Mexico vs Spain

Companies (commonly a Sociedad Anónima or the simpler SAS) are formed before a notary and registered in the Public Registry of Commerce; a tax ID (RFC) from SAT is required. The online SAS route suits small businesses.

The usual vehicle is a Sociedad Limitada (SL), formed by a notarial deed and registered in the Mercantile Registry (Registro Mercantil). Founders need a Spanish tax ID (NIF, and an NIE for individuals), and there is a modest minimum share capital.

Mexican banking is modern with strong digital payments (SPEI, CoDi). Foreigners usually open an account with a passport, a temporary or permanent resident card and proof of address; a 2026 rule allows a basic, limited account with just a CURP and official ID. The CNBV and Banxico regulate banks.

Spanish banking includes large retail banks and online banks. Opening an account usually needs an NIE, ID and proof of address or activity; non-resident accounts are available with more documentation. The Banco de España supervises banks.

Mexico is broadly open to foreign investment under the Foreign Investment Law, with national treatment for most sectors and a few reserved or capped activities (energy, some transport and media). There are no exchange controls, so profits repatriate freely; incentives include IMMEX/maquiladora programs and USMCA-driven nearshoring advantages.

Spain welcomes foreign investment through ICEX-Invest in Spain, with EU free movement of capital and no exchange controls. Screening applies to investments by non-EU investors in strategic sectors; incentives include R&D tax credits, regional aid and special regimes (e.g. the Canary Islands and startup law). Profits repatriate freely.

Mexico's taxes are administered by the SAT: income tax (ISR), VAT (IVA) and payroll-related taxes. Tax residents are taxed on worldwide income, and electronic invoicing (CFDI) is mandatory.

Spain taxes personal income (IRPF), corporate profits and VAT (IVA), administered by the Agencia Tributaria (AEAT). Tax residents (183+ days) are taxed on worldwide income; regions set part of the personal rates.

Foreigners generally need a Temporary Resident visa with work authorisation to work in Mexico, usually employer-sponsored; the National Migration Institute (INM) administers immigration. A job offer and permit precede local work.

Non-EU nationals need a work and residence authorisation to work in Spain; EU/EEA and Swiss citizens work freely. Common routes are employed work, the Highly Qualified Professional permit and self-employment, plus a digital-nomad visa for remote workers. Applications run through the immigration authorities and consulates.

Mexico's temporary resident student visa is for those whose main purpose is study at institutions belonging to the national education system, normally for stays longer than 180 days. Evidence paths include study documents, international-mobility instruments, and financial solvency or scholarship/financing proof. The hard deadline: you must process the temporary resident student card within 30 calendar days of entering Mexico. Work authorisation needs INM review.

Non-EU students staying longer than 90 days need a Spanish student visa or stay authorisation, based on admission to an accredited institution, proof of sufficient funds and health insurance. You apply through the Spanish consulate covering your residence, with in-country procedures handled by the immigration authorities via the electronic administration portal. EU/EEA/Swiss students need no visa.

Tourist and short business entry to Mexico depends on nationality and purpose. Where a visa is required, the SRE visitor visa without permission for paid activities covers stays of up to 180 days for tourism, business, studies or research — but only where the activity is not remunerated. Visa-exempt travellers still face entry checks and should carry evidence of purpose, funds and onward travel.

Spain is in the Schengen Area, so short tourist or business visits follow Schengen rules: up to 90 days within any 180-day period across the whole area. Visa-exempt nationals need no visa; everyone else applies for a short-stay (type C) Schengen visa at the Spanish consulate covering their place of residence. A new ETIAS authorisation is being introduced for visa-exempt travellers.

Mexico grants permanent resident (residente permanente) status directly in some cases — close family of Mexicans, retirees with sufficient income, or via a points system — or after 4 years as a temporary resident. It lets you live and work without a permit; naturalization generally follows after 5 years (2 for spouses/some Latin American and Iberian nationals).

Spain grants long-term residence (residencia de larga duración) after generally 5 years of continuous legal residence, letting you live and work indefinitely on equal terms with Spaniards. You show continuous residence and a clean record; long-term residence then leads toward Spanish citizenship (often after 10 years).

In Mexico you can naturalize after 5 years of legal residence, reduced to 2 years for spouses of Mexicans, parents of a Mexican-born child, or nationals of Latin American and Iberian countries. You take exams on Spanish, Mexican history and culture (with age exemptions). Mexico permits dual nationality. Applications go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE).

Naturalization by residence normally requires 10 years of legal residence, but only 2 years for nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal or people of Sephardic origin (and 1 year in some family cases). You pass the DELE A2 Spanish exam and the CCSE culture/constitution test. Spain requires renouncing your prior nationality except for those dual-nationality countries.

Mexican employment under the Federal Labor Law sets a national minimum wage (higher in the northern border zone), a 48-hour week, an annual Christmas bonus (aguinaldo), and at least 12 days' vacation after a year (since the 2023 reform). Workers share in profits (PTU); IMSS covers social security, and dismissal without cause triggers substantial severance.

Spanish employment is governed by the Workers' Statute: a national minimum wage (SMI), 30 calendar days' paid holiday, and dismissal that requires cause and severance (typically 20 or 33 days' pay per year). Most contracts are now permanent after the 2021 reform; sector collective agreements (convenios) apply, and disputes go to the social courts.

Mexican trade clears through the customs authority (ANAM/SAT). Importers must be on the Padrón de Importadores and file a pedimento — generally through a licensed customs broker (agente aduanal). Goods are classified under the TIGIE for import duty (IGI) plus 16% VAT; USMCA/T-MEC origin can zero the duty, and many goods must meet NOM standards.

