Family visa in Mexico

• A Mexican citizen can bring a spouse, partner, parents, spouse's minor children, foreign-born children who are not Mexican and minor siblings. A permanent resident can bring a similar list, and a temporary resident can bring a spouse, partner, minor children and parents.
• A partner without a marriage certificate counts after five years of living together, or sooner if you have children together. Only one spouse or partner can be sponsored, even where foreign law allows more.
• Unlike most visitors, a visitor with a family tie to a Mexican or to a foreign resident can change status without leaving the country. Other visitors, apart from humanitarian cases, must leave when their stay ends.

Sources: Chamber of Deputies of Mexico, Diario Oficial de la Federación (Secretaría de Gobernación and Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores). Checked 16 October 2026.

• A spouse or partner of a Mexican citizen who applies at a consulate shows the marriage or partnership document and proof of Mexican nationality; the guidelines list no solvency amount. The INM family procedure lists none either.
• A relative of a foreign temporary or permanent resident who applies at a consulate shows 220 days of UMA, a monthly income or twelve-month balance of about MXN 25,800 each. To be safe, have more than MXN 26,000 for each person.
• Consulates print dollar amounts for each relative: San Diego about US$1,500 and New York about US$1,400 a month; to be safe, have more than US$1,500. Vancouver prints about CA$2,100; to be safe, have more than CA$2,100.

Sources: Diario Oficial de la Federación (Secretaría de Gobernación and Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores), Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI), Consulate General of Mexico in San Diego, Consulate General of Mexico in New York, Consulate General of Mexico in Vancouver. Checked 16 October 2026.

• For a spouse or partner of a Mexican citizen, San Diego asks for the marriage certificate or equivalent and proof of Mexican citizenship, a birth certificate and passport. The Mexican citizen must be present when you apply.
• Relatives of a resident bring birth or marriage certificates in original or certified copy and the resident's valid visa or card. A child must be a minor who is unmarried or in the holder's custody; a spouse's child also needs the marriage certificate. A student resident adds a school letter.
• At INM the sponsor brings a Mexican official ID or resident card, a copy of the relative's passport and proof of the link. Foreign public documents other than a passport need an apostille or consular legalisation and a Spanish translation.

Sources: Consulate General of Mexico in San Diego, Diario Oficial de la Federación (Secretaría de Gobernación and Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores). Checked 16 October 2026.

• A consulate takes the family application only if the Mexican or the resident is outside Mexico and goes with the relative to file. Otherwise the sponsor applies at INM in Mexico, INM decides within 20 working days, and its authorisation lasts 30 working days for booking the consular interview, held within 12 working days of booking.
• A consulate has up to 10 working days to decide. The visa is valid for 180 days and one entry, and you have 30 calendar days from arriving to swap it for a residence card at INM. Consulates may document the spouse of a Mexican case by case when the spouse cannot show legal stay in the country of application.
• San Diego books appointments only through MiConsulado, charges its fee before reviewing your file, calls its decision final and advises against buying flights before the visa is issued.

Sources: Diario Oficial de la Federación (Secretaría de Gobernación and Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores), Chamber of Deputies of Mexico, Consulate General of Mexico in San Diego. Checked 16 October 2026.

• INM charges MXN 247.96 to study and authorise a family visa, and the consular visa fee is MXN 990.79 in the law. San Diego prints US$56, paid in cash.
• A card for a stay based on family unity pays half the usual fee once you show INM the family link: MXN 5,570.37 for up to a year, MXN 8,346.68 for two years, MXN 10,571.29 for three, MXN 12,528.91 for four, and MXN 6,789.48 for a permanent card.

Sources: Chamber of Deputies of Mexico, Consulate General of Mexico in San Diego. Checked 16 October 2026.

• A spouse or partner of a Mexican citizen or a permanent resident receives temporary residence for two years. Relatives of a temporary resident can live in Mexico for as long as the holder's permit lasts.
• Renewal pays the same fee as the first card. A temporary resident relative may leave and re-enter freely and may obtain permission to work for pay subject to a job offer.

Sources: Chamber of Deputies of Mexico. Checked 16 October 2026.

• A spouse or partner of a Mexican citizen or permanent resident can move to permanent residence after the two years, as long as the marriage or partnership continues.
• Some relatives receive permanent residence directly: parents, minor children and minor siblings of Mexican citizens or permanent residents, a foreign parent of a Mexican-born child, and direct ascendants or descendants up to the second degree of a Mexican by birth. Other relatives qualify after four years of temporary residence.

Sources: Chamber of Deputies of Mexico, Diario Oficial de la Federación (Secretaría de Gobernación and Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores). Checked 16 October 2026.

