What does emigrating to Mexico cost?
Answer a few short questions and you have an honest range for your situation. For every item it says whether it's a checked rate or an estimate. The application itself is affordable: the visa costs 990.79 pesos in fees, the card for the first year 11,140.74. The money sits in three other items: the health policy that replaces the CAK and returns every year, the move across the ocean, and the car. That almost never comes along. One thing we state honestly. The Mexican fees come from the Ley Federal de Derechos, read in the official text of the Chamber of Deputies with the amounts for 2026.
Looking for the whole route to Mexico, not just the costs? See the steps, the order and the paperwork →
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
The amount depends on the number of documents. A couple with a marriage certificate, pension statements and six months of statements quickly reaches eight documents. Mexico is party to the apostille convention. Legalisation, having a document officially recognised, therefore stays limited to an apostille from the court (€ 27 per document, 2026 rate). The consulate asks for an ordinary Spanish translation so long as it can verify it itself. Otherwise it wants a sworn translation by a perito traductor, a sworn translator. Count on € 30 to 60 per document, and on the sworn variant if your consulate reads no Dutch. The consulate also asks for a bank statement per month with a declaration or stamp from the bank. Some banks charge a fee for that.
De verhuizing
- Flights(estimate)€ 450 – € 1.100
The spread sits in the season and the luggage: whoever travels with two extra suitcases pays the top. The amount is for one way from Amsterdam to Mexico City, direct in a good eleven hours, or to Cancún or Guadalajara with a connection.
De eerste maanden
- The first months(estimate)€ 2.500 – € 6.000
Rents in Mexico 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. This item consists of the deposit and rent paid in advance, furnishing what didn't come along, and the months in which you still have double costs. The deposit in Mexico is usually one month. Whoever has no Mexican income sometimes needs a guarantor or pays an extra month. 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 costs are the state's acquisition tax, the notary, the appraisal and the entry in the public register. The acquisition tax runs from 2 percent in Yucatán to 4.5 in Mexico City. Whoever buys on the coast or near the border pays on top for the bank that holds the title for you. That means the Foreign Affairs permit of 21,648.83 pesos, the set-up costs of the fideicomiso (a trust at that bank) 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. There you buy through a fideicomiso. A Mexican bank then holds the title. You have the use and the right of sale and inheritance, for fifty years and renewable. Outside that zone you buy in your own name. You do first make 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 9 October 2026.
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One thing you can sort out today
Closing down the Netherlands is the same work for everyone, wherever you're going. With the letter pack you enter your details once, and every cancellation and notification letter is ready: health insurance, rent, employer, bank, pension fund. Each comes with the date by which it has to go out. € 49 one-off, and it's also included in every plan.
In Vertrekklaar you get the complete picture of your own costs, with your route, your documents and your deadlines.
From range to your own budget
The calculator above works with a few questions, but the journey itself knows more. In Vertrekklaar the same model calculates with your real situation: who's coming, and whether the household contents and the pet come along. It also watches the clocks: the 180 days of the visa, the thirty days after landing for the INM, and the fifteen days of the certificate for the pet. A one-off € 399, no subscription.
Leaving with AOW or a pension? Compare how countries tax your pension
Every step on one list, free
Not ready to start yet? Then you get the departure checklist for Mexico: every step in order, to print and tick off. With it, five mails in a week and a half about the pitfalls and the real costs. If the rules for Mexico change, you'll hear about it. After that we ask once where your plans stand, send one offer, and now and then one thing that fits your moment. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
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