Can Your International Team Work in Mexico? The 90 Percent Rule and Work Visas

Yes, an international team can work in Mexico, inside a ratio the law sets. Article 7 of the Ley Federal del Trabajo requires at least 90 percent Mexican workers, and it counts only the Mexican employer's own payroll. Work visas run through that employer, so the order you build in decides who can be where, and when.

This guide covers what the rule says, who counts, the ways companies build an international team inside it, the visa sequence and a realistic timeline. For the cost of each hire, start with the guide to hiring employees in Mexico.

What does the 90 percent rule say?

Article 7, unchanged in the law as last amended on 14 May 2026, reads:

"En toda empresa o establecimiento, el patrón deberá emplear un noventa por ciento de trabajadores mexicanos, por lo menos. En las categorías de técnicos y profesionales, los trabajadores deberán ser mexicanos, salvo que no los haya en una especialidad determinada, en cuyo caso el patrón podrá emplear temporalmente a trabajadores extranjeros, en una proporción que no exceda del diez por ciento de los de la especialidad. El patrón y los trabajadores extranjeros tendrán la obligación solidaria de capacitar a trabajadores mexicanos en la especialidad de que se trate."

It then adds: "No es aplicable lo dispuesto en este artículo a los directores, administradores y gerentes generales."

That gives you three layers:

Layer	What it means for your team
The whole workforce	At least 90 percent Mexican
Technical and professional roles	Mexican, unless none is available in that specialty; then a foreigner temporarily, up to 10 percent of the specialty, with a joint duty to train Mexican staff
Directors, administrators and general managers	Outside the rule

For most professional hires, from engineers and accountants to managers below officer level, the second layer applies first, and it is the stricter one. Article 993 sets the fine at 250 to 2,500 UMA, about 29,300 to 293,300 pesos at the 2026 UMA of 117.31 pesos, and Article 992 applies it for each worker affected. Several bills to loosen the ratio sit in the Labor committee; none had passed as of October 2026, so plan on the rule as written.

Who counts, and who does not?

Person	How the rule treats them
Mexican citizens, including anyone born abroad to a Mexican parent	Mexican
Naturalized Mexicans	Mexican
Permanent and temporary residents	Foreign
Staff employed by your US or Canadian company and working from abroad	Outside the count
Legal officers of the Mexican company	Outside the rule
Independent contractors	Outside on paper; Article 21 presumes an employment relationship where someone performs personal work for another

The officer exemption is narrow. Supreme Court thesis 221979 describes the exempt posts as those "cuya finalidad es manifestar la voluntad" of the company, posts in its legal structure rather than its operating one. A VP or country director is exempt only if formally appointed an officer, and a Mexican company's officers can be held jointly liable for its taxes in the cases the Código Fiscal de la Federación lists. Mexican nationality by birth passes to children born abroad to a Mexican parent under Article 30 of the Constitution, so a family-tree check is worth doing before you count anyone as foreign.

In practice, each foreign employee outside the officer exemption needs nine Mexican colleagues on the same payroll. On a ten-person team that is one foreign specialist, plus any officers.

How do companies build an international team inside the rule?

Five routes, safest first:

1. Hire Mexican talent first. Add foreign specialists inside the 10 percent as headcount grows, where no Mexican is available in the specialty.
2. Keep international teammates on the parent's payroll. They work from their own countries and visit for meetings, reviews and training as visitors without permission for paid activity, the category in Article 52 of the Ley de Migración. The limit: someone who works in Mexico every day under the Mexican company's direction can be treated as its employee, and the arrangement can create a tax presence.
3. Appoint one or two leaders as true officers. A general manager or administrator with real powers is outside the ratio. Titles alone are not.
4. Start with an employer that already has staff in Mexico. The ratio counts on that employer's headcount, so a larger partner can carry foreign specialists from the start, and the team moves to your company later. A shelter company employs your team under its own entity, and a build-operate-transfer provider hires and runs it before your company exists, then transfers it to you. Keep it time-boxed. Once your own company exists to do the same work, a partner's staff doing it is prohibited personnel subcontracting, with fines of 2,000 to 50,000 UMA, about 234,600 to 5.87 million pesos, under Article 1004-C. Our shelter versus own entity guide covers the move between the two.
5. Independent contractors. The weakest route, for the Article 21 presumption above.

