January 2026 Global Immigration Recap | Americas

Also Authored by Melvin Ng, Riduan Fattah. and James Richmond

Clark Hill’s Global Immigration practice guides corporate clients and individuals through complex global immigration challenges worldwide.  We pride ourselves on creative, compliant and people-centered solutions – looking at global mobility from a wholistic perspective in an ever-changing immigration environment.  Our team assists with short-term assignments, long-term relocations, consular processing, document procurement, document legalizations/apostilles, and business visas in 100+ countries worldwide.

Below is an overview of the major updates from January 2026 in the Amercias region.

Canada:

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC) has announced a significant policy change affecting graduate-level international students.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2026, individuals admitted to Master’s and Doctoral (PhD) programs at public Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs) will be exempt from the national study permit cap introduced earlier this year. This measure is intended to ensure that Canada continues to attract advanced academic talent while maintaining broader intake management policies.

Highlights:

• Graduate students admitted to Master’s and PhD programs at public DLIs will no longer be counted toward the national study permit quota beginning January 1, 2026.
• Eligible students will not be required to obtain a Provincial/Territorial Attestation Letter (PAL/TAL) as part of the study permit application process.
• Doctoral (PhD) applicants as well as accompanying family members (spouse and/or dependent children) may be eligible for faster processing, with decisions issued in approximately 14 calendar days if applying together.

Eligibility:

• International students admitted to public DLIs in master’s or PhD programs
• PhD applicants filing from outside of Canada seeking expedited processing

Who is not Eligible:

• Students attending private DLIs.
• Undergraduate, diploma, and vocational program applicants, all of whom remain subject to the study permit cap and PAL/TAL requirements.

Mexico:

The Mexican government has published its annual updates to the Ley Federal de Derechos (Federal Fees Law), introducing new government fees that took effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

Key Updates to Fees:

• Visitor (no work authorization) rose to $983 MXN in 2026 from the 2025 amount of $860 – a 19.97% overall increase
• Temporary Resident (1 year) rose to $11,140.74 MXN in 2026 from the 2025 amount of $5,328 – a 109.09% overall increase
• Temporary Resident (2 years) rose to $16,693.36 MXN in 2026 from the 2025 amount of $7,984 – a 109.09% overall increase
• Temporary Resident (3 years) rose to $21,142.58 MXN in 2026 from the 2025 amount of $10,112 – a 109.08% overall increase
• Temporary Resident (4 years) rose to $25,057.82 MXN in 2026 from the 2025 amount of $11,984 – a 109.09% overall increase
• Permanent Residency will rose to $13,578.96 MXN in 2026 from the 2025 amount of $6,494 – a 109.09% overall increase

Summary:

• These adjustments reflect general inflationary increases and align with updates across multiple government fee categories for 2026.
• As this increase raises the fees to over 100% for some categories, employers and foreign nationals should budget for higher immigration-related costs from January 1, 2026 onward.
• All applications submitted on or after January 1, 2026, are subject to the new fees, regardless of when documentation was prepared.
• A 50% government fee reduction will apply to certain temporary and permanent resident categories for individuals who meet specific eligibility criteria established under the 2026 Ley Federal de Derechos reform. The Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM) has not yet released formal guidance on the application process or documentation requirements to obtain this reduction. Further clarification from INM is anticipated in the coming months, and updates will be provided once implementation procedures are announced.