Prices Now Rise Slower in Mexico Than at Home

The move-to-Mexico plan most people start with is the one that's quietly dying. Fly down as a tourist, get 180 days, leave, come back, repeat forever. Those 180 days were always a maximum, not a promise, and immigration officers now use that discretion. Some visitors get 180, some get far less, and repeated long stays are exactly the pattern that attracts questions at the booth. If Mexico is becoming your home, the tourist route is wishful thinking dressed up as a strategy.

The real path is residency, and it comes in two flavors. Temporary residency starts with a one-year card, renewable up to four consecutive years. Permanent residency has no expiry for adults. Either way, the consulate in Canada or the US only gives you a visa sticker. The actual card comes from the immigration institute (INM) inside Mexico, through a process called Canje, and you have 30 days after crossing the border to start it. Miss that window and you have a problem.

Now the money. For 2026, the screening numbers for temporary residency run around US$4,400 a month in income, or about US$75,000 in savings or investments held for a full 12 months. In Canadian terms, the Leamington consulate has used figures around CAD $6,461 a month or CAD $108,894 in average balance. Direct permanent residency is a much bigger ask, roughly US$7,400 a month or US$298,000 in assets, and some consulates will only consider you if you're retired.

The fine print trips up more people than the amounts do. Many consulates read "monthly income" as net, after tax, so if only your gross clears the bar, you're borderline. Savings need a 12-month history, not a balance you moved in last week. Joint accounts can get discounted or doubled. Crypto and gold don't count.

Here's the part that changes the math for most families. You do not need permanent-residency money, ever, if you're patient. Hold temporary residency for four consecutive years and you can exchange it for permanent without re-proving your finances. The exchange isn't automatic, you have to file it with INM inside the right window, but it turns the scary number into a waiting game. And if you have a Mexican spouse or a Mexican-born child, family unity routes can skip the financial screening entirely. For what it's worth, my family went the temporary residency route, and the four-year exchange path is the one we're on.

One warning before you rush to permanent: permanent residents generally can't keep a foreign-plated car outside the border free zones. If your truck matters to you, that alone can make temporary the smarter status.

Every consulate sets its own thresholds, documents, and moods, so before you count on any number here, check the website of the consulate where you'd actually apply.