Most teams combine the first three, and use the fourth for speed in year one.

Can your team get work visas?

Mexico has no start-up visa, so there is nothing to suspend. That matters to Canadian founders: Canada stopped taking new Start-Up Visa applications on 31 December 2025, with a replacement pilot announced but not dated, as IMI Daily reported. Mexico's route is the employer. Article 52 of the Ley de Migración grants temporary residence "con la posibilidad de obtener un permiso para trabajar ... sujeto a una oferta de empleo," and the visa is authorized by the Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM) and issued by a Mexican consulate.

For anyone on a Mexican payroll, the company comes first. The regulation requires an employer "establecida legalmente en el territorio nacional" with a constancia de inscripción del empleador, and Article 166 asks for, among other documents, proof of the "presentación de la última declaración de impuestos" and the list of employees with their nationalities. The sequence for one foreign hire:

1. Incorporate the company and obtain its RFC.
2. File the first tax return, so there is one on record.
3. Register as an employer with the INM.
4. File the job offer. The INM rules within about 20 business days.
5. Book the consular interview within 30 business days of approval; it is held within 12 business days of booking.
6. Enter Mexico and collect the residence card.

Approval is decided person by person, and Article 43 of the law allows the INM to refuse. A visitor cannot convert to job-offer residence inside Mexico, so every foreign hire attends the consular interview abroad. Passport decides how someone visits: US and Canadian citizens visit without a visa, and many other nationals need one unless they hold a valid US, Canadian, UK, Japanese or Schengen visa.

What can start before your company exists?

• The incorporation itself. Your US or Canadian company signs apostilled powers of attorney and Mexican counsel appears before the notary for you. Nobody has to fly in to sign.
• Business visits. Meetings, site visits and setup work, paid from home.
• The founder's own residence. Temporary residence on proof of means needs no Mexican company. The San Diego consulate's 2026 requirements are a monthly balance of US$75,950 over 12 months or income of US$4,510 a month over six, and they accept remote work for a foreign employer. Amounts vary by consulate. A temporary resident can later add a work permit inside Mexico with a registered employer's offer.
• The first hires, through an employer that is already registered (route 4).

How long does it take?

Step	Typical time
Company formed, RFC issued	3 to 6 weeks
e.firma, IMSS registration and bank account	1 to 3 more months, set by appointment and bank timelines
First tax filing on record, then INM employer registration	2 to 4 weeks after the filing
Job offer approved	Up to 20 business days
Consular interview and visa	1 to 4 weeks
Entry and residence card	4 to 6 weeks at current Mexico City processing
Foreign hire on your own payroll	About 5 to 7 months from starting the incorporation
Through an employer already registered	Entry in about 4 to 8 weeks

Fragomen reported on 3 September 2026 that in-country filings now often run the full 20 business days, and that post-arrival registration and residence cards in Mexico City moved from one or two weeks to four to six. The e.firma needs an in-person appointment for the legal representative, who needs a personal RFC and e.firma first, so a Mexican legal representative shortens that step. Our guide to starting a business in Mexico covers the formation steps in detail.

The bottom line

An international team works in Mexico when you design it around the payroll the rule counts. On your own Mexican company, that means a mostly Mexican team, a foreign specialist for every nine Mexican colleagues where no Mexican is available, a leader or two appointed as true officers, and international teammates employed from home who visit. An employer that already has staff in Mexico gets people working in weeks while your company forms.

Work visas are a standing route, decided person by person, and they follow the company. Settle who relocates, in what role and on whose payroll before the first hire, and confirm each case with Mexican labor and immigration counsel.

The talent and labour practice brings in that counsel and maps your team against the rule. If you want your own roster read, a complimentary 30-minute call is available, and you will hear back within 24 hours.