What does emigrating to Mexico cost?
A few short questions, and you have an honest range for your situation — with for every item whether it's a checked rate or an estimate. On the application side this is an affordable route: the visa costs 913.15 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 — which almost never comes along. One thing is stated honestly: the Mexican fees were read on a statute mirror because the Chamber of Deputies refused the connection, and checked against two independent overviews.
What 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.
From range to your own budget
The calculator above works with a few questions; the journey itself knows more. In Vertrekklaar the same model calculates on your real situation — who's coming, household contents along or not, pet along or not — and 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.
The 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.
Ready to begin?
Forty-four journeys are fully ready — Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Poland, Czechia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Italy, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Canada, Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, United States, Suriname, China, Dubai, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, South Africa, Morocco, Australia and New Zealand: your step-by-step plan, your documents and your costs in one place, with the timing watched. Pay once, and it's yours.