While the United States has made it increasingly harder for foreigners, Mexicans included, to migrate legally to the country, Mexico in turn has experienced a massive influx in legal foreign residents.
Between January and May of 2021, more than 28,631 permanent resident cards (TRP) were issued, almost 10,000 more than the same time frame in the year previous, according to data from the Mexican Secretariat of the Interior’s Migration Policy Unit. The numbers have likewise nearly doubled from two years ago, with 13,730 more TRPs issued in the first months of 2021 than 2019.
More than 118 citizens of different countries were granted residency cards, including 5,000 from Venezuela, 4,385 from Honduras, and 2,584 from the United States. Mexico City has the highest surge in new permanent residents with 4,591, followed by the state of Chiapas with 3,630, and then Quintana Roo with 3,139, likely bolstered by the popularity of the Tulum region as a hotspot for foreigners to move to.
Anyone granted a TRP is given the right to live in Mexico indefinitely without needing to renew the permit, and can legally work in exchange for payment, though likewise can live unemployed [if financially secure].
For temporary residents, of which 18,144 temporary resident cards (TRT) were given in the first five months of 2021, the legality of the residency is bound to endorsement by a specific employer for no more than four years. After those four years have passed, legal migrants are then allowed to apply for the TRP.
The beneficiaries of this permit also increased this year from the year previous by more than 2,100 TRTs.
More than 17.8 percent of TRTs were granted to U.S. citizens, followed by Colombians with 13.4 percent and Argentines with 6.1 percent. Most TRTs were issued to those living in Mexico City, followed by the states of Quintana Roo and Jalisco.
With both the TRT and TRP, legal residents of Mexico, whether temporary or permanent, are granted the right to leave and enter Mexico as often as they wish, and request permission for immediate family members to enter the country as well.
Source: Pulse News Mexico