Mexico City eSIM: Arriving at MEX
Mexico's first SIM registry was struck down in 2022; a 2025 rule now makes Mexican carriers link each local line to an ID, and leaves roaming lines for later. Your Mexico City eSIM arrives with no paperwork attached to it. It runs on the Movistar network and carries data, with no voice service.
12 plans for Mexico, from 1 GB at $3.99 to 20 GB at $30.99, plus 6 unlimited-data tiers. 5 GB for 30 days costs $12.99 — 5th cheapest of 54 in the Americas, against a $22.99 median. Our retail prices from the operator catalogue, checked 10 November 2026.
Mexico · Movistar · from $3.99
Landing at Mexico City International Airport
The phone does nothing on its own after you land at Mexico City International Airport. The profile went on over Wi-Fi before the flight, scanned straight from your order. On arrival you switch data roaming on for the eSIM line in settings. That switch belongs to the eSIM alone, and the home SIM ignores it completely. You then select the eSIM as the line for mobile data, and Movistar registers the phone. The plan's first day starts at that moment, so an early install loses you nothing.
Which plan for Mexico City
Mexico City runs a metered ladder and an unlimited ladder from the same catalogue. The metered side starts at 1 GB over seven days and 2 GB over fifteen. Everything from 3 GB upwards runs thirty days, and 3 GB cost $8.49, checked 5 September 2026. The metered ladder tops out at 20 GB across those same thirty days. Unlimited plans run from three days to thirty, six steps apart, and the longest cost $74.99 on that date. Both ladders recharge online, and the credit you add carries no expiry.
The Mexican rule that reaches you
Mexico's first SIM registry ran for 375 days before the Supreme Court struck it down in 2022. Since 9 December 2025 a new rule makes Mexican carriers link every local line to an identified holder; a visitor buying a local SIM gives a name, country and passport number. Roaming lines were left for a mechanism the regulator has not published, checked 20 October 2026. You buy the eSIM before you travel, and nothing is registered on arrival.
Topping up either ladder online
Both ladders recharge online, and the credit you add carries no expiry. A metered pack that runs dry is refilled without touching the profile. Movistar carries the line through the recharge and after it. Nothing is bought at a counter in the city for this. The metered side and the unlimited side are refilled the same way. Those terms were read on the Mexico entry, checked 5 September 2026.
Before you fly to Mexico City
- The 2025 Mexican line-linking rule leaves roaming lines for later.
- Metered plans from 3 GB upwards all run for thirty days.
- Benito Juarez (MEX) is the arrival point for the capital.
The country page has the full rule and every plan: Mexico eSIM.