AMEXCID Mexico Government Scholarship Guide 2027

The Scholarship Nobody Explains Properly

Mexico offers one of the most accessible government scholarships in the world. Citizens from more than 170 countries are eligible, and the scholarship covers tuition, a monthly stipend, and medical insurance. The agency behind it is AMEXCID — the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation — which sits inside the country's foreign affairs ministry (SRE). The full program name is Becas de Excelencia del Gobierno de México para Extranjeros, though most people just call it the Mexico Government Scholarship or the AMEXCID scholarship.

What makes this scholarship genuinely different from most others is that it does not work like a traditional scholarship application. You do not apply to AMEXCID first and then find a university. The process runs in the opposite direction: you first get admitted to a participating Mexican university, obtain a formal acceptance letter from them, and then you apply to AMEXCID using that letter as part of your application. If you send AMEXCID an application without a valid university acceptance letter, it gets rejected immediately.

This single point of confusion is responsible for more failed applications than anything else. Most scholarship guides bury this information or skip it entirely. We put it at the top because it determines whether you can even apply in the first place.

Beyond the application sequence, there are a few other things the official website either does not make clear or only mentions in fine print: the monthly stipend does not cover housing, medical insurance does not kick in until your seventh month in Mexico, and the return airfare is only provided when you complete the scholarship — not when you arrive. This guide covers all of it.

When Is the 2027 Call?

AMEXCID publishes a new convocatoria every year. As of 6 October 2026 the 2027 call has not been published, and AMEXCID has not announced its dates. The most recent call, for 2026, was published on 21 May 2026; the SIGCA portal accepted applications from 18:00 on 21 May until 15:00 Central Mexico Time on 22 June 2026, results went to selected candidates between 6 and 10 July 2026, and scholarships had to start between August and 10 November 2026.

Almost every AMEXCID applicant who gets rejected at the first screening made the same mistake: they applied to AMEXCID before securing university admission. This happens because most scholarship websites list the AMEXCID scholarship without explaining that it requires a pre-existing university acceptance letter. The correct order:

1. 1
   Find a program at a participating Mexican university

   The 2026 call page says 90 institutions; the updated Annex 1 lists 103.

2. 2
   Apply to that university directly and get admitted
3. 3
   Receive your acceptance letter

   It must be dated within 60 days of your AMEXCID submission.

4. Now apply to AMEXCID through the SIGCA portal

Three Things Nobody Tells You

Housing is not included

Many scholarship listing sites call this "fully funded." It isn't. The scholarship covers tuition, a monthly stipend, and medical insurance — but there is no separate housing allowance. You pay rent from your monthly stipend (MXN 14,264.88 a month for master's level under the 2026 call). In cities like Mexico City, this requires careful budgeting.

Medical coverage has a 6-month gap

AMEXCID provides IMSS (Mexican social security) health insurance, but it only starts from your seventh month in Mexico. Your first six months, you have no coverage through the scholarship. Anyone planning to arrive without personal or travel insurance should factor in the cost of private coverage for that initial period.

The airfare is for going home, not arriving

AMEXCID covers an economy-class international flight for nationals of the countries in Annex 3, but only upon successful completion of the scholarship. Your initial flight to Mexico is not covered. Plan to fund your own arrival travel, and keep that cost in your preparation budget.

Quick Program Facts

Programs That Are Excluded

Earlier AMEXCID calls published a list of program types it will not fund, and submitting an application for one of these fields — even from an eligible university — resulted in immediate rejection:

The 2026 call does not repeat this field list, but it still funds only full-time, in-person programs and never thesis-only work. Treat these fields as high-risk and check the current call before you apply.

What This Guide Covers

Seven pages that together cover every part of the AMEXCID scholarship process. Start with eligibility to confirm you can actually apply, then work through the rest in order.

Start With Eligibility

Before you invest time preparing documents or reaching out to Mexican universities, confirm you meet the basic requirements. The eligibility page covers every condition AMEXCID uses to screen applicants. The official scholarship page is updated annually with current calls, eligible countries, and annexes.