Considering a Move to Mexico?

Moving to Mexico from the UK

Abels Moving Services has provided discreet export packing and shipping for over 50 years. We work with discerning families and professionals moving to Mexico.

Mexico: Geography and States

Mexico sits south of the United States. It borders the Pacific Ocean to the west. To the south east sit Guatemala and Belize, and to the east, the Gulf of Mexico.

Mexico covers over 761,606 square miles, making it the fifth-largest country in the Americas by total area. That’s around eight times the land area of the UK.

Mexico is a federation of 31 sovereign states plus a Federal District. The states include Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, México, Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Yucatán, and Zacatecas.

Population and Climate

Around 133 million people live in Mexico. Mexico City itself is home to around 9.2 million. The wider metropolitan area is one of the largest in the world, at over 21 million.

Mexico’s climate ranges from temperate to tropical, with clear wet and dry seasons. Mexico City typically sees around 5mm of rain in February, rising to over 160mm in July. Several hurricanes hit the country each year, mainly affecting Mexico’s eastern coastline.

The Mexican Economy

Mexico’s main exports include machinery and transport equipment, mineral fuels and lubricants, and food and live animals. The government receives around a third of its revenue from the oil industry. Tourism matters too, and remains the country’s fourth-largest source of foreign exchange.

Places to Visit

There’s plenty worth seeing once you’ve settled in. Numerous sites let you explore Aztec, Mayan, and Olmec ruins from Mexico’s pre-Hispanic civilisations.

Also worth a visit: the town of Tequila, birthplace of the drink of the same name. With such an extensive coastline, Mexico has no shortage of beaches either, including Cancún, Manzanillo, and Puerto Vallarta.

Planning Your Move

Talk to a specialist international removal company before you move to Mexico. The process has its own pitfalls, and a domestic mover won’t be familiar with them.

Before you call, think about whether you want to send everything you own or just a select few personal effects. Call our head office on +44 1842 816600 or email [email protected]. We’ll be in touch shortly to discuss your move.

For full house moves or large volumes, we recommend a home survey. One of our International Customer Service Managers will visit your home. They’ll discuss your requirements, answer any questions about the process, and assess the items you’re packing. They’ll also explain how best to protect them in transit and confirm access for a larger removal vehicle or shipping container. Our colleague draws up a full list of items to take during the visit. Once we’ve collated all the costs (origin, freight, destination services), we’ll send you a detailed door-to-door removal proposal.

For smaller volumes, you can discuss your move over the phone, by email, or through our online service. We’ll assess your volume, access, packing requirements and shipping method from the information you give us. We’ll then send a detailed door-to-door proposal for you to consider.

Once you book with Abels, you’ll meet your Customer Liaison Move Coordinator. They work alongside your Customer Service Manager to manage the booking, organisation and day-to-day details of your move to Mexico.

Export Packing

Export packing is essential for your belongings when moving to Mexico. It protects your items in transit. We use either a 6-ply paper blanket with a wax inner and water-resistant outer. Or a tough bubble blanket with a soft cloth inner and robust outer that keeps corners protected. Certain items need an extra layer of card, cartoning, or wrap for additional protection. This includes polished furniture, antiques, delicate legs, and mirrored or glass-fronted units.

A domestic move by road needs less protection. A journey of thousands of miles in a 20ft or 40ft container needs far more. Your items get handled multiple times on that journey. They’re wrapped, loaded, and driven to port. They’re then lifted on and off the stack, and loaded onto the vessel. The same happens again in reverse at the other end. Robust export packing matters throughout.

We use the highest quality export materials throughout. We choose these to withstand a long export journey, not just a short domestic one. Containers stack up to two metres high in transit. Cartons at the bottom need to hold their shape and protect their contents for the whole journey.

Fine Art & Specialist Packing Services

Fine art needs particular care. Shipments to Mexico involving valuable or delicate pieces call for enhanced export packing and careful handling throughout. This includes paintings, grandfather clocks, barometers, and chandeliers. In many cases, we build bespoke cases specifically for the item.

How we dismantle these items before shipping matters as much as how we pack them. Grandfather clocks need their main components taken apart and weights removed before casing. Barometers need specialist handling too, since we bung the tube to prevent the mercury inside from spilling.

Thorough training is what keeps our packing teams versed in the right handling and packing techniques for items like these. Find out more in our moving advice.

Airfreight

Mexico has around 52 international airports, though only 11 handle over a million passengers a year. These are Mexico City International Airport (MEX), Cancún International Airport (CUN), Guadalajara International Airport (GDL), General Mariano Escobedo International Airport (MTY), Tijuana International Airport (TIJ), Los Cabos International Airport (SJD), Lic Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport (PVR), Lic Adolfo López Mateos International Airport (TLC), Manuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport (MID), Hermosillo International Airport (HMO), and Federal de Bachigualato International Airport (CUL).

Sea transit typically takes 6 to 7 weeks door to door, so consider airfreight for anything you need sooner. Security restrictions mean airfreighted goods need professional packing rather than owner-packed cartons. We load them into heat-treated modules of various sizes, with waterproof covering for extra protection. Allow around 2 weeks door to door for airfreight. This accounts for UK and Mexican security and customs checks before delivery.

See more on airfreight shipments.

Customs Information

Import and export rules govern personal items and household goods entering Mexico. Your Abels Move Manager will give you tailored guidance through this part of the process.

You’ll need specific documentation for customs clearance. The exact requirements depend on your personal circumstances, and our team will talk you through these ahead of your move. Explore the FIDI Customs Guide for Mexico for further background before your move consultation with the Abels team.

Shipping Services

We ship larger volumes and full house moves in a 20ft or 40ft container. Where access allows, we load the container outside your residence, so you can see our team’s care and skill first-hand. We seal the container with our uniquely numbered bolt seals. Where access doesn’t suit a container of this size, we load goods at our warehouse instead (you’re welcome to attend). Or we use a shuttle truck between your home and the container.

Some shipping lines offer low-cost freight at the expense of container quality and transit time. Abels sources containers through an organisation that secures A1-class containers on our behalf. These arrive without fractures, dry, clean, odour-free, and with a reliably consistent transit time. An odour in the container will transfer to your goods, and any fractures risk water damage.

Smaller volumes travel as LCL (less than container load). We take these to our warehouse and load them into heat-treated wooden crates for shipping.

Transit port to port typically takes 21 to 26 days by sea. Vessels depart the UK weekly to Puerto de Altamira, Puerto de Lázaro Cárdenas, Puerto de Manzanillo, and the Port of Veracruz. Door to door, allow around 6 to 7 weeks, depending on weather, strikes, re-routing, vessel availability and customs inspections.

Read more about shipping options when moving abroad.

Destination Services

We choose our destination partners for their accreditations. Most hold the FIDI-FAIM quality award. That means the standard you experience with Abels continues right through customs clearance and delivery in Mexico.

We notify our destination partner as soon as your container departs the UK. They’ll contact you as delivery approaches and manage customs clearance on your behalf. Once cleared, they’ll arrange your delivery date. This normally includes delivery, unpacking, and set-up of standard furniture (excluding flat-pack items unless agreed). It also covers removal of packaging waste and return of the container to the wharf. Talk to your Abels Customer Service Manager or Customer Liaison if you’d like additional services. This includes a put-away service, cleaning, or settling-in support.

Our destination agents bring local knowledge of import documents, customs clearance and delivery. This keeps your arrival in Mexico as smooth as possible.

Wherever your move takes you, we’d like to be the removal company you think of. That means this move, and the next one. If you’re moving to Mexico, or anywhere else in the world, get in touch for a removal quotation.