# IT & Telecoms work in Mexico



## Earlybird97 (Sep 16, 2013)

Hi, I am researching moving to Mexico. 

I wonder is it possible just to turn up on a tourist visa and get employment and a work visa (assuming the appropriate experience and knowledge of Spanish)? 

What kind of salary can I expect compared to back home? 

About me: 40 yrs old from New Zealand with an Irish passport. I currently live in Germany. I have over 10 yrs management experience in IT with a background in mobile telecoms.

Thanks for your help.


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## Longford (May 25, 2012)

Earlybird97 said:


> Hi, I am researching moving to Mexico.
> 
> I wonder is it possible just to turn up on a tourist visa and get employment and a work visa (assuming the appropriate experience and knowledge of Spanish)?
> 
> ...


Immigration regulations do not permit you to enter Mexico with the tourist permission and then, sometime later, seek to change your status. You would have to leave Mexico and apply for the appropriate visa category permission if you found work. There is also the question of how you would get to Mexico. If you pass through the USA different immigration requirements may apply - about which I know absolutely nothing.

As for the job and salary: you will probably have to possess skills not available in Mexico in order to be offered a job and then the salary is likely to be substantially less than what you could earn doing the same thing back home. Of course, in order to be hired you will probably have to be fluent in Spanish. If you can find work at home for a company with a subsidiary/office in Mexico, work there for a period and then request a transfer to Mexico ... that might work. Others have done so, but probably not all that many. 

If the work you do can be done from home and you are not required to be present in an office someplace, then that's an additional possibility. Work for an international company, earn a higher wage but live in Mexico. 

Anyhow ... that's my 2 cents worth of advice.

Best of luck.


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## ElPaso2012 (Dec 16, 2012)

Longford said:


> Immigration regulations do not permit you to enter Mexico with the tourist permission and then, sometime later, seek to change your status. You would have to leave Mexico and apply for the appropriate visa category permission if you found work. There is also the question of how you would get to Mexico. If you pass through the USA different immigration requirements may apply - about which I know absolutely nothing.
> 
> As for the job and salary: you will probably have to possess skills not available in Mexico in order to be offered a job and then the salary is likely to be substantially less than what you could earn doing the same thing back home. Of course, in order to be hired you will probably have to be fluent in Spanish. If you can find work at home for a company with a subsidiary/office in Mexico, work there for a period and then request a transfer to Mexico ... that might work. Others have done so, but probably not all that many.
> 
> ...


Longford is right about you possibly not liking the job even if you can get one because of salary. I would add that working conditions may not be very pleasant. I interviewed with a Mexican company in Juarez that did data processing for the maquiladoras. It was a programming position. The boss offered me a job at $50K, but he said they work 10 hours a day, six days a week, and then meet for two hours on Sunday to plan the coming week. There was also a requirement to carry a beeper and be on call 24/7. He was quite blunt about it: "I pay well, but then I own you." I had to decline that generous offer in favor of continuing to commute to Las Cruces...


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