Plans for 2017'
There is a growing trend among foreign residents worldwide—including those who reside in Mexico: staying home for six months.
Some people want to leave behind the cold winters in their home country. Others living in Mexico like to return home during the summer to avoid the sultry humidity that is prevalent at most of Mexico’s beach locations between May and October. Some enjoy Mexico for part of the year, and return to be reunited with their friends and family at home, or to take care of work or business matters there.
For Canadians and Europeans, maintaining a ‘legal residency’ in their home country gives them access to healthcare schemes provided to them by their welfare systems. Some expats prefer their home country in small doses, and love Mexico most when they only live here part-time.
Whatever the reason—they are too numerous and diverse to document in any meaningful way—part-time residency in Mexico is a growing trend among foreigners.
Mexico has long been a popular country for expats; it’s always had its mix of transient visitors and long-term residents who moved here and stayed for years—and even for life.
Today, foreign residents in Mexico appear more transient than in decades past; a trend that is perhaps being driven by affordable access to long-haul transportation, commercial trends (such as short-term and temporary work contracts), and technological shifts—in particular, the advent of independent ‘knowledge professionals’ working online: people who can ply a living by trading know-how, without having to be constantly situated in one specific place or office building.
For those who want to explore the opportunity to live in Mexico part-time, 180 days is a key number for several reasons.
If you’re planning to be in Mexico for this amount of time—or less—and don’t intend to participate in any remunerative activities that generate an income inside Mexico, then you needn’t apply for a resident visa: you can live here on your visitor’s permit (FMM) for up to six months.
If you want to maintain residency status in your home country (sometimes referred to legally as ‘being domiciled’), you usually have to be physically present there for at least 180 days in a year. Check your home country’s residency rules for precise details of how it defines ‘legal residency’.
There are other advantages to splitting your year into two equal parts. You can get better deals in Mexico when you rent property for at least six months and, if you rent your principal home to help fund your six months in Mexico, a six month tenancy is usually the practical minimum you’d rent for. This is also true if you own two homes—one in your home country and one in Mexico—it’s easier to rent out the one you’re not using for six months.
Many part-time residents—particularly under-insured Americans—also use their extended stay in Mexico to undertake healthcare procedures at a fraction of the price that hospitals back home are charging for the same treatments. Even some Canadians and Europeans, whose publicly-funded healthcare systems don’t cover all bases—for example, dental care or cosmetic surgery—make use of their extended stay in Mexico for the same purpose.
Whether you’re exploring your options for living in Mexico full-time, part-time or for a fixed term, our guides to Living and Lifestyle in Mexico provide you with a comprehensive online resource to help research the opportunities, prepare yourself, and realize your plans.