Spanish trade with non-EU countries clears through the Spanish Tax Agency's Customs (Aduanas) with an EU EORI number. You classify goods in TARIC to find duty and import VAT (21% IVA), which can be deferred to your VAT return. Declarations use the DUA; intra-EU trade needs Intrastat and dual-use exports need a licence.

Mexican trademarks are registered with the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI). You search the register, file under Nice classes, and after publication and examination the mark registers. A Mexican trademark lasts 10 years and is renewable; use is required and a declaration of use must be filed. Mexico is a Madrid Protocol member.

Spanish trademarks are registered with the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM). You search the register, file under Nice classes, and it publishes in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin for a two-month opposition period. A Spanish trademark lasts 10 years and is renewable; an EU-wide alternative is the EU trademark via EUIPO, and copyright arises automatically.

Mexico has a free public job-matching portal run by the labour ministry, the Portal del Empleo, and it is broader than a listings site: it also surfaces job fairs, training, government vacancies and some overseas-work channels. The structural point for foreign candidates is that job matching and work authorisation sit with two different authorities — the labour ministry runs the portal, but the immigration institute controls whether you may do paid work, so an offer on its own is not permission to start.

Spain's public employment service is SEPE, which runs the national job portal and the unemployment system, but it sits alongside regional employment services rather than replacing them — so there are two public layers to search, not one. Non-EU workers generally need a work-and-residence authorisation tied to a job offer, though the entrepreneur and digital-nomad routes exist as alternatives that do not depend on one. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens can work freely.

Mexico expresses its statutory minimum wages as daily rates rather than monthly or hourly, which is the first thing to get right when reading a figure. There are two geographic rates: a general minimum and a higher one for the Northern Border Free Zone, so where you work changes the floor. Above both, occupation-specific professional minimum wages and collective terms can be higher. CONASAMI is the body that announces the rates, and official wage sources should be used rather than proprietary tables.

Spain's statutory national minimum wage, the Salario Mínimo Interprofesional, is set by the government and quoted as a monthly figure paid in 14 instalments — not 12. That payment structure is the arithmetic trap: multiplying the monthly SMI by twelve understates the annual figure, so any cross-country comparison has to use the fourteen-payment basis. Pay is gross, with income tax (IRPF) and social-security contributions reducing take-home, and the INE is authoritative for wage data.

Mexico's main scholarship for foreigners is the Mexican Government Scholarship, run by AMEXCID (the international cooperation agency under the Foreign Ministry), covering tuition and a stipend for various degree and research programs. National research funding also comes through the science council. Explore AMEXCID and university sites and apply by the annual deadline.

Spain's main government scholarships for foreigners are the MAEC-AECID scholarships (run by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation under the Foreign Ministry), covering various master's, research and Spanish-language programs, alongside many university awards. Explore options on the AECID and university sites and apply by each deadline.

To study in Mexico you apply to the university, then, once admitted, apply for a student visa (temporary resident student visa) at the Mexican consulate. After arrival you exchange it (canje) at the immigration institute (INM) for a resident card. Explore the university sites and apply by the deadline.

To study in Spain you apply to the university, then, once admitted, apply for a student visa (visado de estudios) at the Spanish consulate. For stays over six months you obtain a foreigner ID card (TIE) after arrival. Explore options on the university sites and apply by the deadline.

Foreigners can buy property in Mexico, but within the 'restricted zone' — within 100 km of a border or 50 km of the coast — residential property must be held through a bank trust (fideicomiso) or a Mexican company, not directly. Outside that zone you can buy directly (with a permit from the Foreign Affairs Ministry). Renting is easy; purchases go through a notario público and the Public Registry, with an acquisition tax (ISABI).

Spain places no restriction on foreigners buying property; you just need an NIE (foreigner ID number). Renting is governed by the Urban Leases Law (LAU), with a deposit (fianza) usually of one month lodged with a regional body. Buying goes through a notario, is registered at the Land Registry (Registro de la Propiedad), and carries transfer tax (ITP, ~6–10% on resale) or 10% VAT on new homes.

Mexico's public healthcare is fragmented rather than single-system: IMSS for many formal-sector workers, ISSSTE for many public-sector workers, and IMSS-Bienestar as the current federalized model for people without social security in participating states. Crucially, IMSS and ISSSTE coverage depends on employment or public-sector affiliation, not simply on residence. Seguro Popular and INSABI are not current programmes, so guidance naming them is out of date.

Spain's public National Health System covers residents who contribute to social security — through work, self-employment or as a dependant — and it is run by the 17 autonomous communities, so practical details vary by region. People who do not contribute, such as non-lucrative or student visa holders, generally need private insurance. The route many miss: the Convenio Especial lets non-contributing residents join the public system for a monthly fee.

In Mexico a single formal job typically wires you into three separate systems at once: IMSS for social security, INFONAVIT for housing contributions, and an AFORE as your retirement-savings administrator. Keeping those distinct from private insurance is the main planning discipline, since health coverage may come through IMSS, ISSSTE, IMSS-Bienestar or a private policy depending on your status. Private medical, auto, property and liability policies are separate products — check exclusions and regulated-provider status.

Spain's Seguridad Social provides pensions and social insurance, funded by both employer and employee contributions, and it is administered through the Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social — the treasury arm is the body that actually collects. Beyond mandatory health cover, motor third-party liability insurance is compulsory for vehicles. Insurers are supervised by the DGSFP, which is a directorate-general inside the ministry rather than a standalone agency.