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According to the popular website Nomad List, Mexico is the most popular destination for nomad workers. That’s not to say that the people who are coming “to work” in Mexico are working for Mexican enterprises. In most cases, it’s actually the opposite, people can work out of Mexico while providing their services to companies across the globe. Mexico City, and Puerto Vallarta lead the charge as the favorite cities for remote workers to establish themselves in. With Sayulita beach, and of course Cabo San Lucas not far behind.
Why People Are Choosing To Move To Mexico While Working Remotely
The answer to this is rather simple, it comes down to the cost of living. Most people are able to reduce their living costs considerably if they move for instance from north of the border to any Mexican city. According to Numbeo, a site that offers living costs estimates, moving down to Cabo San Lucas from the LA area in California could reduce your living costs literally in half.
In their estimation, to match the standard of living that you can have in the LA area making 6 thousand dollars a month and change, you would need only about 2,500 dollars a month in Los Cabos. Those numbers were actually verified by a blogger living in Los Cabos who shared her monthly expenses. Claiming that she and her husband spend just a little under three thousand dollars a month to live in Los Cabos in a 3 bedroom duplex. Good luck trying to do that in Los Angeles.
Another one of the main reasons why primarily US natives are choosing to work remotely in Mexico is the fact that they can literally hop on a plane and be anywhere within the US in a matter of hours. In this realm the Cabo area certainly has a leg up on other cities in Mexico.
The Cabo airport offers flights to and from virtually all of the main US airports, as well as other main hubs across the globe. Something that would be harder to find in spots like Puerto Vallarta that are also high on the list. When speaking about the Cabo region specifically it may be fair to say that it is getting higher income remote workers than other parts of Mexico.
Getting Into Mexico For An Extended Stay Is Easier Than In Other Countries
Mexico actually offers a special Visa for remote workers. This Visa allows folks to live in Mexico on a permanent basis. Is does not permit foreign nationals to for a Mexican employer. Most remote workers that come to Mexico are either self employed or work for international companies.
The main requirement to be able to apply for this type of Visa is to be able to show that you’ve earned or kept at least $1620 dollars in your bank account over the last 6 months. The other alternative is to prove that you have a savings account with at least a total of 27,000 dollars in funds.
Some self employed nomads have been arriving expecting 6 month tourist visas but in recent months officials have been cracking down. If they suspect you are not in the country on tourism, the length of the stay permitted is drastically reduced to as little as 14 days.