I had a recent conversation in a Telegram group for Latin America enthusiasts.
Someone had asked a question about permanent residency in Mexico. They wanted to know if it was possible to skip temporary residency and go straight to permanent status. I mentioned that it is possible, you just have to show proof of around 100,000 USD in savings or investments to prove your solvency.
Then a few responses made me chuckle.
The first was why would you want Mexican residency when you can just buy citizenship in Dominica for 100,000 USD (Not the Dominican Republic, the much smaller island nation also in the Caribbean).
Well for one, you don’t pay $100,000 for Mexican residency, you just need to show proof that you have the money.
Other than the fact that you save $100,000, a Mexican passport is unquestionably stronger than Dominica. A Mexican passport will get you access to most countries in the world visa-free including the European Union and Canada. The major omission being no visa-free access to the United States.
Additionally, you’ll have a whole lot easier time opening bank accounts and doing business overseas with Mexican citizenship and corporation in comparison to a small Caribbean island nation that sells passports.
The major downside is that it will take at least 5 years to obtain Mexican citizenship whereas Dominica you could obtain relatively quickly.
However for most of my readers, I’d wager the wait is worth saving $100,000 and obtaining a stronger passport.
The second comment took offense at the fact that Mexico requires applicants to show proof of solvency when applying for residency when there are many illegal immigrants from Mexico in the US.
Despite the fact that there are many people living and working illegally in the United States and the government chooses not to enforce its immigration laws does not mean that Mexico does the same.
The last comment was likely a joke, but worth mentioning anyway:
“Try not to get robbed”.
Now I understand Mexico and Latin America in general are not safe. I think everyone else in the Latin America Telegram group knows that and the precautions that must be taken.
What I don’t understand is why someone in a Latin America Enthusiast Telegram group felt the need to add that.
What are they doing in the group if that’s what they have to say? It adds no value and could be said to any topic?
“How’s the food in Peru?”
“Good, but try not to get robbed.”
Anyway, that’s all for today, if you’d like to get started on the path to Mexican residency and citizenship, be sure to check out my guide that details the process step by step.
Until next time,
LATAM Capitalist