Kip and I are both international bastards—born in once place and choosing to live elsewhere. Fighting to get back to or get away from our homelands all our lives. – Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient.

Some of my clients and friends, either newcomers or residents, have asked me if it is necessary to obtain a specific visa to acquire property and/or perform certain activities, and of course, if there is any benefit from it.

An FM means “Migratory (visa) Form” which establishes the type of immigrant and the specific activity that a foreigner can perform in Mexico. Legally speaking, there are three types of visas:

  • Non-immigrant
  • Immigrant
  • Immigrated (Resident)

A non-immigrant is a foreigner who is allowed to stay in Mexico temporarily to perform certain activities with a permit from the Secretary of the Interior. There are 11 subcategories: Tourist, transit visa, visitor (a foreigner aiming to perform certain remunerated legal activity in Mexico with no aim to stay in Mexico), minister of religious affairs, foreigner looking for political asylum, student, refugee, distinguished visitor, local visitor, provisional visitor and newspaper correspondent.

An immigrant is a foreigner who is allowed to stay in Mexico with the purpose of establishing permanently in Mexico and therefore, to become an immigrated (i.e. a permanent resident). There are nine subcategories as a foreigner living from his/her income abroad, investor, professional, confidential personnel, scientist, technician, family members, artists and athletes and assimilated status.

An immigrated or resident is the foreigner who obtains the right to reside permanently in Mexico.

It is important to mention that in practice the visas are called: FMT (i.e., tourist visa form), FM3 (generally speaking the visas granted to non-immigrants visitors that want to perform remunerated legal activities in Mexico with the idea of staying in Mexico more than six months) and FM2 (for immigrants.)

Regardless of the type of immigrant they are, it is very important to know that a foreigner, whether personally or through an agent, is able to acquire securities, shares, assets for entrepreneurial activities, carry out bank deposits, acquire real estate or trust rights (in accordance with the applicable laws) without a specific permit, whether the foreigner is in Mexico or not.

Now in English, this means that you can acquire property or assets in your name in Mexico through an agent without needing to be in Mexico and in the case you want to grant a power of attorney or personally close a transaction in Mexico you can do it personally with a tourist visa.

Then, the questions are: Do I really need a visa different from a tourist one? Why do I need it and what kind?

In order to answer these questions, you need to know the duration of your stay in Mexico and the type of activity you want to perform while here.

As I always say, legal services are a tailored suit, but I will try to give you a general overview:

If you are just escaping from the winter, have no interest in investing or establishing residence here in Mexico, nor performing any kind of commercial activity during your vacations, then just keep your tourist visa. It is the document you are given at the airport and legally speaking, you are allowed to stay six months, with the option of renewing it, so keep enjoying your beer and do not worry about getting an FM3!

But if you fall in love with the area, you may want to perform certain commercial activities, stay longer periods of time, buy real estate and retire here, or establish a little business like a bed and breakfast, restaurant or nice little hotel, and suddenly, you realize that you are almost living in Mexico on a permanent basis and also thinking of getting married to a Mexican. If this is your case, then please keep reading because you will need more than just a tourist visa.

If you already know that you want to invest in Mexico and stay for a while, or maybe retire here, first of all, Congratulations! Then, please be aware that there is a non-written policy that you have to first apply for the FM3 (Non-immigrant visa) in order to obtain the FM2 (Immigrant visa) and finally become immigrated.

As to the question of when do you need to obtain an FM3, the answer is when you want to start performing certain commercial or business activities, already planned and you want to reside in Mexico.

Be aware that if you are buying property as a leisure residence, you do not need to have a specific visa.

After having lived in Mexico for five years and/or running that certain business or activity successfully, and you know that this is the place where you belong, you can consider a FM2. After four years of renewals to your FM3, you can change it for a FM2 (Immigrant) because now you know that you want to live on a permanent basis in Mexico.

With an FM2 (Immigrant) you can perform the same activities as the ones authorized by an FM3 but the difference is that you will be an Immigrant instead of a Non-immigrant, with the option of staying in Mexico permanently. Bear in mind that in order to apply to the Immigrated Status, it is necessary that you have not left Mexico for more than 18 months (consecutive or intermittently) within a five-year term. Moreover, the Immigrant who stays out of Mexico for two years will lose this status.

You became an Immigrated: Congratulations! You do not need to file for renewals every year and you just need to inform the authority in case you change your address, activity or your marital status.

Once you are an Immigrated, you can come and go as you please, but do not stay out of Mexico for more than three consecutive years or more than five years during a term of ten years.

On the other hand, it is very important to mention you that if one of your parents is Mexican, you have lived in Mexico for five years or more, you are married with a Mexican and/or you have Mexican children, you are able to apply for Mexican citizenship under certain conditions and requirements. For some people it is better to acquire Mexican citizenship than follow the whole procedure described above; the difference is that by law, you are required to waive your citizenship and this may not be convenient for you because of legal and/or social security reasons.

Finally, please be aware that the filing process to become immigrated is filed before the National Institute of Immigration, better know as Migracion, whose agents are very well-prepared, efficient and eager to help you, so if you choose you can do this procedure by yourself. But if you do choose to hire a legal representative familiar with the immigration laws in Mexico, it is certain it can get done faster.