Working in Mexico: the work permit hangs on the employer, and the ninety percent rule on the law

Yes, you may work in Mexico, but not automatically. The residence card of a residente temporal gives, under article 52 of the migration law, "the possibility of obtaining a permit to work for pay, subject to a job offer". You apply for that permit at the INM, with the card and the offer, and the employer must itself be registered with the INM. A residente permanente has the work permit with the card as standard. What it costs: since 7 November 2025 half the ordinary fees if your stay rests on the job offer. The trap is the order: whoever enters as a tourist and finds a job cannot convert the status in Mexico and goes back to the consulate.

May I work with my residence card?

Three situations, three answers.

You come on your own means or pension and want to work later. The INM says it itself in its question list: the holder of a temporary residence card who wants to work files an application with the valid card, proof of payment of the fees and a job offer naming the activity, the duration, the place and the employer's details. If you work for yourself, a declaration under oath replaces the offer. The permit runs as long as the card.

You come for a job. Then the employer applies for the visa first: the guidelines have a temporary-residence visa "on the basis of a job offer", and the employer needs a valid constancia de inscripción de empleador from the INM for it. If the position lasts at most 180 days, it is a visitante with work permit; longer, a residente temporal. How the visa proceeds from there is in the residence routes to Mexico.

You are a residente permanente. Article 52, section IX: indefinite stay "with permission to work for pay". No separate application.

What does it cost?

What	Fee (pesos)
Visitante with work permit, up to 180 days	4,340.77
Temporary card for one year, ordinary rate	11,140.74
The same card if your stay rests on a job offer from a registered employer	5,570.37
Change of residence status, on top of the new card	1,847.13

The halving is new: the decree of 7 November 2025 added to article 8 of the Ley Federal de Derechos that residents pay "fifty percent of the fee" if their stay rests on unidad familiar, on a job offer from an employer with valid registration, or on an invitation for unpaid work. Whoever applies for the permit on an existing card pays the fees that go with that application; the INM does not name the amount in its question list.

Which rules does my employer already know?

The labour law is federal and applies in every state.

• Ninety percent Mexicans. Article 7 obliges every business to employ at least ninety percent Mexican workers. Technicians and professionals must be Mexican, unless there are none in a specialism; then temporarily up to ten percent of that specialism may be foreign. Directors and general managers fall outside the rule. That is why an employer describes your position precisely.
• Eight hours a day (article 61, amended on 1 May 2026), seven at night.
• Twelve working days' holiday after one year of service, two more days for each following year up to twenty (article 76).
• Aguinaldo: at least fifteen days' pay, to be paid before 20 December, pro rata for a shorter period of service (article 87).
• Social security: the employer registers you with the IMSS within five working days (article 15 of the social security law). That insures you for healthcare through the IMSS, and removes the question of your own health policy for the basics.
• Minimum wage: 315.04 pesos a day since 1 January 2026, and 440.87 in the free zone on the northern border.

Can I work self-employed?

Yes, with the same INM permit, where your declaration under oath replaces the job offer. Fiscally it starts with the RFC, the tax number; how you get it is in the article on CURP, RFC and registration. For whoever has only business or professional income, article 113-E of the income tax law has a simplified regime, the Régimen Simplificado de Confianza, for whoever turned over no more than 3.5 million pesos in the previous year. Whoever starts may join it if they estimate they will stay under that limit. Let a contador make the choice; in Mexico that is no luxury.

Does my Dutch degree count?

For professions for which Mexico requires a cédula profesional, article 15 of the professions law says foreigners may practise those professions under the treaties to which Mexico is party, and without a treaty "subject to reciprocity" and the other Mexican requirements. Article 17 lets the SEP register foreign degrees if the studies are "equal or comparable" to what Mexican institutions offer. That is a procedure with translations and an apostille from the Netherlands; start on it before you leave, not after.

The INM says it expressly: the work permit is no recognition of your competence. A permit "does not imply validation of certificates, licences, degrees or permits". For a doctor, a lawyer or an architect it is therefore two procedures, at two authorities.

What isn't here: the tax rates on wages and the treaty with the Netherlands. Those are in the article on AOW, pension and tax in Mexico.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 2 of 5 of the journey, step 2.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Mexico or go straight to step 2.1 in the open plan.