It is the first question in almost every call with a foreign buyer: they were told foreigners cannot own property facing the ocean in Mexico. You can. Near the coast, the legal instrument you buy through changes.
We refreshed this guide in August 2026 against the texts in force of the Constitution, the Foreign Investment Law and the Federal Duties Law. It covers four things almost no guide has: registering the trust with the RNIE, the deadlines the law imposes on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, why permanent residency does not lift the restriction, and what the permit costs according to the statute.
What the Constitution actually says
Article 27, section I of the Constitution settles it in one sentence:
"En una faja de cien kilómetros a lo largo de las fronteras y de cincuenta en las playas, por ningún motivo podrán los extranjeros adquirir el dominio directo sobre tierras y aguas."
Within a strip of one hundred kilometers along the borders and fifty along the beaches, foreigners may under no circumstances acquire direct dominion over land and water. The whole coastal strip of the Riviera Maya falls inside those fifty kilometers: Playa del Carmen, Tulum and all of Cozumel island. Inland is a different story, because the municipalities of Solidaridad and Tulum extend well beyond the strip. We come back to that at the end.
Residential or non-residential: that is what picks your route
Article 10 of the Foreign Investment Law forks the path according to the property's intended use:
- Residential purposes (living in it, renting it out): you acquire rights under the trust chapter. That is section II, the route almost all our buyers take.
- Non-residential activities: a Mexican company carrying the Article 27 covenant may acquire direct dominion, giving notice to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within sixty business days of the acquisition. That is section I.
So a Mexican corporation is not a shortcut around the fideicomiso: it is the channel for a different intended use, it brings permanent accounting and corporate obligations, and we do not recommend it for a home.
"I heard they are getting rid of the fideicomiso"
We hear this several times a year, usually as a sales argument without a date attached. It deserves one. On 23 April 2013 the Chamber of Deputies approved a bill to amend Article 27 and let foreigners acquire housing inside the coastal and border strips, and sent it to the Senate (Von Wobeser y Sierra, April 2013).
Thirteen years later, the Constitution's text in force, last amended on 2 June 2026, still says word for word what we quoted above. Plan around the fideicomiso, the framework that exists today; if it ever changes, it changes in your favor. Rushing a signature over a bill that has gone nowhere for thirteen years makes no sense.
What a fideicomiso is, in the law's own terms
- Article 11. A permit from the SRE is required for a credit institution to acquire, as trustee, rights over real estate in the restricted zone where the trust's purpose is to allow the use and enjoyment of those assets without creating rights in rem over them. That last phrase matters: what you hold are very broad use rights, and the bank holds title as trustee.
- Article 12. It defines that use as including the fruits, products and generally any yield from operating the property for profit, expressly through third parties or through the trustee institution. Renting your condo, including through a manager, is contemplated by the statute itself. If you bought with short-term rental in mind, read what a Playa del Carmen condo actually earns.
- Article 13. The maximum term is fifty years, extendable at the interested party's request. The extension is applied for at the SRE, with its own permit and its own federal duty, before the term lapses. It does not renew itself.
Inside that agreement you decide: you use the property, rent it, remodel it, sell it and keep the proceeds. You can name heirs in the trust document. The property is not a bank asset, and if the bank disappeared the trust can move to another institution by substituting the trustee.
Permanent residency does not take you out of the restricted zone
In our calls, this confusion is what most often delays a purchase. Article 3 treats investment by foreigners holding Permanent Resident status as Mexican investment, but expressly excludes the activities under Titles One and Two. Title Two is the one covering real estate acquisition and trusts. However many years you hold permanent residency, you still need the trust inside the strip.
Mexican nationality lifts the restriction; immigration status does not touch it. If someone suggests waiting for your residency to skip the fideicomiso, they are costing you time.
The process, and the deadlines the law does fix
You choose, you negotiate, you sign a promise-of-sale agreement with a deposit, the bank files for the permit, the notario runs due diligence and you sign the deed. The full order, with the difference between a reservation and a promise agreement, is in the step-by-step buying guide.
What almost nobody tells you are the deadlines. The permit is the bank's: Article 11 requires it for the credit institution to acquire as trustee, and the bank is the one that files. Article 14 sets the clock: every application must be resolved within five business days of filing with the competent central administrative unit, or thirty business days at a state delegation, and if it lapses without a resolution the application is deemed approved.
That deadline explains something that confuses many buyers: when a closing drags, it is almost never the SRE. What takes weeks is the bank's file, the seller's paperwork and the notario's calendar. In the closings we accompany, accepted offer to signature takes a few weeks.
The filing almost nobody mentions: the RNIE
Article 32 requires, in its section III, that real estate trusts from which rights derive in favor of foreign investment be registered with the National Registry of Foreign Investment, and its final paragraph states who carries the burden: the obligation falls on the trustee institution. That is your bank, within forty business days of the trust being set up.
Watch the sting in Article 34. It requires the notario to demand the registration certificate or the pending application, but if it is not produced, the statute says the notary may still authorize the deed and simply report the omission to the Registry. Nobody is going to stop your closing over this. And Article 38, section IV penalizes omission or late filing with a fine of thirty to one hundred daily minimum wage units.
Filings with the RNIE are free. Ask the bank for the certificate and keep it with your deed: the day you sell, the buyer or their notario will ask for it and the deal stalls while the bank reissues it.
What it costs
The federal duty for the permit is published, so there is no need to guess it. The Federal Duties Law in force, amended on 7 November 2025, sets it in Article 25:
| Item | Basis | Fee (MXN) |
|---|---|---|
| Permit to set up the Article 11 trust | Sec. V, subsection a) | $21,648.83 |
| Amendment of that permit | Sec. V, subsection b) | $9,740.31 |
| Late application to extend the term | Sec. V, subsection c) | $10,613.78 |
Those fees are updated periodically, so confirm them on the day of your deal. On top go two lines the statute does not fix: the annual trustee bank fee, between 500 and 1,000 US dollars in the closings we accompany, and closing costs (notario, acquisition tax, registry, appraisal), 5% to 8% as a reference. Watch the acquisition tax: it is municipal and changes from one municipality to the next inside the same Riviera Maya, an expensive mistake we cover with the actual rates and decree in the taxes guide. The notario issues an exact breakdown before you sign.
If you buy outside the restricted zone
This is not automatic either. Article 10 A requires foreigners acquiring real estate outside the restricted zone to first file a written agreement with the SRE accepting Article 27 of the Constitution, the Calvo clause, and to obtain the permit. Article 27 sets the consequence of breaking it: losing the property to the Nation.
The deadlines depend on where the municipality falls. Entirely outside the zone: the permit is deemed granted if the SRE publishes no refusal in the Official Gazette within five business days. Partly inside, the case for Solidaridad and Tulum: it resolves within thirty. INEGI maintains that list, and knowing where your municipality falls before you sign is twenty-five business days of difference.
The myths, with the article in hand
"After fifty years I lose everything." Article 13 allows an extension at the interested party's request, and you can sell or pass it to heirs at any point during the term. The part that depends on you is asking in time: the Federal Duties Law charges separately for a late application.
"It is cheaper to put it under a Mexican friend's name." Here it is no longer our opinion. Article 38, section V penalizes "la simulación de actos con el propósito de permitir el goce o la disposición de bienes inmuebles en la zona restringida a personas físicas o morales extranjeras", the simulation of acts to let foreigners enjoy or dispose of restricted-zone property, with "multa hasta por el importe de la operación", a fine of up to the full amount of the transaction. And beyond the fine, the property would legally belong to that person. It is the worst idea on the list, and we cover it alongside others in the real estate fraud guide.
How we see it at Nimbos
We walk buyers through fideicomiso purchases all year in Playa del Carmen, Tulum and Cozumel, in developments we represent directly: BUZZ, on Calle 28 in Playa del Carmen, from 2,000,000 pesos, and THE STELLA, in Cozumel, from 12,400,000, list prices as of August 2026. Our office is in Playacar Fase II.
If you are choosing a city, compare Playa del Carmen, Tulum or Cozumel or read the island guide. If you are looking at pre-construction, start with how it works and what the risks are. And if someone is selling you appreciation on the back of the Maya Train, check what actually changes. Whenever you want numbers on a unit, browse our properties or write to us.
This guide is informational and does not replace advice from a notario or attorney on your case. Legal citations reflect the texts in force as consulted in August 2026.