Mexico · visa route
Emigrating to Mexico
Eleven hours' flying, the consulate in The Hague as the only gate, and a country that is on no Dutch treaty list at all. The residence card is achievable — thresholds in UMA, a visa of 180 days and thirty days after landing to go to the INM — but the real story sits next to it: the treaty of 1993 sends your occupational pension to Mexico, shares your AOW with a cap of 17.5 percent and keeps your government pension Dutch. And because Mexico is no treaty country, a policy replaces the CAK and the single AOW falls back to the married rate. This page shows how it really works.
€ 399 one-off · 31 steps · no subscription
- Kind of journey
- Residence card via the consulate — temporary, or with a pension permanent at once
- The clock
- Within 30 days of arrival to the INM for the card
- Note
- No treaty country: a policy instead of the CAK, single AOW to 50%
Last updated: September 2026
The journey
Five phases, from the consulate to the fideicomiso
A route with two cards and three clocks: the visa that is valid 180 days, the thirty days after landing for the canje at the INM, and the fifteen days within which the pet's certificate has to have been issued. Plus a treaty that splits your income in three, and a double non-treaty status that decides your healthcare and your AOW — two things the brochure on Mexico doesn't mention.
- 1
Orientation
Two cards, thresholds in UMA, and a country outside every treaty list
Mexico gives whoever stays a temporary or a permanent card, both applied for at the consulate in The Hague, with thresholds in UMA days that shift every year in February. In this phase you learn what the treaty of 1993 does with your income — occupational pension to Mexico, AOW shared with a cap, government pension Dutch — and what the double non-treaty status means: no CAK but a policy, and for whoever goes alone the AOW back to the married rate. And you explore the region with the healthcare and the restricted zone in hand.
- 2
Your visa
Six months of income or twelve months of balance, and an appointment in The Hague
The residente temporal requires more than 680 UMA days a month in income over six months, or a balance of 11,460 UMA days over twelve — in 2026 a good 79,771 pesos a month or 1,344,373 in the bank. Whoever has a pension and clears 1,140 UMA days a month may go permanent at once. Bank statements per month with a stamp from the bank, an ordinary Spanish translation, an appointment, and within ten working days a visa that is valid 180 days for one entry. Partner and children ride along through unidad familiar.
- 3
Closing the Netherlands
Three sums for your pension, a policy before deregistering, and the married rate
The familiar list with a Mexican twist. Article 18 paragraph 1 places your occupational pension and your annuity exclusively with Mexico — apply for the wage tax exemption. Paragraph 3 lets the Netherlands tax your AOW up to 17.5 percent of the gross, and Mexico credits. Article 19 keeps your government pension Dutch. Besides: the policy accepted before you deregister, because there is no CAK; the SVB in time, knowing that the single AOW goes to fifty percent; and the question what a house in the Netherlands does to your Mexican tax liability.
- 4
The move
The stamped list, the car that may never go definitively, and fifteen days for the pet
By sea container to the Gulf or the Pacific, six to ten weeks. The household goods enter the country free with a consular certificate to a list with brand, model and serial number per appliance. The car is the opposite: a residente temporal may import it temporarily, a residente permanente may not, and definitive import is only possible for cars from North America — count on selling and buying again. The pet needs only a health certificate at most fifteen days old; no chip, no titre test.
- 5
Arrival in Mexico
Thirty days to the INM, then CURP, bank, policy, SAT — and the bank that holds the land
The chain hangs on one date: within thirty days of landing you lodge the canje for the card at the INM, with fees of 11,140.74 pesos for one year temporary or 13,578.96 for permanent. Then the CURP, the proof of address, the bank, the policy or the IMSS package, a Mexican driving licence per state, and the tax number at the SAT for the annual return in April. Whoever buys on the coast or near the border does so through a fideicomiso: a bank holds the title, fifty years and renewable.
Look inside
This is what one step of your plan looks like
Not a brochure but the real thing: this is one of the steps of the Mexico journey, exactly as it appears in your personal step-by-step plan — with the deadlines, the counters and the sources.
