BajaNomad
Not logged in [Login - Register]

Go To Bottom
Printable Version  
Author: Subject: Visa question
nbacc
Senior Nomad
***




Posts: 770
Registered: 12-27-2008
Location: Northern California
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 10-10-2016 at 05:22 PM
Visa question


I went to Passport and visa services and it says " a Mexico tourist visa is not required for citizens of the USA for a stay up to 182 days.............this still true?
View user's profile
Rossman
Nomad
**




Posts: 205
Registered: 10-6-2013
Location: Bahia Asuncion
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 10-10-2016 at 05:51 PM


Nope
View user's profile
SFandH
Elite Nomad
******




Posts: 7084
Registered: 8-5-2011
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 10-10-2016 at 05:57 PM


Yes it is true but you need a tourist card, a FMM, which is not a visa.

http://www.inm.gob.mx/index.php/page/Paises_No_Visa


[Edited on 10-11-2016 by SFandH]
View user's profile
nbacc
Senior Nomad
***




Posts: 770
Registered: 12-27-2008
Location: Northern California
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 10-10-2016 at 06:28 PM


Thanks............always have gotten a visa when entering (tourist card). Things change fast in Mexico so just making sure. Thanks again
View user's profile
gnukid
Ultra Nomad
*****




Posts: 4411
Registered: 7-2-2006
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 10-10-2016 at 09:12 PM


nbacc,

Tourist card (permit) is different from a visa. It's easy to be confused. You need a FMM tourist card for sure if you don't have a permanent or temporary residency visa, get it at the border port of entry at INM, its cheap, comes with a plane ticket, but if you don't get one at the border entry it can be a big hassle and you may be asked to return to a port of entry or deported.

[Edited on 10-11-2016 by gnukid]
View user's profile
mtgoat666
Select Nomad
*******




Posts: 18305
Registered: 9-16-2006
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline

Mood: Hot n spicy

[*] posted on 10-10-2016 at 09:33 PM


Quote: Originally posted by gnukid  
nbacc,

Tourist card (permit) is different from a visa. It's easy to be confused. You need a FMM tourist card for sure if you don't have a permanent or temporary residency visa, get it at the border port of entry at INM, its cheap, comes with a plane ticket, but if you don't get one at the border entry it can be a big hassle and you may be asked to return to a port of entry or deported.

[Edited on 10-11-2016 by gnukid]


Tourist card is a visa. Different words in different countries. But effectively same thing.
View user's profile
gnukid
Ultra Nomad
*****




Posts: 4411
Registered: 7-2-2006
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 10-10-2016 at 09:39 PM


Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666  


Tourist card is a visa. Different words in different countries. But effectively same thing.


Goat, Awesome to continue your life long tradition of being wrong everytime.

View user's profile
Gulliver
Senior Nomad
***




Posts: 651
Registered: 11-18-2013
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 10-10-2016 at 10:14 PM


http://visasmex.com/Eng/mexican_visas/fmm/fmm.html
http://www.banderasnews.com/1006/to-fmm-form.htm
They are definitely two different things. There are a lot of references on the web calling the FMM a "Tourist Visa."
Citizens of some countries DO need to have a Visa. U.S. and Canadian citizens don't.
I mean, go ahead and get a Visa if you want to go to the trouble and expense. But in 47 years of crossing the border southbound, I have never even seen a Visa.
Now turning in an FMM going North is one that I have yet to manage. I haven't a clue where in Tecate I might find a place to do it.
View user's profile
gnukid
Ultra Nomad
*****




Posts: 4411
Registered: 7-2-2006
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 10-10-2016 at 10:35 PM


A visa is not required for visitors to mexico from USA or Canada, if the foreigner has no valid visa, a tourist permit (FMM) is required.

Travelers can definitely avoid having a visa or FMM and risk getting caught and being delayed, hassled and fined but why would you? The cost is about $25 for 180 days.
View user's profile
KasloKid
Nomad
**




Posts: 326
Registered: 8-29-2009
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 10-10-2016 at 10:43 PM


The debate now is whether one has to turn the FMM in upon exiting the country. Depending on which immigration officer you talk to (Baja) some say it simply expires so be out of the country before it does, others say no, you have to return it to them upon exiting and have your passport stamped.
With this debate, I choose to return it and have my passport stamped. It's a hassle, but a guaranteed no hassle down the road....
View user's profile
Gulliver
Senior Nomad
***




Posts: 651
Registered: 11-18-2013
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 10-10-2016 at 11:11 PM


But where would I turn it in? There is no Mexican office of any sort when leaving the country. At least at Tecate. I guess I could have parked and looked around.

