What it costs to move a family to Mexico

This is the statutory fee for an ordinary visa in a foreign passport, which is the fee charged for a temporary residence visa. The peso amounts in the law are the 2026 figures, updated by the Resolucion Miscelanea Fiscal published in the DOF on 28 December 2025. Consular offices abroad collect the fee in the local currency authorised by the finance ministry, so the dollar amount you pay at a US consulate is a conversion of this figure. The residence card issued after arrival is charged separately.

The Lineamientos state the test in UMA, not in pesos: employment or pension income free of encumbrances above 680 days of UMA a month for the last six months. The UMA daily value in force from 1 February 2026 is MXN 117.31 (INEGI, Comunicado de prensa 1/26, 8 January 2026, https://www.inegi.org.mx/contenidos/saladeprensa/boletines/2026/UMA/UMA2026.pdf), so 680 days is MXN 79,770.80. Mexican law used to state these thresholds in days of minimum wage. The third transitory article of the constitutional decree published in the DOF on 27 January 2016 (desindexacion del salario minimo) requires every mention of the minimum wage as a unit of account in federal law to be read as the UMA, which is why the current text is written in UMA. The alternative test is investments or bank accounts with an average monthly balance of 11,460 days of UMA, MXN 1,344,372.60, over the last twelve months. The Lineamientos were amended on 15 May 2026 (DOF), and that amendment did not change these amounts. The consular interview decides the application.

The text requires proof of economic solvency for the maintenance of each family member: monthly income free of encumbrances above 220 days of UMA for the last six months, or bank and investment accounts averaging 220 days of UMA over the last twelve months. At the UMA daily value of MXN 117.31 in force from 1 February 2026 (INEGI), 220 days is MXN 25,808.20.

The same 220 days of UMA test applies to each family member, including each child, on top of the main applicant's own threshold. At the UMA daily value of MXN 117.31 in force from 1 February 2026 (INEGI), that is MXN 25,808.20 a month for each child.

This is the fee for a card valid for up to one year. The same article charges MXN 16,693.36 for two years, MXN 21,142.58 for three and MXN 25,057.82 for four. Renewal costs the same as first issue. A paragraph added to article 8 by the reform published in the DOF on 7 November 2025 halves these fees for temporary and permanent residents who prove to INM that their stay is for the preservation of family unity, for a job offer from a registered employer, or on the invitation of an institution for unpaid activity.

Article 8 says that renewing the documents in fractions II to VII costs the same as issuing them, so a one year renewal is the same MXN 11,140.74 and a longer renewal costs whatever that term costs. Replacing a lost card is MXN 1,779.93. The same 50 per cent reduction for family unity applies.

Temporary residence is capped at four years by article 52 fraction VII of the Ley de Migracion, which also gives the holder the right to family unity, so a spouse and children can reside for as long as the main applicant's permit lasts.

Enrolling is a separate question from having your child's US record recognised. Studies completed in a foreign school system only acquire official validity in Mexico through revalidacion (Ley General de Educacion article 142).

The MXN 51.65 fee is set by article 186 fraction XII inciso a of the Ley Federal de Derechos (https://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/LFD.pdf). States may charge their own fee where the studies fall under a state authority. This is separate from enrolment: a school must admit your child even without papers (Ley General de Educacion article 9 fraction IX), but the record itself is worth nothing on paper until it is revalidated.

Tuition only, and both schools bill it as ten monthly payments from August to May. The low end is Eton School Mexico early childhood at MXN 21,900 a month. The high end is The American School Foundation upper school, grades 9 to 12, at MXN 35,380 a month (ASF 2026 to 2027 fee schedule, https://www.asf.edu.mx/admissions/tuition-and-fees). Eton elementary is MXN 25,620 a month and middle school MXN 28,350; ASF early childhood is MXN 27,810, lower school MXN 32,050 and middle school MXN 34,630. Annual enrolment or registration, books, bus and any learning support are charged on top.

Eton charges MXN 47,920 in early childhood rising to MXN 56,000 in high school, every year, not only on joining. Its one time admission fee for new students is not published and is given at an information session. The American School Foundation structures this differently: it charges two registration payments a year, each equal to one month of tuition for the division, plus a one time admission payment of USD 7,000 per student (ASF 2026 to 2027 fee schedule, https://www.asf.edu.mx/admissions/tuition-and-fees).

The Ley del Seguro Social is at https://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/LSS.pdf. Article 242 leaves the amount of the voluntary IMSS contribution to the institute's technical council, which sets it annually by age group; we could not reach the IMSS page publishing the current schedule on 26 August 2026, so no figure is published here. The requirement list for the temporary residence visa in the Lineamientos Generales para la expedicion de visas (DOF 25 July 2025, Tramite 5) contains no health insurance requirement, and the same Lineamientos state that a consular officer may not ask for requirements beyond those in the law, the regulation and the Lineamientos themselves.

The sentence barring extra consular requirements was reformed by the acuerdo published in the DOF on 15 May 2026 (https://dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5787660&fecha=15/05/2026). Not being required is not the same as not being wanted; many families buy private cover anyway, and this site does not publish a premium unless an insurer publishes the rate itself.

APHIS reproduces the SENASICA zoosanitary requirement sheets (HRZ 007-35-61-USA-USA for dogs, HRZ 013-08-504-USA-USA for cats); SENASICA's own pages on gob.mx were unreachable on 26 August 2026, so APHIS is cited because it is the page actually read. Its last modified date is 27 July 2026. The cat exemption has applied since 16 December 2019. If ectoparasites are found at inspection you must arrange and pay for treatment; if ticks are found the animal is held at the OISA until the sample is identified. Dirty carriers, disposable bedding, toys and food other than the day's ration are removed and destroyed. Coming back the other way, dogs entering the United States from Mexico must meet APHIS screwworm freedom certification, because Mexico has been treated as screwworm affected since 22 November 2024.

A treaty exists, which is a different thing from telling you what you will owe. The IRS page was last reviewed on 9 August 2026.