In 2016, the stock of foreign-born population exceeded one million, twice the level of 2000, but still less than 1% of the total population. Despite increasing inflows, Mexico remains mainly an emigration and transit country. This growing stock needs to be seen in perspective. About 73% of the foreign-born population in 2016 was born in the United States, many of them descendants of Mexican emigrants residing in the US. Yet the growth is mainly observed among nationals of other Latin American and Caribbean countries as well as Spain, Canada and China.
In 2016, 35 900 foreigners were issued a new permanent residence permit, a similar number to 2015. 15 500 permanent permits were delivered on family grounds, half of them to nationals of Venezuela, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Cuba and the United States. The number of permanent residence permits delivered for work in 2016 decreased slightly, by 4%, to 8 500. Labour migrants originated from the Americas (59%), followed by Europe (21%) and Asia (19%). Another 9 300 permits were delivered on other grounds, particularly to persons of independent means. Permanent permits delivered on humanitarian grounds were the only category to increase sharply, nearly tripling in 2016, to 1 960. A large share (43%) of the Salvadorans and the Hondurans who acquired permanent residence in Mexico in 2016 did so on humanitarian grounds.
In total, close to three quarters of permanent immigrants came from the rest of the continent, 19% from the United States alone. Permanent entries of Cubans, Venezuelans and Chinese immigrants to Mexico have increased in the last five years and exceed those of Colombians, Hondurans or Guatemalans.
The share of the foreign population living in Mexico naturalised every year is relatively low at about 0.8%.
In 2016, 52 200 first temporary permits were granted. Of these, 24 000 were for work, with migrants from Asia or Europe each receiving 22%. Inflows of international students fell to 4 300 in 2016 from 6 800 in 2015; more than one third originated from Colombia, France, the United States or Germany. In addition to these inflows, 14 900 cross-border permits were granted, mainly to Guatemalans, allowing them to work, often in the agricultural sector in Chiapas state. In March 2016, the Instituto Nacional de Migración arranged for the transfer of 6 000 Cuban migrants who had been stranded in Costa Rica and Panama since December 2015. They received temporary humanitarian permits to reach the Mexican northern border and request a permit to enter the United States.
The number of asylum seekers reached a historic peak in 2016 with 8 700 demands compared to 3 400 in 2015. Most applicants were from Honduras, El Salvador and to a lesser extent from Guatemala and Venezuela and include a growing share of unaccompanied minors.
In the first half of 2016, 46 600 Cubans entered Mexico, compared to 43 200 during all of 2015. Most had flown from Cuba to Ecuador, which did not require a visa, before continuing their journey through Colombia and Central America.
Haitians entering Mexico may be given a 20-day special documentation from the Mexican authorities in order to regularise their situation or to leave the country; otherwise they face repatriation. An estimated 12 800 Haitians or African nationals entered Mexico in the first half of 2016 with the purpose of reaching the United States; 9 300 reached their destination.
In July 2016, an agreement was signed between the Secretariat of the Government (SEGOB), the Mexican Commission of Support to the Refugees (COMAR) and the Secretariat for Social Development (SEDESOL) to ensure that refugees can benefit from programmes directed to populations in a situation or at risk of poverty or marginalisation. From 9 January to 19 December 2017, a temporary regularisation programme was opened to foreigners who entered Mexico before 9 January 2015 and still had no legal status on 9 January 2017. The temporary residence status granted lasts for four years and allows paid activities under some conditions.
