How This Philly Woman Quickly Scored a Visa to Live in Mexico

Abington resident Wendy Rosenfield at Mercado Hidalgo in Guanajuato, Mexico in January. Since her visit, she’s obtained a temporary Mexican residency visa that allows her to live in Mexico.

When voters first elected Donald Trump in 2016, I lost count of how many friends and acquaintances said they were leaving the country. I’m not aware of any who actually did.

This time around, I’m hearing lots of the same rhetoric. And one friend has actually made a significant move towards leaving. It was a surprisingly quick and easy process. Freelance journalist Wendy Rosenfield just obtained a Mexican visa for temporary residency. It’s the first step in establishing permanent residency in the country that’s at the center of so much animosity from the president.

As soon as the election results came in last November, Rosenfield started to consider her options for expatriation, keeping in mind that she’s married to a busy attorney. She had similar thoughts in 2016. But this time felt different to her.

“Last time, he was flailing and there was no real vision behind what he was doing,” Rosenfield observes. “I don’t like the dismantling of the federal government. And I do not think he’s going to leave after this term. I hope I am an alarmist. But I happen to believe we are on a path to an oligarchy. Or fascism. Or a dictatorship. You look at places like Chile and Germany and Russia and there’s a point – especially when you’re Jewish, you think, oh we have seen this before – there’s this tipping point. And I think that we are close to the tipping point. I would like to be able to get out ahead of that. I do not want to be a victim.”

Rosenfield knew she wanted to stay in the Western Hemisphere. Some countries have easier requirements than others.

“I really love Iceland, but obtaining residency is tough,” says the Abington woman. “Uruguay and Paraguay are fantastic, but I just couldn’t go that far. So Mexico seemed like a strong option.”

So, despite the fact that she had only been to Mexico once before, as a teenager, Rosenfield spent the month of January in Guanajuato, an artsy college town five hours northwest of Mexico City; a longtime friend plays cello in the orchestra there.

After her visit, she was convinced that was the place. So she reached out to the Mexican consulate in Philadelphia, located in the Bourse Building in Old City, and paid a $54 fee. They called her in for an interview. She had to show proof of having at least $70,000 to her name for a period of at least 12 months prior — this can be a combination of a bank account and investments — and if you can’t demonstrate that, the consulate will accept proof of a monthly income of $4,100. After the interview, the consulate issued her a temporary Mexican visa in her passport.

The next step is that Rosenfield must get to Mexico within the next six months to finish the process there. She has to fill out some forms, get photographed and fingerprinted, and pay an additional fee, which is typically less than $200. At that point, she’s officially allowed to reside in Mexico for one year. After the first year is up, she can renew the visa in Mexico, and the extension would allow her to remain in the country for up to three years. And after that, she’d be eligible for permanent residency. Unlike with many other countries, the temporary visa doesn’t have a residency requirement, meaning she doesn’t have to live in Mexico for any certain period of time.

“The temporary residency visa allows me to open a bank account there, buy and register a car, get a Mexican driver’s license, and join the Mexican health care program,” Rosenfield explains. “If I buy a property, there is no capital gains tax if I turn around and sell it down the line. There are lots of benefits.”

One important restriction to keep in mind is that a U.S. citizen with temporary residency status in Mexico can’t just walk into a Mexican company and get a job. There are hurdles to obtaining employment there. You need to get special permission. But if you’re a digital nomad — remember that Rosenfield is a freelance writer, a job you can typically do from anywhere — you can do that work for a non-Mexican company, so long as your pay gets deposited into your U.S. bank account. And Mexico doesn’t tax that pay.

So what does Rosenfield’s husband, Richard, think of all this?

“He was absolutely not moving to Mexico,” says Rosenfield with a laugh. “But he also said ‘absolutely not’ when I said I wanted to get chickens. And I got my chickens. But then the election happened. And when I went to Mexico in January, he visited me. He fell in love with it. So he’s on board. He’s just not ready to go yet.”

Rosenfield estimates that she can live comfortably in Guanajuato for $1,500 to $2,500 per month. “And that’s with going out to dinner all the time, traveling around, and living in a really nice two-bedroom,” she says. “I mean, electricity is about $10 per month. Do you have any idea what our taxes are like in Abington?!”