Step 2.2 of your plan
Prove your means: six months of income or twelve months of balance
- Lead time
- gathering takes weeks; the bank statement is the slowest
- Costs
- bank statements and copies
The UMA stands in 2026 at 117.31 pesos a day. That makes the thresholds concrete: for the temporary card a good 79,771 pesos net a month, six months in a row, or an average balance of a good 1,344,373 pesos over twelve months. At a rate around twenty-one pesos to the euro that is roughly 3,800 euros a month, or 64,000 euros in the bank. For the permanent card 133,733 pesos a month, or a balance of 5,378,664 — a good 6,300 euros, or a quarter of a million.
Two pitfalls. Net here means free of charges — the consulate looks at what arrives on your account, so show the withholding as well as the amount that remains. And the bank statements have to be per month, with a declaration or stamp from the bank; a printout from the app isn't enough. Request that declaration now, because it is the slowest item of this phase.
This is step 2.2 of 31. The other 30 are ready for you — each with the same sources, the same counters and a planning that watches your dates.
See all 31 steps for MexicoWhat it costs
A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 3.700 – € 8.800
Where does that difference come from?
- The first months€ 2.500 – € 6.000
Below you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 650 – € 1.200
- De verhuizing
- € 450 – € 1.100
- De eerste maanden
- € 2.600 – € 6.500
Every item, one by onePer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- The visa at the consulate in The Hague€ 45 – € 75
- The residence card at the INM€ 500 – € 700
- Apostilles, bank declarations and translations(estimate)€ 100 – € 400
Mexico is party to the apostille convention, so legalisation stays limited to an apostille from the court (€ 27 per document, 2026 rate). The consulate asks for an ordinary Spanish translation, not a sworn one — count on € 30 to 60 per document — and per month a bank statement with a declaration or stamp from the bank, for which some banks charge a fee. A couple with a marriage certificate, pension statements and six months of statements quickly reaches eight documents.
De verhuizing
- Flights(estimate)€ 450 – € 1.100
One way from Amsterdam to Mexico City, direct in a good eleven hours, or to Cancún or Guadalajara with a connection. The spread sits in the season and the luggage: whoever travels with two extra suitcases pays the top.
De eerste maanden
- The first months(estimate)€ 2.500 – € 6.000
Deposit and rent paid in advance — in Mexico usually one month's deposit and sometimes a guarantor or an extra month for whoever has no Mexican income — furnishing what didn't come along, and the months in which you still run double. The rents vary widely: on the highlands you pay a fraction of a Dutch rent, in Cancún, Tulum, Los Cabos and the better districts of Mexico City the American rate. Factor in the exchange risk too: your income arrives in euros, life runs in pesos.
- CURP, bank, phone and the first counters(estimate)€ 60 – € 250
- Arranging the driving licence(estimate)€ 60 – € 200
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 5 to 9% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 12.500 to € 22.500.
The acquisition tax of the state — from 2 percent in Yucatán to 4.5 in Mexico City — plus the notary, the appraisal and the entry in the public register. Whoever buys on the coast or near the border pays on top the bank that holds the title for you: the Foreign Affairs permit of 19,952.46 pesos, the set-up costs of the fideicomiso and an annual fee.
Note: buying isn't simply allowed here
Within a hundred kilometres of the border and fifty kilometres of the coast a foreigner may not own land. You buy there through a fideicomiso: a Mexican bank holds the title, you have the use and the right of sale and inheritance, fifty years and renewable. Outside that zone you buy in your own name, after a declaration at Foreign Affairs that in disputes over the property you make no appeal to the Netherlands.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
Rates checked on 11 September 2026.
Your complete, personal cost picture — with your route, your documents and your deadlines — you get in Vertrekklaar.
That was the move. And once you live there?
Who may tax your pension once you live in Mexico, is there a favourable regime, and how do you become insured? That depends on where your income comes from. Tick it and you see which rules apply to you — with the source.
