If you have decided to live the rest of your life on the beautiful Cozumel island, you have made a fine choice. But unless you have chosen to move there as an independently wealthy individual, chances are that you will need to find work while you are there.

Cozumel, as a part of Mexico, follows Mexico’s basic laws regarding foreigners working within their homeland. You will need a special permit provided by the Mexican government that allows you to work within their land provided you have a sponsor or specific qualifications. You may also be an investor, but you must show that you are going to invest a tidy sum of money into the Mexican economy.

One of the main ways people move to Mexico is by becoming these “Investors” and starting your own business. It allows you to show the government that you can both support yourself and not take jobs away from Mexican nationals.

In Cozumel, these all are possibilities:

• Start your own business – Starting your own business is popular in Mexico, and with the right papers you can do so fairly easily. Those that start their own business often start small, with a small shop or restaurant in order to make a living.
• Consider English speaking roles – There are plenty of jobs for those looking to teach English in Cozumel. This can be a helpful way of using a skill you already have to make a living within the island. You will need proper certification including passing a TEFL test.
• Seasonal Work – During tourist season, Cozumel needs a decent amount of help, and you can likely be of assistance in hotels and various areas of tourism.

It should be noted that many avid divers look to Cozumel, hoping to find a job in the diving industry. But you should note that there are very limited jobs available, and hundreds of divers vying for them within the island alone, so while you can certainly try to find a job in diving in Cozumel, you should not bank on it being a form of income.

There are also a variety of different odd loopholes within Cozumel. You can get certain visas which allow you to work anywhere before they “expire,” and then you need to leave Cozumel and simply come back to get your visa renewed. This will allow you to work wherever you want for a while in Mexico before you will eventually become a resident. But you will need to fly out with regularity. If this is something that interests you, check out the FM2 and FM3 Visas and see which one matches your goals within Cozumel.