Number of U.S. residents in Mexico skyrockets over last three years

The number of Americans residing in Mexico on a temporary or permanent basis increased by 69.9% in 2022 compared to the figure for 2019, the year before the start of the covid-19 pandemic, according to data from the Migration Policy Unit of the Ministry of the Interior. The figure has gone specifically from 11,594 to 19,122, a difference of 7,528 people who have been granted at least one of the residence cards that allow them to live in the country on a regular basis.

The number of permit issuances to Americans in 2022 was the highest since 2013, when the count reached 20,374. Since that time there was a steady decline in residents year after year until 2021 saw an increase again. The lowest point of the last ten years could be observed in 2020, with the beginning of the pandemic that generated a clear impact worldwide due to the restrictions imposed by covid-19, although Mexico did not impose restrictive measures on the arrival of foreign travelers.

The U.S. State Department recommends its citizens not to travel to six of the 32 Mexican states, mainly due to “crime” and “kidnappings”: Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas. Despite this, 1,018 of its citizens live in these territories, which represents 5.32% of the total number of Americans in Mexico. The majority of these cases (467) decided to locate their domicile in Sinaloa, where the U.S. Executive considers that one should not travel due to these warnings of danger from “crime” and “kidnapping”. “Violent crime is widespread. Criminal organizations are based and operate in Sinaloa. U.S. citizens and legal residents have been victims of kidnappings,” they state among other things.

Of Mexico’s 32 states, U.S. citizens with a new residency card chose to settle, as a majority trend, in three territories: Mexico City (where 3,518 people decided to settle), Jalisco (3,427) and Quintana Roo (2,411). The three districts thus account for almost 50% of the total (48.92% to be precise).

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