Mexican immigration law contains a provision that can significantly complicate entry into the country. Even if you have an electronic entry permit, US visa, EU residence permit, etc., when entering Mexico you MUST have a ticket to exit the country.
Many people call this ticket «return» and they believe that if they flew to Mexico by plane, then they also need to leave Mexico by plane, and the «reverse» the ticket must be to the country from which they arrived. This is not true.
You must have a «back/oneward ticket» (literally from «Timatic»), that is, a ticket to leave the country, but not necessarily a «return». It does not matter the state to which you will travel from Mexico. It doesn't matter what type of transport you use to leave Mexico. It is important that the ticket to leave Mexico is within the 180 days allowed for a single stay in the country.
- From any city in Mexico
- To any country in the world
- Any type of transport (plane, bus, ferry)
- Within 180 days of entry into Mexico
Who can demand to show the «reverse» ticket?
First of all, any airline that takes you to Mexico. As an immigration agent, she is responsible for ensuring that you comply with Mexican immigration laws. If for any reason you are not allowed into Mexico, she will have to take you back at her own expense. American or European carriers monitor compliance with this rule especially strictly; least strictly — Mexican airlines. There are a lot of «horror stories»on the Internet. about not being allowed on Condor flights to Mexico without a ticket from Mexico. But the Mexican airline Aeromexico will check your visa, but in 99% of cases it will not even ask about a ticket from Mexico.
Mexican border guards (or migration service workers) also have the opportunity to ask to see a ticket to leave the country. They ask less often than airlines, but you are not immune from such a question. In general, if someone was not asked to present an exit ticket when flying into Mexico, this does not mean that they will not be asked to do so the next time they arrive, and you — on your first visit to the country.
They almost never ask for an exit ticket when entering Mexico through a land or sea border.
What are the consequences of not having an exit ticket?
If, when checking in for a flight to Mexico, the airline asks you to present a «return ticket» and it turns out that you don’t have it, most often you won’t be put on the flight.
You can try to explain to Mexican border guards that you came to travel and do not know exactly when you will leave Mexico, but you will definitely do this before the expiration of the permitted period of stay. In any circumstances, the decision whether to let you into Mexico or not is made by the individual border guard, and only by him.
Where to get «reverse» ticket? The answer is «buy» — the most obvious one. But if you are not going to leave Mexico on such a ticket, «buy» has the right to mean throwing money away. The requirement to have a ticket to leave the state — not Mexican know-how, and experienced travelers around the world have long found alternative solutions to the problem.
Buy a ticket anyway
Buy the cheapest ticket from the state, for any flight, any air or bus company. From any city in Mexico, and not necessarily from the same one you flew to: you «came to travel around Mexico» and are free to choose their route of movement within the state.
In particular, a ticket from Tijuana to the American San Diego with the Greyhound bus company will cost you $7. This option is suitable for those who have a US visa. Although we have not heard that when entering Mexico they check the visa for the third country where you are going to «travel», it is better not to risk it. Confused that you don’t have a US visa? A ticket from Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico, to Guatemala City costs as much as $22 on a Ticabus first-class government bus.
The cheapest one-way air ticket from Mexico to one of the neighboring countries will cost even more. However, it is still cheaper than buying a return ticket to Europe.
Book but don't pay for the ticket
Many airline ticket sales services offer payment deferrals of up to 24 hours or more when purchasing tickets. Let's say right away that it is not the most reliable option. First, you only have 24 hours from the time you make the reservation to fly to Mexico before your unpaid reservation is cancelled.
Secondly, unpaid reservation — This is not a purchased ticket. Such a ticket does not have a number (not to be confused with the reservation code), and if the airline at whose check-in counter you will present this reservation wants to check it using the reservation systems, a problem may arise.
Let us add that Mexican border guards almost never check the authenticity of the reservation or have the opportunity to check with those who are sent for an additional interview. If the reservation cannot be verified using reservation systems, most often they will assume that you simply do not have this reservation.
Buy a ticket and then cancel the purchase
Review the return policies of airlines and other retailers. For example, with Expedia, American or European airlines, you have the right to cancel a purchase within 24 hours from the date of purchase. But there is no need to make a cancellation before presenting it at the check-in counter of the departure airline. This, of course, will freeze the funds on the card until they are returned, but you will still return them. In this case, you will receive a completely reliable air ticket, which will pass any checks until the purchase is cancelled.
Another option — buy, print and immediately cancel the purchase of a ticket from a little-known airline that is not represented in international booking systems and whose ticket is difficult to check through the systems. To be honest, we are not sure that such companies flying to Mexico still exist.
In general, this is not the cheapest option. Most cheap airfares are non-refundable, while refundable — quite expensive. You don't lose money, you lose time during which you won't be able to use the money you paid for the return ticket.
Advice. If you buy a return ticket, do it separately from purchasing the main ticket. If you use the outbound flight segment, you will not be able to get a refund for the return segment.
Services «temporary» ticket purchases
There are several sites specifically for those who only need to show the purchased ticket. Let's saybestonwardticket— service cost $8-12. This service will email you the ticket itself within an hour, and you will have up to 48 hours to print it and show it to your departure airline, then the ticket will be cancelled. During these 48 hours, the ticket can be checked in international booking systems.
In fact, there are a lot of similar services. Just type «oneward ticket» into Google search.
Another recently appeared similar service —keyflight.io. The price of such a service — $15.
Fake a reservation
Of course, this is without payment. Let's say the sitefakeflighttickets.comwill tell you how to do this. The site creates a booking confirmation page by copying the booking systems (example). At the same time, the site warns that airlines have the opportunity to check the authenticity of such a reservation, so do not invent a flight with the same airline that you will fly to Mexico.
Print «reservation» and highlight your name and departure time with a marker to distract the inspector’s attention from other details. Make additional notes, in particular, write down someone's name and phone number, as if you did not buy the ticket yourself.
Of course, no one bears any responsibility for falsifying a ticket reservation. Except yourself.
It is also possible to advise reducing communication with the staff of the airline you are flying to Mexico to a minimum. For example, go through online check-in, print out your boarding pass and immediately go with it to boarding. Unfortunately, you won't be able to avoid checking in at the airline counter if you have checked baggage or if your passport requires additional inspection by airline staff.