Visa Requirements for Mexico

What You Need to Live in Guanajuato

One of the more bizarre examples of what I alluded to in the previous chapter about Mexico being, how shall I say this, a land of inconsistencies, is trying to obtain your FM3 visa. 

The FM3 visa is merely a kind of visa that, if you meet the income requirement, allows you to stay in the country without having to return to the border each 6 months for renewal as in the case of the tourist visa. 

If you’ve ever visited Mexico you know that you have to pay a small fee for a tourist visa. This permits you to stay in the country for up to 6 months before it expires. You can return to the border to renew that visa and many expats do just that. I know of an author who wrote a rather famous book about San Miguel de Allende some twenty years ago who he still functions on a tourist visa. 

Basically the FM3 allows you to stay in the country without having to return to the border to renew it. It must be renewed yearly and can be done in country. The tourist visa, however, must be renewed at the border. 

If you apply for the FM3 there are certain requirements you have to meet mostly with regard to a yearly income. And, of course, there are hoops through which you will have to jump like a little circus dog. But, that is Mexico. 

To apply for the FM3 you can do one of two things. You can go to a local Mexican embassy or come into Mexico on a tourist visa and then apply in Mexico. That is the option we chose. However, if you apply while in America you will have hoops to jump through that, in my view, are positively nightmarish. 

Since I have never applied while in the United States I am relaying information to you via other expats who obtain their FM3 while still in America. What they relayed to me was a horror. Later you will see why it is simple and easier to wait until you arrive in Mexico to obtain your FM3. 

My friend Howard told me that when he applied in Austin, Texas this is what he had to go through: