Decades ago the law did not allow foreigners to own property within 30 miles of the coastal waters or 50 miles of any land border, but the situation has changed dramatically with the New Foreign Investment Law. The Mexican government now permits two ways in which non-Mexicans can safely and legally own coastal property.

One way to own property in Mexico is to create a Mexican Corporation (Sociedad Anónima) completely owned by the non-Mexican investors. The corporation holds title to the property, so the non-Mexicans actually hold title to their property. Such a corporation needs the following:

• be 100% foreign owned
• have a minimum capital requirement of 50,000 Mexican pesos in capital stock (approximately $5,000 USD)
• have a minimum of two shareholders and no maximum (administration may be entrusted to the Board of Directors)
• have no limit to the life of a corporation
• have free transferability of stock ownership
• have limited liability to shareholders.

The Process of establishing a corporation requires the following elements:

• name of a Mexican company
• capital structure of the Mexican company
• names of the partners or stockholders
• form of management and names of administrators and representatives of the corporation
• name of the auditor of the Mexican company