In some cases, the Mexican Migration Service has the ability to assess a fine. A fine is a punishment for violating immigration laws. Most often, a fine is charged only when you owe something from the migration service, and until you pay the fine, you will not get what you wanted.
Mexican immigration legislation describes quite a few situations in which a fine can be assessed. Here are the most common ones:
- exceeded the permitted period of stay in Mexico,
- did not notify the migration service on time about the change of address, place of work, marital status, surname or citizenship,
- other violations of migration legislation, for example, commercial activity without a work permit, harboring a foreigner, fictitious marriage.
The size of the fine is not fixed, it is a “fork”. The legislation determines the amount of the fine in UMA units (Unidad de Medida y Actualización), and then it is required to multiply this number of units by the amount of one unit, which is revised annually. For 2024, 1 UMA = 108.57 MXN (Mexican pesos). Total fines for 2024:
- minimal — 20 UMA = 2,171 MXN,
- maximum when addressing family issues — 40 UMA = 4,343 MXN,
- maximum in other cases — 100 UMA = 10,857 MXN.
These are the amounts of fines for exceeding the permitted period of stay or for failure to notify of any event. Fines for other violations may be even higher, in particular, the maximum fine for a fictitious marriage — 500 UMA = 54,285 MXN.
The specific amount of the fine is determined by the migration service officer in the range indicated above and in increments of 10 UMA. Let's say if he decides that you have to pay 30 UMA, then the fine will be 3,257 MXN. Over the years of communication with the migration service, we still did not understand what the size of the fine depends on. But it certainly does not depend on how much you exceeded the permitted period of stay. «Overstayed» in Mexico 1 day or several years — the fine may be the same.
The size of the fine may depend on the «greed» specific migration service office. As an example, let’s look at obtaining a residence permit under the settlement program. This program assumes that your authorized period of stay in Mexico has already expired, you have become an illegal immigrant, and you need to regulate your migration situation. In other words, before you are issued a card to a resident under the settlement program, you will be forced to pay a fine under any circumstances. So, at the migration service office in Cancun you will be charged a minimum fine of 2,171 MXN, and in Mexico City, on the contrary, — maximum 10,857 MXN. Representatives of the migration service are well aware that even if the total amount of official fees for issuing a resident card under the settlement program, taking into account such a fine, exceeds US$1400, you have no other opportunity to obtain a Mexican resident card for 4 years for that kind of money. For this reason, they will not be «modest» by charging a fine.
There is no valid reason why you may not pay this fine. You will try to explain that after you entered Mexico, getting married to a Mexican took too long, and therefore you did not have time to apply to the migration service for a residence permit by marriage before the permitted period of stay expired. No one is interested in an explanation. Don't pay the fine — you will not receive the service for which you applied to the migration service. In fact, you will be given 3 bills to pay at once: a fine, for conducting the migration process, for a resident card. Most often, everything happens very quickly: you submitted the documentation for purchasing a resident card, you received invoices for payment, which you can pay with your card right here and right now. Or you have the option of paying in cash through a bank, which will take an indefinite amount of time. And although you were unpleasantly surprised by the amount of the fine assessed, you will pay this fine because you have no other choice. At the same time, you will sign a paper admitting that you have violated immigration laws and agree with the amount of the fine.
The fine is not assessed on its own. It is charged when you apply for any service, and the migration service detects a violation. Let's say you have a resident card, you got married and want to give your wife a resident card based on her marriage to you. But you did not notify the immigration office about the marriage within 90 days after this event. This means that first you will have to notify the migration service about the marriage and pay the fine accrued for failure to notify. Only after this is your wife able to contact the migration service to obtain her resident card for her marriage to you. But if you do not owe anything from the migration service and do not need to notify them about the marriage, then no one will charge you a fine.
There is no need to be afraid of a fine if you are charged one. No one will reproach you or consider you a malicious violator of migration laws. Migration service fines — This is just a way to seize money from foreigners.
When you leave Mexico through the airport as a guest of the country, you may also be asked to pay a “fine for exceeding the permitted period of stay.” In fact, this is not a fine, but a payment for issuing a one-time migration form. Or re-pay the guest sovereign tax, which you have already paid once upon entry. It is 983 pesos (2026). The accrual of this «fine» does not have any negative consequences for future entries into Mexico.