So far I haven't met anyone who has gotten any sort of hassle about old FMM's when getting a new one.

Don't get me wrong. I gladly pay the fee and I gladly pay the tax on new stuff that I bring in. Doesn't amount to hill of beans anyway.
View user's profile
David K
Honored Nomad
*********


Avatar


Posts: 64798
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline

Mood: Have Baja Fever

[*] posted on 10-11-2016 at 08:10 AM


Folks, in my July 2016 trip report, I fully detail the Tecate return procedure with satellite maps.

The major news to some is ONLY the free 7 day FMM must be returned. Your passport is scanned when you get it and again when you turn it in.

The pay 180 day FMM does NOT need to be turned in. These words said by INM officer.

In September, me and others on the Baja Extreme tour bought the 180 day FMMs... again, they do not get returned and I still have mine for future trips until next March.




"So Much Baja, So Little Time..."

See the NEW www.VivaBaja.com for maps, travel articles, links, trip photos, and more!
Baja Missions and History On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bajamissions/
Camping, off-roading, Viva Baja discussion: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vivabaja


View user's profile Visit user's homepage
BajaUtah
Nomad
**




Posts: 190
Registered: 10-4-2013
Location: Salt Lake City/La Ribera
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 10-11-2016 at 09:57 AM


This should be a complete waste of time but, what the heck -

Dictionary definition of "visa"

Simple Definition of visa
: an official mark or stamp on a passport that allows someone to enter or leave a country usually for a particular reason.

So, FMM, Residente Temporal and Residente Permanente documents are NOT visas. Visas are what gets stamped into your passport when you get an FMM. FMM, RT and RP are STATUS documents. They give you the legal status to be in the country as a tourist, temporary resident and permanent resident.

That is why, when you start the residente process you need a visa page put in in your passport at your local consulate. That is the visa portion that goes with your status card. That gets stamped when you first enter the country and you have x amount of time to complete the RT or RP process.

So with the stamp in your passport and the FMM, RT or RP you have a visa and legal status. But they are 2 separate animals.

Just to muddy my own water, I don't know how Mexico works around allowing the passport card to get an FMM. No place to stamp a card??

....and down the rabbit hole we go




Andy
View user's profile
willardguy
Elite Nomad
******




Posts: 6451
Registered: 9-19-2009
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 10-11-2016 at 10:13 AM


at either otay or tecate is there a INM you can WALK into FROM THE MEXICO side and buy an FMM?
it was easily done at the old SY crossing.....no mas.
View user's profile
sancho
Ultra Nomad
*****




Posts: 2524
Registered: 10-6-2004
Location: OC So Cal
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 10-11-2016 at 11:01 AM


Quote: Originally posted by Gulliver  

So far I haven't met anyone who has gotten any sort of hassle about old FMM's when getting a new one.










Me niether, except 1, as has been discussed before, at the
Downtown Mexicali crossing, for some reason known
only to them, if you get the free 7 day fmm from that
office, they are adament on you return it, makes no
sence. Read of a guy entering there was denied another 7
day fmm because he did not return the previous 1. Was
allowed to purchase the 180. TJ does not make such a request,
es Mex

View user's profile
David K
Honored Nomad
*********


Avatar


Posts: 64798
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline

Mood: Have Baja Fever

[*] posted on 10-11-2016 at 11:27 AM


They seem to want to make sure you don't get a free one, then stay longer than 7 days, thus the passport is scanned at both pick up and drop off, when you leave.

If you pay for the 180 day FMM, then they are "good" and don't need to track you!




"So Much Baja, So Little Time..."

See the NEW www.VivaBaja.com for maps, travel articles, links, trip photos, and more!
Baja Missions and History On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bajamissions/
Camping, off-roading, Viva Baja discussion: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vivabaja


View user's profile Visit user's homepage

  Go To Top

 






All Content Copyright 1997- Q87 International; All Rights Reserved.
Powered by XMB; XMB Forum Software © 2001-2014 The XMB Group






"If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen. The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back if we live, and we don't know why." - Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez

 

"People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." - Theodore Roosevelt

 

"You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them or to them." - Malcolm Forbes

 

"Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you." - Jim Rohn

 

"The best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer." - Cunningham's Law







Thank you to Baja Bound Mexico Insurance Services for your long-term support of the BajaNomad.com Forums site.







Emergency Baja Contacts Include:

Desert Hawks; El Rosario-based ambulance transport; Emergency #: (616) 103-0262