Practice Area · Nearshoring
Nearshoring Legal Counsel for Mexico
The nearshoring legal bridge
What is nearshoring legal counsel?
Nearshoring legal counsel is the specialized legal support U.S. companies need to relocate manufacturing, services, or supply-chain operations to Mexico — covering entity formation, IMMEX/maquiladora certification, labor structuring, real estate, permits, and cross-border compliance. KNR USMCA coordinates all of it from Houston, applying U.S.-standard governance to legal work executed on the ground in Mexico.
The nearshoring wave has moved an unprecedented amount of foreign investment into Mexico — but the companies that scale cleanly are the ones that build the legal infrastructure correctly from day one. A misstep on entity structure, labor, or customs is slow and expensive to unwind once operations are live. We give you a single point of legal accountability across the entire move, so your General Counsel reports to the Board with confidence instead of coordinating a fragmented network of local firms.
What usually drives risk
Six places a Mexican
build-out goes wrong
Entity & structuring
Choosing the right vehicle (S. de R.L. or S.A. de C.V.), holding structure, and 100% foreign-ownership compliance under the Foreign Investment Law — decisions that are expensive to unwind later.
Labor & employment
Mexico's 2021 reform banned personnel outsourcing and reshaped the rules. Misclassification, REPSE registration for specialized services, mandatory profit-sharing (PTU), and USMCA collective-bargaining obligations are the most common exposures.
Customs & IMMEX
Most nearshoring operations run on the IMMEX (maquiladora) program to temporarily import inputs without duties and VAT. Getting the certification and ongoing compliance wrong creates customs and tax liability.
Real estate & facilities
Industrial leases, build-to-suit agreements, environmental permits, and land-use authorizations vary by state and municipality — and rarely look like a U.S. commercial lease.
Tax & transfer pricing
Permanent-establishment risk, VAT certification, and intercompany pricing between the U.S. parent and the Mexican entity all need to be structured before operations begin, not after.
FCPA & third parties
Customs brokers, facilitators, and local agents are classic FCPA exposure points. A nearshoring footprint needs anti-corruption diligence and controls that satisfy your U.S. parent and Board.
What KNR handles
One team for the
entire legal stack
From the first structuring decision to ongoing compliance, we manage every legal workstream a nearshoring move requires — coordinated from Houston in your time zone and executed by our teams in Mexico.
Discuss your nearshoring move- Entity formation and corporate structuring (S. de R.L. / S.A. de C.V.)
- IMMEX / maquiladora program certification and compliance
- Industrial real estate: leases, build-to-suit, and land-use permits
- Labor structuring, REPSE registration, and employment contracts
- Operating licenses, environmental and municipal permits
- Intercompany and supply agreements aligned with transfer pricing
- Anti-corruption (FCPA) diligence and compliance protocols
- Ongoing regulatory monitoring and consolidated reporting to your GC
When to involve counsel
A 90–180 day
legal runway
Feasibility & structure
Entity and tax structure, jurisdiction selection, and a legal roadmap aligned with your operating model and timeline.
Incorporation & setup
Company formation, bank accounts, IMMEX application, and the corporate governance and authority matrices your parent requires.
Facility & permits
Real estate agreements, environmental and operating permits, and the contracts that let you build out and equip the site.
Hiring & go-live
Compliant employment structures, REPSE where applicable, and the compliance controls to operate — then ongoing legal oversight.
Common questions
Nearshoring,
answered
The questions U.S. legal and operations teams ask us most when planning a move to Mexico. For your specific situation, a 30-minute call is the fastest path.
IMMEX is a Mexican government program that lets manufacturers temporarily import raw materials, components, and equipment without paying import duties or VAT up front, provided the finished goods are exported. Most U.S. companies nearshoring manufacturing or assembly to Mexico operate under IMMEX (the modern term for a maquiladora). It is not mandatory, but for an export-oriented operation it is usually the difference between a viable cost structure and an uncompetitive one. We handle the certification and the ongoing customs and tax compliance it requires.
For a typical manufacturing or shared-services operation, the legal path runs about 90 to 180 days from structuring to go-live — incorporation in the first weeks, IMMEX and permits in parallel, and compliant hiring before operations begin. Timelines vary by state, sector, and whether real estate is leased or built. The critical point is sequencing: entity, tax, and customs structure should be decided before you sign a lease or hire, because reversing those decisions later is slow and costly.
The 2021 reform prohibited the outsourcing of personnel for a company's core activities and now only permits subcontracting of genuinely specialized services, which must be registered in the REPSE registry. It also tightened profit-sharing (PTU) and, alongside the USMCA, strengthened freedom of association and collective bargaining. For U.S. companies nearshoring, this means employment structures that worked a few years ago may now be non-compliant — so labor structuring has to be designed correctly from day one, not retrofitted.
In most sectors, yes. Mexico's Foreign Investment Law permits 100% foreign ownership of Mexican companies across the great majority of industries, including most manufacturing. A limited set of activities is reserved or restricted, so the ownership and holding structure should be confirmed for your specific sector before incorporation. We map this as part of the initial structuring so there are no surprises with your corporate or tax planning.
The highest-risk touchpoints in a Mexican operation are usually third parties — customs brokers, permit facilitators, and local agents who interact with authorities on your behalf. We build anti-corruption due diligence into vendor selection, embed FCPA-aligned controls and policies into the operation, and structure reporting so your U.S. parent and Board have visibility. The goal is a compliance culture that travels across the border with the same standard you apply domestically.
Planning a move to Mexico?
Build It
Right the First Time
Tell us about your nearshoring project and timeline. We'll map the legal path — entity, IMMEX, labor, real estate, and compliance — in a 30-minute call.