(The 60 day limit no longer applies. The FMMD e-migration form is available for download within 180 days of entry)
In August 2022, the Mexican Migration Service began phasing out the preparation of the paper FMM migration form upon arrival in Mexico. Currently, in almost all airports of the country, instead of issuing a paper FMM, an entry stamp is placed in the passport of a guest of the country, which indicates the end date of the permitted period of stay and the number of days that the guest of the country is allowed to stay in Mexico. Passenger information is entered into the database.
A paper immigration form continues to be issued at the request of a foreigner upon entry into Mexico through land and sea crossings.
However, the cancellation of the paper FMM upon entry does not mean that this form will not be required in the future. If, after entry, a non-resident intends to contact the migration service to carry out any migration procedures, he is obliged to provide the FMM in printed form. For example, to change your migration status from traveler to resident after the birth of a child or marriage in Mexico. In addition, a migration form may be needed when registering a marriage in those states of Mexico where this requires confirmation of the legal status of being in the country.
To purchase a migration form in paper form, after entry, the tourist must independently go to thiswebsite, download and then print your FMM, which is now called FFMD.
An important innovation in December was the time limit for processing a paper FMM to 60 calendar days from the date of entry. After these 60 days, it becomes impossible to download FMM from the migration service website. The absence of a paper migration form when applying to the migration service does not mean that you will be denied a change of status. You will be asked to pay for the reissue of a paper FMM (687 pesos) or even a fine, which is usually issued for violating the migration regime (from 2075 pesos for 2023), after which the migration procedure will still be carried out.
This seems quite unfair. If upon entry you were given 180 days and you contacted the migration service before the end of this period, but were unable to provide your FMM in paper form, there is no reason to believe that you violated the migration regime and are obliged to resolve the migration situation by paying a fine.
If you have lost the paper FMM received upon entry by land and want to restore it in order not to have any troubles when meeting with the migration check, you have the opportunity to download it yourself up to 60 days from the date of entry. After this, you have no right to receive a new FMM to replace the lost one, even by contacting the migration service office. Previously, this was an opportunity.
We do not know the reason for the decision of the migration service to limit the prospect of processing FMM after entry to only 60 days. But we strongly advise you to download your migration form immediately after entering Mexico, even if you only suspect that you will someday contact the migration service to change your status in the country.
The mechanism for purchasing a paper FMM migration form is very simple. Go to the site using the link above. Create an account. Indicate the document (passport) with which you entered Mexico and your passport details or upload a scan of your passport. Select the FFMD option. You will see materials about your entry (Ingresos). At the end of the line containing this data, click on the orange icon (circle with a check mark) of Generar FMMD. The icon will change to a green icon with an arrow, by clicking on which you can download your FMM to the right. Save and print the downloaded file.
When you go to the site to download FFMD, you will most likely see an Error 500 error. The link to the site is correct, the site is working. In your browser settings, change your default or preferred language to Spanish. Didn't help — use a different browser. Most often the error occurs in the Chrome browser, and it never happens if you use older Internet Explorer browsers.