Part one · 3 steps
Visa & residency
Start the Temporary Resident Visa (Residente Temporal) via passive income/pension path
Mexico's route for retirees. Plan on roughly $4,701/month of provable income — pension, Social Security, dividends — and expect the consulate to want it documented. The current read:
From our Puerto Vallarta research
Apply at a Mexican consulate before arriving. As of 2026 the passive-income path requires ~US$4,400/month for the prior 6 months (single), OR ~US$74,000 in average savings/investments over 12 months. Add roughly US$1,500/month in income (or a correspondingly higher savings balance) for an accompanying spouse. Figures are tied to Mexico's UMA, recalculated annually (UMA set Jan 8 2026); the savings path is the realistic route for those on Social Security alone. Valid 1 year, renewable up to 4 years total, then convert to Permanent Resident.
Read the full Puerto Vallarta profile →Book the consulate appointment early
Mexico's residency process starts at a consulate in the US, not in Mexico. Slots fill weeks ahead, and requirements vary noticeably from consulate to consulate — pick yours, then work its list.
Get key documents apostilled + certified-translated
Birth/marriage certificates, background checks — start early; it's slow, and every residency application wants them.
Our visa paperwork guide →Part two · 3 steps
Healthcare
Map your care in Puerto Vallarta
Know where you'd go before you need it — the hospital for something serious, the specialist, the pharmacy that speaks English. Here's our current read:
From our Puerto Vallarta research
Strong private hospitals for routine and acute care — Hospital San Javier Marina and CMQ Premier are the expat go-tos with English-speaking doctors. Most facilities require upfront payment (cash/card) and do NOT take US Medicare or domestic insurance, so private expat health insurance is effectively mandatory. Nearest truly world-class/tertiary care is Guadalajara, ~3.5 hrs by road.
Read the full Puerto Vallarta profile →Know what Medicare does — and doesn't — cover abroad
Original Medicare generally doesn't cover care outside the US. Whatever your plan becomes, it has to answer that gap.
Medicare abroad, explained →Compare international / expat health insurance
See what international health plans actually cover — and what they cost.
Part three · 5 steps
Money & taxes
Pressure-test your Puerto Vallarta budget
A comfortable month in Puerto Vallarta runs about $3,311 for a couple, at current exchange rates. Build your own version on top of that base — your rent tier, your healthcare, your flights home — and see what's left over.
Build the real monthly number →Understand US taxes as an expat in Mexico
You still file US taxes abroad, and FBAR applies once foreign accounts pass $10,000. The country side matters just as much:
From our Puerto Vallarta research
Mexico taxes tax-residents on worldwide income (worldwide system); non-residents are taxed only on Mexican-source income. The US-Mexico income tax treaty reserves taxation of US Social Security to the US (Mexico does not tax it). Private pensions/IRA/401(k) are taxable in your country of residence — if you become a Mexican tax resident you'd report them in Mexico and credit Mexican tax against US tax. Tax residency hinges on your 'center of vital interests', not an automatic 183-day rule. US tax treaty: yes.
Read the full Puerto Vallarta profile →Set up low-fee international money transfers
Bank wires quietly cost 3–5% in bad FX; specialists are far cheaper.
Have someone check the retirement math before you commit
Plan day-to-day cash + card access (and a backup card)
Check your cards' foreign-ATM fees before you go, and carry a backup card on a different network in case one gets swallowed.
Part four · 4 steps
The scouting trip
Book the Puerto Vallarta reconnaissance trip
Not a vacation — a rehearsal. Rent in an ordinary neighborhood for a few weeks and live a normal week: groceries, buses, a doctor's appointment, a quiet Tuesday. Getting there and back:
From our Puerto Vallarta research
Excellent access. PVR has nonstop flights to ~20 US cities (LA, Houston, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Atlanta, Salt Lake, Las Vegas, etc.); LAX alone runs ~80+ nonstops/week. Most US hubs are a 3-5 hr direct flight.
Read the full Puerto Vallarta profile →Compare trip insurance for the scouting trip
Read the safety picture for yourself
Puerto Vallarta sits under a US State Department Level 3 (“reconsider travel”) advisory. Check the current one before you book, then weigh it against the on-the-ground picture:
From our Puerto Vallarta research
Puerto Vallarta itself is among the safer tourist cities in Mexico — violent crime against foreigners in Zona Romántica, the Hotel Zone and Marina is rare, and the city/Riviera Nayarit are explicitly excluded from US-government travel restrictions. Caveats: petty/property crime is rising (SESNSP ~+7.6% YoY in 2025), and the broader state has serious cartel activity away from the coast.
Read the full Puerto Vallarta profile →Test the season, not the postcard
Every place has a month the brochures skip. If you can, scout in the worst one:
From our Puerto Vallarta research
Hot tropical climate, warm all year. Dry, near-perfect season Nov-Apr. May-Oct is the rainy season: highs around 90F with ~80-90% humidity that many find oppressive, plus tropical-storm and occasional hurricane risk in late summer.
Read the full Puerto Vallarta profile →Part five · 6 steps
The move itself
Rent first — live a full season before you even think about buying
The single biggest regret-saver. The market isn't going anywhere.
Book a short-term furnished rental for your landing
Give yourself 1–3 months to find the right neighborhood.
Decide what to ship, store, or sell
Shipping a household is expensive; many movers regret over-shipping.
Re-home your US mail before you go
Banks, the IRS, Medicare — the mail keeps coming after you leave. Keep a US address you check from anywhere, or hand the whole job to a service.
Sort pet import + airline requirements early
Timelines for vaccines and paperwork can be months.
Our pet-move guide →Scan and cloud-back-up every key document
Passports, prescriptions, insurance cards, the marriage certificate — one folder you can open from any phone, anywhere.
Part six · 5 steps
Settling in
Find your people in Puerto Vallarta
Loneliness is the #1 reason people move home — build the community before you build anything else. What's already there:
From our Puerto Vallarta research
One of the largest, most established expat/snowbird communities in Mexico — roughly 15,000 year-round residents swelling to ~45,000 in winter high season, heavily US/Canadian. Very LGBTQ-friendly. Easy to land softly; downside is it can feel like a North-American bubble rather than immersive Mexico.
Read the full Puerto Vallarta profile →Join the expat community before you arrive
Start the conversations months before the flight.
Our community guide →Get your CURP and RFC once you land
Mexico's ID and tax numbers. You'll want them for banking, utilities, sometimes even a phone plan — finalizing your resident card at the immigration office kicks it off.
Set up a local SIM + home internet
If your phone's unlocked, an eSIM can cover you from day one; sort home internet once you have an address.
Start the language — even 20 words changes everything
Spanish is what your daily life will run in — the clinic front desk, the market, the neighbors. A head start pays off from day one.
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