The Federal Labor Law protects the economic development of the country and Mexican workers. For that purpose, all companies or businesses are obligated to ensure that at least 90% of their workforce consists of Mexican nationals.
In the technical and professional categories, the employees must be Mexican citizens, except for when there are no specialized employees in that field. In this case, the employer may temporarily hire foreign national employees, provided that they do not exceed 10% of the total workforce. The employer and foreign employees in the technical and professional categories have the joint liability of training the Mexican employees in their specialty. In addition, company physicians must be Mexican citizens.
These rules do not apply in the case of foreign general managers, general administrators or general directors.
The IL also states that there will be a visa quota for specific activities. This has not yet been implemented, and it is still unclear how this will affect immigration into Mexico.
Mexican companies or institutions that have foreign nationals in their payroll or plan to hire foreign personnel must request the INM to issue an employer certificate, which will be incorporated with the company's or institution's information. This employer certificate must be updated annually after the annual federal tax return is filed on 31 March. Local INM offices will request that an employer certificate be incorporated as a prerequisite to process work visa authorizations for foreign nationals.
Foreign nationals must notify the INM of changes in their domicile, marital status, name, nationality, and place of work within 90 days from the change. Otherwise, foreign nationals may be subject to administrative sanctions.
Foreign nationals with pending immigration processes may request a temporary permit to leave and return to Mexico to travel internationally. This permit may be requested at the INM or at a port of entry in cases of urgent travel.
Foreign nationals processing a regularization in Mexico who were discovered to have an irregular immigration status in Mexico (i.e., did not renew in time or did not leave Mexico in time) may not request a temporary permit to leave and return to Mexico and may only leave Mexico by canceling their immigration process.