Moving a family to Mexico
Mexico City · 10 sources · Verified Aug 2026
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Does your household clear MX$957,250 a year?
Temporary residence visa (visa de residencia temporal). The threshold rises for each person you bring, so it counts your children.
Threshold from Lineamientos Generales para la expedicion de visas que emiten las secretarias de Gobernacion y de Relaciones Exteriores, Tramite 5, DOF 25 July 2025, checked 2026-08-26. It is the published test, not a decision on your case.
What year one costs
2 adults, 2 children · USD
Your children
State education in Mexico is free at every compulsory level, and the law forbids conditioning enrolment, access to the school, exams or the release of documents on any payment. Education authorities must adopt measures so that children using public education services exercise the same rights and benefits as Mexican students regardless of their nationality or migration status. They must also allow access to basic and upper secondary education even when the family has no academic or identity documents, placing the child in the level and grade that matches their age, cognitive development, emotional maturity and, where relevant, an assessment of what they know.
International schooling runs MX$219,000 to MX$353,800 per child per year.
What goes wrong
Families who need the schooling to happen in English. In Mexico City that means an international school, and tuition alone runs MXN 219,000 to MXN 353,800 per child per year before enrolment fees.
Who to call
We are paid hereKeep this current
The cost desk letter
When a number a family relies on changes
A short note when a visa fee, an income threshold or a school fee we track moves, plus each new edition of the Cost Index. No selling, unsubscribe anytime.
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Sources
Changed since? Tell us and we recheck it.
- Acuerdo 286 as modified by Acuerdo 02/04/17, DOF 18 April 2017, lineamientos 4, 5, 6 and 19; Ley General de Educacion article 142 checked August 26, 2026
- Codigo Fiscal de la Federacion, article 9 fraction I (Camara de Diputados, text in force) checked August 26, 2026
- Eton School Mexico and The American School Foundation, published 2026 to 2027 fee schedules checked August 26, 2026
- Internal Revenue Service, Mexico tax treaty documents checked August 26, 2026
- Ley Federal de Derechos, article 22 fraction III inciso d (Camara de Diputados, text in force) checked August 26, 2026
- Ley General de Educacion, articles 7 fraction IV and 9 fractions IX and X (Camara de Diputados, text in force) checked August 26, 2026
- Ley General de Salud article 77 bis 1 and Ley del Seguro Social articles 240 to 242 (Camara de Diputados, texts in force) checked August 26, 2026
- Lineamientos Generales para la expedicion de visas que emiten las secretarias de Gobernacion y de Relaciones Exteriores, Tramite 5, DOF 25 July 2025 checked August 26, 2026
- Reglamento de la Ley de Migracion, article 156 (Camara de Diputados, text in force) checked August 26, 2026
- USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, pet travel from the United States to Mexico checked August 26, 2026