Let’s talk about the benefits of residency in Mexico!
Temporary and permanent residents will experience slightly different benefits, but most benefits are the same.
For information on how to move to Mexico, we’ve created a full guide on becoming a temporary or permanent resident in Mexico.
Great, so now you’ve got your Mexican residency! Or maybe you’re considering residency and are curious about ‘what you get’.
So what are the perks and benefits of being a resident of Mexico?
In this article we will list all of the advantages and fun, little benefits of Mexican residency. We won’t get into tax considerations in this article, because that’s an advanced topic. But we will mention all the great ways you can save money and enjoy greater freedoms!
Full List of Benefits of Residency in Mexico:
- Free museums and archeological sites on Sundays across all of Mexico.
- Discounts on events, museums, archeological sites, theme parks, movie theatres, etc
- Discounts on bus tickets (i.e. traveling between cities on the ADO bus network)
- Discounts on golf passes
- Discounts at local business and restaurants (especially in tourist areas)
- Discounts on hotels and food/drinks at fancy hotels like the Hyatt
- Discounts on ferries and transportation (especially in Cancun, Cozumel, and Playa del Carmen)
- Police less likely to rob you (if you mention you’re a resident and not a tourist)
- Health insurance options
- Access to the beach through private resorts (hit or miss, but has been helpful in Cabo San Lucas)
- Ability to enter and leave Mexico as often as you want
- Ability to remain in Mexico indefinitely without renewal (as a permanent resident)
- Ability to fly within Mexico without a passport
- Ability to get a Mexican driver’s license
- Ability to register a vehicle in Mexico (though we’ve heard buying one is still annoying)
- Ability to drive a foreign-plated car (with temporary residence)
- Ability to work in Mexico (with permanent residence)
- Ability to open a bank account
- Ability to get a debit or credit card and start building credit
- Ability to get exemption from paying capital gains tax on a future sale of a Mexican property
- Ability to get free public healthcare with IMSS, the Mexican Institute for Social Security (but there may be rules around paying into it first)
As you can see, there are a lot of benefits to Mexican residency. The ability to live on tourist visas and border runs is becoming a less viable option. Luckily becoming a resident is pretty easy – not to mention Mexico is a huge country and there are lots of great places to live. In fact, Mexico might be the best country to live in Latin America.
We’ll continue to update this list, so if you can think of we’re missing, send us a message!
){kind=link}