) once a year. For 2025, the daily UMA value was $113.14 MXN, and $3,439.46 MXN monthly.
This number will be updated in early 2026 and is expected to rise at a rate consistent with Mexico’s annual inflation rate. As of mid-November, inflation in Mexico was running at around 3.6% overall, with core inflation of 4.3%, according to Mexico’s central bank.
Bottom line: The 2026 financial solvency requirements for Mexican residency will now be expressed as a multiple of the UMA, rather than a multiple of the minimum wage. What the exact multiple will be isn’t known yet.
Thoughts on 2026 Financial Solvency Requirements for Mexican Residency
There is no single set of FS requirements for Mexican residency that all consulates abroad observe. For foreigners, this lack of consistency can be maddening.
But it is a fact of life when dealing with Mexico’s bureaucracy. What happens in one office very frequently differs from what happens in others.
Since most foreigners will begin the process of seeking Mexican residency at a Mexican Consulate in their home country, this is precisely where you need to inquire into what the financial requirements are.
My research has found that some Mexican Consulates are transparent, posting the FS requirements publicly on their websites. Others, not so much.
Below you can see how much the requirements differed at a handful of consulates this year.
Financial Solvency Requirements Set by Various Mexican Consulates in 2025
(all values in USD)
Consulates in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Atlanta (to name a few) do not bother posting their criteria. Presumably, you must secure an appointment before uncovering this crucial information. I’m no fan of this lack of transparency.
In 2026, it’s a good bet that the financial minimums will increase by at least 4%, in line with inflation. But there’s no law stating that they can’t rise by more. (The only safe bet is that they won’t rise by less than 4%)
When the actual requirements are released for next year, we will publish them here.