Moving to Mexico Checklist: The First 90 Days (2026)
Mexico · Step by Step
Key Facts
- Week one. SIM, cash, ride apps, and a short-term base — comfort before commitments.
- The 30-day deadline. If you arrived on a residency visa, the canje — exchanging it for your card at the immigration office — must start within 30 days. It rules everything.
- Days 30–60. CURP and RFC numbers, a bank account, and the real apartment.
- Days 60–90. Healthcare decisions, a driving licence, schools — and one cross-border tax consultation.
- The principle. Each document unlocks the next; do them in order and nothing is hard.
Every step of this series has its own guide; this is the map that puts them in order. The moving to Mexico checklist below sequences your first 90 days so each piece of paperwork unlocks the next — and so the mistakes that cost newcomers months never happen at all.
Days 1–7: land softly
The first week is about function, not paperwork. Get a local SIM (any OXXO sells one; a Mexican number is the key that opens deliveries, banking apps and WhatsApp-run daily life), draw cash from a bank-attached ATM, install Uber or DiDi, and settle into a short-term rental in the neighbourhood you think you want — renting before owning, always.
Walk the colonia at different hours. Our “first 48 hours” guide covers the arrival mechanics in detail; the only first-week rule that bites later is this: don’t sign any long lease yet.
Days 7–30: the immigration clock
One deadline towers over the early weeks: if you entered with a residency visa in your passport, you must begin the canje — exchanging that visa for the actual residency card at the immigration office — within 30 days of arrival. Book the appointment in week one; offices in popular cities fill up.
Bring patience and every photocopy. While the card processes (it can take weeks), your passport stamp keeps you legal, but avoid leaving the country mid-process without an exit permit.
Tourists on 180 days skip this step entirely — your clock is simply the stamp in your passport.
Days 30–60: numbers, bank, home
The residency card unlocks Mexico’s two magic numbers. The CURP (the universal ID number, usually issued with the card) and then the RFC (tax number from the tax office — get it even before you owe anything, because banks and landlords ask).
With card, CURP and proof of address, open the bank account — our banking guide compares the expat-friendly options — and sign the real apartment using everything you learned in the short-term weeks. Expect Mexican leases to ask for a fiador (local guarantor) or extra deposit; the renting guide covers the workarounds.
Days 60–90: health, wheels, life
With the foundations set, finish the structure. Decide healthcare: private insurance while you’re insurable (premiums climb with age), IMSS enrolment as the budget backstop, or the cash-pay routine many healthy expats run — the healthcare guide weighs them.
Convert or obtain the driving licence and learn the toll-road rules if you’ll drive. Families: school waiting lists move slowly, so visits should already be happening — see the schools guide.
And book the single appointment that protects everything: a cross-border tax consultation before the 183-day shorthand makes decisions for you. After that: the tianguis, the Spanish classes, the neighbours.
The paperwork was never the point — it just buys the life.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most urgent deadline after arriving in Mexico?
The canje: residency-visa holders must start exchanging the visa for the residency card at the immigration office within 30 days of arrival. Book it in week one.
What order should the paperwork go in?
Residency card → CURP → RFC → bank account → long-term lease. Each document is requested by the next step, so the order saves weeks.
Can I leave Mexico while my residency card is processing?
Not freely — you’d need an exit/re-entry permit from the immigration office. Plan no trips during the canje weeks if you can avoid it.
When should I rent long-term or buy?
Rent short-term first, sign a real lease around days 30–60 once the neighbourhood has proven itself, and only consider buying after months of living there — with our property guide’s due-diligence steps.
What do tourists on 180 days need from this list?
Only the comfort layer — SIM, cash, apps, rental — plus awareness that banking and many contracts want residency documents you won’t have yet.
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