The Rights Of Foreigners To Acquire Private Property

Angel Marin Diaz with 21 years’ experience as President and C.E.O of Inmtec Legal Services., with offices in Mexico and San Miguel Allende 

Let’s start by clarifying, who is a foreigner in Mexico? Well, they are all the people who were not born in the country, and those who have not obtained Mexican nationality through the legal naturalization process. 

But, despite not being considered a national residing in the country as a Mexican citizen, they enjoy all the rights that the political constitution and human rights granted to anyone who is within the country, one of them being the power acquire private property in national territory. 

First you must meet some requirements. So what are the requirements to buy a property? You should know that, to acquire a property in the country, you have to obtain permission from the authority that oversees the relationship between a foreign country and Mexico with the rights of foreign people in the country, which in this case is the Secretary of External Relations. 

Now, the requirements that the Secretary of Foreign Relations places on foreigners to have permission to acquire real estate, are: request from this authority the intention of acquiring a property, for which, they must present the agreement by which they must renounce to buy properties within the restricted zone; prove your legal stay in the country with the FM2 or FM3 immigration form, and attach to said request a document describing the measurements and boundaries of the property one plans to buy. 

You may ask, why if I want to buy a property in Mexico I can’t do it anywhere in the country? The reasons are historical and in order to avoid confusing the borders of the Nation with those of the nearest country, that is why the political constitution of Mexico prohibits acquiring property from foreigners along all borders and seas This area is called «restricted zone», outside of these cases, any migrant can buy property within the country. The permit that we have been talking about must be processed in person and directly at the Secretary of Foreign Relations, which is domiciled in Mexico City, but it can also be done by your legal representative with the due power of attorney presenting him/herself with all your documents; the process normally takes five days although during covid I have heard of some Notaries waiting up to 5 weeks to receive said permission. 

Once all the paperwork is gathered and sent to the Secretary of Exterior Relations many Notarios will allow a closing to take place while the permit is being processed. If the purchase is being made by one or more people married or otherwise a permit must be solicited for each visitor who will appear on the deed.