Mexico UMA Thresholds 2026: Exact USD Amounts for RT and RP Visas

Under the Lineamientos Generales para la expedicion de visas published in the Diario Oficial de la Federacion on July 25, 2025 (in force 15 calendar days later), Mexican consulates use UMA (Unidad de Medida y Actualizacion) instead of the daily minimum wage to evaluate financial solvency for Temporary (RT) and Permanent (RP) Resident visas. The switch is deliberate: INEGI updates the UMA once a year in line with inflation, while the minimum wage has been rising much faster under recent federal administrations. Using UMA keeps the foreign-applicant thresholds in a stable range.

2026 UMA values (effective Feb 1, 2026)

Temporary Resident (RT) thresholds

You must show ONE of these (not both): (a) employment or pension income, free of liens, above 680 days of UMA per month for the last 6 months, or (b) an average monthly balance of 11,460 days of UMA in investments or bank accounts over the last 12 months. Proof comes in the form of consular-translated bank statements and pay stubs or broker statements.

Permanent Resident (RP) thresholds

In the July 2025 Lineamientos, the financial route to a Permanent Resident visa from abroad is written for retirees and pensioners (jubilados o pensionados), proven by pension income or by an average balance in investments or bank accounts; family ties are a separate route. Other applicants typically take the 4-year RT pathway first.

Side-by-side RT vs RP

The July 2025 rule change explained

Consulate variation still exists

• The UMA multiples are national: they are set by the Lineamientos published in the DOF, not by each consulate
• Each consulate converts the UMA amounts into its local currency at its own reference rate and publishes the result on its visa page, so the USD, EUR or GBP figure differs between posts and over time
• Some consulates count pre-tax income, others net - confirm with the specific consulate before booking MEXITEL
• Pension income counts on the same terms as employment income: the Lineamientos set one UMA figure for employment or pension

Currency conversion note

All USD figures in this article use the Banxico FIX of 18 September 2026 (17.2450, about 17.25 MXN/USD), rounded to the nearest USD 10 or 100. The MXN amounts are fixed by UMA and do not move with the dollar. If the peso strengthens (fewer MXN per USD), your USD cost of meeting the threshold rises. We recommend padding your proof by 10-15% above the strict minimum to absorb rate fluctuation between your bank-statement period and the consular review.

Where each of these numbers is published

Nothing in this article is a consulate opinion. The UMA itself is calculated and published by INEGI once a year and takes effect on 1 February, so the daily, monthly and annual values are a matter of public record rather than interpretation. The multiples applied to it, 680 and 11,460 days of UMA for temporary residency and 1,140 and 45,850 for permanent residency, are set in the Lineamientos Generales para la expedicion de visas, published in the Diario Oficial de la Federacion on 25 July 2025, within the immigration framework administered by the Instituto Nacional de Migracion, and the visa is issued by the Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores through the consulate network. Three institutions, three documents, and only the first of them changes annually.

The switch from minimum wage to UMA matters mostly for the future. The two indices had drifted apart for years, so the 2025 Lineamientos raised the multiples when they changed the unit, which kept the peso amounts in a similar range; from then on the solvency tests follow the slower-moving index. That is also why a threshold you were quoted in 2024, in days of minimum wage, is not a threshold you can rely on now: recompute it with the current UMA for the temporary resident route and the permanent resident route.

What the consulate is actually testing

The threshold is a floor, not a formula. An officer is looking for evidence that the income or balance is stable, is yours, and will still exist next year, which is why twelve months of statements from a single account beats a larger balance that appeared last week. Pension income is the easiest case to document because it is recurring and traceable to a payer; remote-work income is the hardest, because a consulate that suspects you intend to work locally will decline regardless of the number. If you are retiring rather than working, the retirement route is documented differently from the generic temporary resident file.

Getting the visa is only the first half. The sticker issued abroad has to be exchanged for a residency card inside Mexico within a short window, and missing that window voids the visa entirely, which is the single most common way people lose a permit they already paid for. The full four-year pathway and its 2026 fee schedule set out what happens after the consulate, and once you are resident the tax residency test becomes the next thing to model.

1. Pull the current UMA from the INEGI page and do the multiplication yourself before you book an appointment.
2. Assemble twelve months of statements from one account, printed with the bank stamp if the consulate asks for it.
3. Check the specific consulate page as well as the SRE national page; document formats and local-currency amounts vary between posts even though the UMA multiples do not.
4. Do not close or move the account between the appointment and the interview. Continuity is part of what is being assessed.