| | |  Travel & Outdoors 
New Passport Rules: Mexico Tightens Travel Policy for Trade Partners
 The News
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February 18, 2010
 |  | Mexico’s National Migration Institute said it will continue to make its processes more efficient while respecting foreigners’ security and human rights. |  | | |
Mexico City – Beginning on March 1, Canadian and U.S. citizens who enter Mexico via air must show a valid passport or passport card, Mexican officials said this week.
Currently, citizens without passports of these countries may enter Mexico using naturalization papers or an original birth certificate with a seal in conjunction with an official photo ID such as a drivers license.
However, U.S. citizens flying back to the United States must have a passport to re-enter, after the government passed the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative that took effect last June. Citizens returning via sea or land can use other official documentation as well, including a passport card (valid for travel only in NAFTA countries) according to the U.S. State Department’s website.
Canadians are currently not required to carry a passport on entrance to Mexico, but the latter government recommends traveling with a passport valid for six months after the arrival date.
In a press release, Mexico’s National Migration Institute said it will continue to make its processes more efficient while respecting foreigners’ security and human rights.
The institute, which is an agency of the Interior Secretariat, said that the new rules will provide legal clarity to those entering Mexico. Passports, the institute said, have international security standards to prevent fraud and discretionary or abusive revisions by travelers.
Mexico’s new travel requirements requiring passports or passport cards will not apply to tourists entering by land or sea.
The institute said that visa requirements will not change. Currently, U.S. and Canadian tourists flying into Mexico can stay in the country for up to 180 days before they need a visa.
Mexico’s new requirements on its NAFTA partners are less strict than they impose on Mexico.
Mexicans wishing to enter the United States — even just to make a connecting flight — must apply for a visa by making a premium-rate phone call to schedule an interview and paying 131 dollars, regardless if the visa is approved. Even if it is issued, a visa does not guarantee entrance to the country, according to the U.S. Embassy website.
Canada did not require tourist visas until an abruptly announced policy change last July, in response to the growing number of Mexicans claiming refugee status, according to the Candian government. |
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