UPD. As of October 2021, visas in Mexico have become significantly more complicated. There is no longer a default of 180 days for re-entry. Typically, upon re-entry, the period of permitted stay does not exceed 80 days. Increased immigration checks have become a real threat to those who stay in Mexico for more than the permitted number of days.
You came to Mexico as a guest of the state, on vacation or on business. You liked it here and you would like to stay. But Mexico immigration law requires you to leave the country when your authorized stay period expires. Usually it is 180 days, but it can be less. This period is indicated on your immigration card (FMM) received upon entry to Mexico.
If the permitted period of stay in Mexico is less than 180 days, you can:
- try officially extend it up to 180 days,
- without renewing, leave the state a few months later, paying a small fine.
There is no legal way, other than force majeure, to stay in Mexico as a traveler for more than 180 days. You should either change your status to temporary or permanent resident, or leave the country.
How to obtain the status of a temporary or permanent resident of Mexico, we described in this article.
There are no conditions for purchasing a residence permit? There is only one way left. We do NOT claim that it is 100% reliable, but thousands of guest countries do just that, because the method works!
Visaran
Once every six months, you must leave Mexico and then re-enter to begin the next six months of visa-free stay in the country. This is the so-called visaran (visa-run).
1. You have the right to leave Mexico by any means of transport, regardless of how you entered.
2. If you have a visa to the USA, Canada, Schengen countries, UK, Japan or permanent residence in the USA, Canada or EU, you can enter Mexico by any means of transport.
When leaving through the FMM land border, you have the right not to ask — This is fine. Besides this, it will not always be possible to check whether you have violated the period of stay in Mexico. There is an opinion that land border crossings do not have access to the general migration base, and therefore, border guards at these crossings are not able to check whether a guest of the state has violated the rules of stay in Mexico. We doubt that this is the case. Recent stories show that if desired, travelers can track their entry history at any crossing point to Mexico.
3. With a free electronic permit (for citizens of Ukraine, Russia and Turkey), you can only get to Mexico by plane.
The cheapest air tickets for visaran are usually to Cuba (from Cancúna to Havana — $115-140 round trip) and to neighboring countries of Latin America (El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia), and also to the USA. It is important that you do not need a visa to the country where you are flying. For example, Russians do not need a visa to Cuba, Ukrainians do, but they can buy it at the airport of departure ($25), and for flights to the USA a visa is needed in any case.
Departure from Mexico to neighboring Belize for visaran — bad idea. Why? Read in this article.
How long does it take to be away from Mexico to re-enter? Such restrictions are not stated anywhere, and you have the opportunity to return to Mexico on the same day that you left the country. But it is wiser to spend a couple of days traveling and see the sights of the state where you will be visiting.
4. After issuing a new FMM, the next 180 days of your stay in Mexico begin.
When entering through a land border crossing, it is essential to obtain a new FMM. Find a rack of FMM forms wherever it is located. Fill out the card, pay the travel fee (575 MXN or the equivalent in $) and only after that go through immigration control and draw up an FMM.
When entering Mexico by air, the travel tax is included in the air ticket price; passing through immigration control requires the preparation of an FMM.
Don't forget to complete the basic criteria entry to Mexico as a traveler.
Is it possible to do visaran endlessly?
Theoretically, visaran can be done indefinitely. There are a lot of stories in expat groups on social media, the authors of which say that they have been living like this in Mexico for 20 years. But sometimes, in addition to this, messages are also counted about those who were denied entry into the country during the next visa. However, as you know, they can refuse entry even at the very first entry to Mexico.
So, it’s safer, after all, to try to obtain residency status in Mexico. Or take risks.