See the financial conditionsThe departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Then we'll send you the departure guide for Mexico: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that one question about where your plans stand, and beyond that only a short update when something in Mexico really changes — at most one a month, no newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Read on
The knowledge base on Mexico
Per phase, the articles that are already there. They're written from the same journey and go deeper than what fits above.
Leaving the Netherlands — for every destination
- 2 min
Keeping a bank account and DigiD: the two lines you never cut
After your deregistration you still need the Netherlands for years — for the M return, refunds and your pension. Within the EU your bank account is a right, towards Australia a favour from the bank. And your DigiD you arrange before departure, not after.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
The protective assessment: the bill that travels with you, and that never expires for one item
On emigration the Netherlands imposes an assessment on your pension, your annuity and your substantial shareholding that you don't have to pay — as long as you do nothing that makes it collectable. For pension and annuity it usually lapses after ten years. For a substantial shareholding it doesn't: that one remains valid indefinitely.
Updated 27 August 2026
- 2 min
Emigrating with children after a divorce: the consent that comes before everything
With joint custody you can't just go abroad with the children — you need the consent of the other parent, or substitute consent from the court. What the court weighs, and why leaving without consent is legally child abduction.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Emigrating on early retirement: the CAK route is expected to close as of 1 November 2026
Whoever moves to the EU or Switzerland with a Dutch pension arranges their healthcare via the CAK. That door is closing to a crack: as expected, from 1 November only new applicants with AOW, Anw, WAO, WIA or Wajong will be admitted. Early retirement and RVU fall outside it — whoever is already a customer keeps their rights.
Updated 16 August 2026
- 2 min
The M form: the tax return for the year in which you emigrated
For the year of your departure you lived partly inside and partly outside the Netherlands, and a separate return goes with that. Nowadays it can be done online — but you have to think of it yourself, because an invitation rarely comes by itself.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 2 min
Your AOW accrual stops on departure — and you have one year to repair that
Every year outside the Netherlands costs you 2% AOW (the Dutch state pension), for life. The SVB has a voluntary continuation that closes that gap — but signing up is only possible in the first year after departure, and almost everyone misses that deadline.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Your Dutch pension abroad: what comes along, and who levies
The AOW (the Dutch state pension) travels fully to the EU and to Australia — the latter thanks to a treaty from 2001. Your company pension too, but *where* you pay on it depends on the tax treaty, and the exemption you arrange yourself.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Cancelling your health insurance without a gap
Your Dutch basic insurance is tied to living or working in the Netherlands and stops being a given on emigration. The art is to have the end date match your new cover — and to know which route belongs to your situation.
Updated 28 August 2026
- 2 min
Taking medicines across the border: certificates, supply and the 90-day ceiling
For medicines under the Opium Act you need a certificate — and the Dutch system only carries you for three months. What you arrange with the CAK, what Australia wants to see at the border, and why finding a local doctor simply belongs to your first weeks.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 10 min
Partner comes along without a job of their own: deregistering, healthcare, AOW and the house
Your partner has a job, a visa or a right of residence there; you come along without a job of your own. Administratively you're then no passenger: the deregistration, the end of your health insurance and your AOW accrual apply to you separately. What you get back if you arrange it well, what it costs if you let it slide — and when "just staying registered" is allowed after all.
Updated 9 September 2026
- 2 min
Stopping allowances on emigration: do it yourself, and in time
Housing allowance, healthcare allowance, childcare allowance and child budget don't stop by themselves on the day you leave. Whoever lets them run gets a reclaim months later — this is what you arrange per allowance.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 3 min
Deregistering with the municipality: when exactly, and what stops then
Deregistering from the BRP is only possible from five days before departure, and is compulsory as soon as you're away for more than eight months a year. What stops at that moment, what stays, and which piece of paper you have to ask for right away.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 6 min
When does your pension stay taxed in the Netherlands? The three pots and the three conditions
"Your pension is taxed in your new country of residence" is right by approximation and not in the details. Your AOW, your company pension and your government pension each follow a rule of their own, and with the company pension the Netherlands can still levy if three conditions apply at once. This article explains which three, and which four questions you have to answer for your own situation.
Updated 27 August 2026
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