What it costs to register a company in Mexico as a foreigner
Most advisors will not give you a number before a call. Here is one.
Notary and government fees for a basic company registration come to 40,000 to 60,000 MXN.Â
That is not my fee. That is what the notary and the government offices charge, and you would pay it whoever you used.
​
Handled end to end by me, the total is 60,000 to 90,000 MXN, with those notary and government fees included in the figure rather than added to it.
​
Not every business needs a company. Registering as a persona fÃsica costs 50,000 MXN including my fee, and needs no notary. Which forms exist, and what differs between them
​
Both numbers assume two things: that your activity needs no specialised licence, and that you already hold the documents required. If either is untrue, the number changes, and the rest of this page is about how.
What the basic figure covers
-
Company formation through a notary
-
Tax registration with SAT
-
Compliance at state and national level
-
Banking guidance
-
Review of your rental or purchase contract before you sign it
What you need before formation can start
-
Your original passport, usually together with the immigration slip you were given on arrival.
-
Proof of an address in Mexico.
-
A company name check, confirming that no existing company holds the name you want or one close enough to conflict with it. Worth doing before you print anything or buy a domain.
​
And one that changes your travel plans rather than your paperwork:
​
You have to attend the notary in person, and so does every partner. The incorporation itself has to be formalised before a notario público and cannot be done remotely.
​
There is an exception, and it is narrower than it first sounds. A foreign shareholder who is not an active partner can be represented by a power of attorney executed abroad and apostilled. A shareholder can also be a company rather than an individual. I have done this twice, once for a Mexican branch of a foreign company and once for a passive investor in a startup.
​
It works. It is also a longer process, and I cannot put a number on it until I know the full structure, so treat it as a route rather than a shortcut.
​
They do not all need resident permits, which is the part people expect to be harder than it is.
If you are planning this from abroad, build a trip around it, and make sure everyone else is building one too.
​
What sits outside it
Specialised licences. A clinic, hospital, coffee shop or restaurant needs COFEPRIS. A bar or restaurant serving alcohol needs an alcohol licence from the municipality. These are quoted separately because their cost varies by activity and by where you are, and anyone quoting you one before seeing your premises is guessing.
​
Work permits. Registering a company gives you ownership of it. It does not give you the right to work in it. That is a separate immigration process, and it costs separately. Read why that catches people out
​
A premises that turns out to be wrongly zoned. The most expensive thing that can happen to a setup budget, and it happens after the lease is signed. Read about uso de suelo
Why the range and not a fixed price
Where your file is straightforward you are at the lower end. More partners, a more complex activity, or documents that need validating move you up it. I will tell you which end you are at on the call rather than after.
​
Until I know the premises, the activity, and which documents you already hold, anything I quote you is a guess.
​