• You are a Mexican tax resident if you set up your home in Mexico, even if your spouse is the only Mexican in the household. Residents pay income tax on worldwide income, whatever their nationality.
• Under article 93 of the income tax law, what you receive by inheritance or legacy is exempt, and so are gifts between spouses and gifts from ascendants to descendants in direct line, whatever the amount. Other gifts are exempt only up to three times the annual general minimum wage of your area in a calendar year, and the excess is taxed.

Sources: Chamber of Deputies of Mexico, Cámara de Diputados del H. Congreso de la Unión. Checked 17 October 2026.

• Digital nomad visa in Mexico
• Retirement visa in Mexico
• Work permit in Mexico
• Investor visa in Mexico

• Visas in Mexico
• Mexico

1. Temporary resident visa: family reunification (2026 checklist), Consulate General of Mexico in San Diego. Checked 16 October 2026. San Diego consular district. US$1,460 a month or balance for each dependant of a resident; fee US$56 in cash.
2. Status table: Apostille Convention of 5 October 1961, Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). Checked 16 October 2026. In force for Mexico from 14 August 1995, the United States from 15 October 1981, Canada from 11 January 2024, Australia from 16 March 1995 and New Zealand from 22 November 2001.
3. US citizens abroad: filing requirements, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 4 October 2026.
4. US–Mexico income tax convention (1992), text, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 4 October 2026. Article 4 (residence) and the saving clause read; the 2002 protocol was not reviewed.
5. US international Social Security agreements, US Social Security Administration. Checked 4 October 2026. List of agreements in force; Mexico is not listed.
6. Temporary resident visa, Consulate General of Mexico in Vancouver. Checked 13 October 2026. Vancouver consular district. Income over CA$6,461 a month or balance CA$108,894; family member CA$2,090; page last updated 27 March 2026.
7. Visas: temporary residence, Consulate General of Mexico in Calgary. Checked 15 October 2026. Calgary consular district; page last updated 27 March 2026.
8. Tax treaties in force, Department of Finance Canada. Checked 4 October 2026. Canada–Mexico convention signed 12 September 2006.
9. Canada–Mexico social security agreement, Government of Canada. Checked 4 October 2026. In force since 1 May 1996; CPP and OAS only.
10. General guidelines for issuing visas (Lineamientos generales para la expedición de visas), Diario Oficial de la Federación (Secretaría de Gobernación and Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores). Checked 16 October 2026. Dated 14 July 2025. Procedure 5 (temporary residence visa), 7 (permanent residence visa), 8 (family visa asked for at the National Migration Institute), 10 and 11 (job-offer visa).
11. The UMA values from 1 February 2026 (press release 1/26), Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI). Checked 15 October 2026. MXN 117.31 a day from 1 February 2026.
12. Euro reference exchange rates, 2 October 2026, European Central Bank. Checked 4 October 2026. Used to turn the peso figures into Australian and New Zealand dollars.
13. Temporary resident visa (archived copy of 27 February 2026), Embassy of Mexico in New Zealand, Wellington (Internet Archive copy). Checked 15 October 2026. Applicants served by the Wellington embassy; amounts in New Zealand dollars; page last updated in February 2025.
14. Migration Law (Ley de Migración), articles 52 to 56, 59 and 60 (archived copy of 2 October 2026), Chamber of Deputies of Mexico (Internet Archive copy). Checked 16 October 2026. Text in force, last reform DOF 15 January 2026.
15. Temporary resident visa checklist 2026, Consulate General of Mexico in New York. Checked 16 October 2026. New York consular district; page in Spanish. Income US$4,200 a month or balance US$71,500; fee US$56 in cash.
16. Federal Law of Duties (Ley Federal de Derechos), articles 8, 9, 14 Bis and 22, Chamber of Deputies of Mexico. Checked 16 October 2026. Text in force, last reform DOF 7 November 2025; amounts in pesos as printed in the law.
17. Federal Tax Code (Código Fiscal de la Federación), article 9 (archived copy of 21 September 2026), Chamber of Deputies of Mexico (Internet Archive copy). Checked 15 October 2026.
18. Income Tax Law (Ley del Impuesto sobre la Renta), articles 1 and 96 (archived copy of 17 September 2026), Chamber of Deputies of Mexico (Internet Archive copy). Checked 15 October 2026. Copy last reformed 1 April 2024 on the monthly payment rule; later reforms not reviewed.
19. Ley del Impuesto sobre la Renta, article 93 (exempt income): inheritances, legacies and gifts, Cámara de Diputados del H. Congreso de la Unión, Mexico (copy published on gob.mx). Checked 17 October 2026. Text read is the version with last reform DOF 30-11-2016; fractions XXII and XXIII of article 93.