Upon arrival in Mexico, when passing through immigration control, a foreign guest of the country has the right to invite him for additional checks. This is the so-called May second, or re-check. Her task — confirm the purpose of your visit to the country that you indicated when you started communicating with the migration officer.
Usually, for the second check, they are taken to a special room, where they ask auxiliary questions, document their answers, and ask them to certify them with their signature. Sometimes such checks end in denial of entry to Mexico, but in the vast majority of cases, after verification, entry is allowed.
Entry refusals to Mexico — not a problem today. They were, are and will be. Sometimes foreign travelers are checked more carefully, and then there are more cases, sometimes — less carefully. Everything depends on the decision of a particular migration officer. This decision does not always seem justified or simply explainable. We can only guess whether the decision to refuse entry was the result of a centralized policy of the migration service or the biased attitude of a particular employee.
In this material we tried to collect some questions related to visas at the entrance to Mexico. The answers to many of them were not obvious to us. For this reason, when preparing publications, we analyzed the immigration legislation of Mexico and consulted with well-known lawyers. We did not use information from Internet forums due to its frequent unreliability.
Please do not take this publication as a warning. In 99% of cases, the information contained in it will never be useful to you.
Hereinafter «fromkaz at the entrance» means «from refusal to obtain a residence permit for a visitor without the right to carry out paid activities on national territory».
Why do you have the right to say at the entrance?
The main reason for failures — doubts that you came to Mexico precisely as a guest of the country. The simplest — you didn't have any document, which could confirm your guest's state intentions. More one possible reason — suspicions in your immigration intentions, including towards the USA.
It is possible that you behaved too harshly or used a mobile phone while going through passport control. The influence of the human factor can never be ruled out. A revealing outfit of a lonely girl can cause not only suspicion about the true purpose of coming to Mexico, but also irritation from a migration service employee.
Do visas at entry to Mexico pose a specific problem for citizens of Ukraine or Russia?
No, they don't perform. Citizens of any state can be denied entry to Mexico. But, in particular, there are significantly fewer cases from Americans and Canadians, and from cases to citizens of a number of countries in Central Asia or Central America — much more.
How long does the second check take?
No more than 4 hours, as defined by law. But usually it ends much earlier with a decision.
The second check can be extended up to 24 hours at the express request of the foreigner or his legal representative. 24 hours — This is the maximum period for the second inspection.
Is the Mexico Migration Service required to notify the diplomatic mission of the immigration check or its results?
Mexico immigration enforcement officers are not required by law to automatically and immediately notify the consulate of the second inspection and the decision to deny entry. Typically, the consulate becomes aware of such checks when it is expecting someone's arrival, or from reports from relatives or the host Mexican company.
The Migration Service will notify the consular office in urgent cases, say, in case of health problems with a foreigner, or to clarify or confirm his identity or citizenship.
However, during the second check, the migration service is obliged to inform the foreigner that he has the right to contact the diplomatic mission of his state during the entire check period.
I have the right to one call, to an interpreter and a lawyer…
No, no. You have not been detained, you have not been arrested and are not accused of anything. You have the opportunity to ask the migration service to notify the diplomatic mission of your country or call there yourself. Whether such requests need to be made ahead of time is up to you to decide.
Denial of entry to Mexico does not constitute deportation. The decision on deportation is always made only by the court. Deportation involves expulsion from national territory, and you haven’t even entered it yet.
The entry ban is also a consequence of deportation. Denial of entry to Mexico does not imply an entry ban. You have the right to try to enter Mexico next time.
What kind of support can the consulate provide?
The consular office is capable of:
- Contact the Mexico Immigration Service (call, send a request) to ensure that the citizen's rights are respected and the check is carried out according to due process,
- Provide advice on legal protection, if any,
- Inform relatives about the situation with the citizen, if he so desires.
The consular officer is not entitled to:
- Interfering with the work of the Mexican Migration Service as an organ of a sovereign state on its territory,
- Demand a review of the results of the migration check,
- Consular staff do not have the authority to visit citizens against whom a decision has been made to deny entry, with the exception of a number of cases,
- To seek a different treatment towards the citizen than that which the citizens of Mexico themselves have,
- Do not assume responsibility for paying fines or bail,
- Take upon yourself the legal protection of a citizen.
Simply put, consulates do not have the authority to influence the work of the migration service, but they often “puff out their cheeks” by claiming the opposite. In fact, even an informal contact with the migration service can help resolve the issue, since it will show its employees that a foreigner in Mexico has support. But the consular office is unlikely to abuse informal treatment.
The consulate is not allowed to provide the migration service with the required confirmations that you did not have. You should have had them when you went through passport control.
Phone numbers of consulates for emergency calls:
- Consular Office of Ukraine in Mexico City
- Russian Consulate in Mexico Cityo.
You also have the right to call the consulates on any telephone numbers and contact through any channels that you find on this page.
Sometimes it is possible to read recommendations to seek support from the Commission for the Defense of Human Rights (Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos). We don't know, we haven't checked.
How can I send missing confirmations?
Confirmations can be obtained from your colleague who has already passed passport control. There is a chance that you will be allowed to write to him, and he will forward them to you.
The use of mobile phones in the arrivals area is prohibited. We advise you not to even show your phone number if you are taken for a second check. But if you think this will help, tell them that you have the missing confirmation on your phone or computer, then you have the right to be allowed to get them.
Is Lawyer capable?
A useless waste of money. If you entered as a regular traveler, there is no formal reason for a lawyer to be present until the decision is made.
This contradicts the popular belief that «a lawyer is by law, but only in the first hours». But not only a lawyer will help with the same success, but also any Mexican, whom the migration service employee has the right to call and make sure that he knows the foreigner and is waiting for his arrival.
A lawyer is able to intervene after a decision has been made regarding a refusal of entry and try to achieve, through amparo, its expeditiousness and reconsideration. If you have reason to believe that you will be denied entry, negotiate with a lawyer before arriving in Mexico, since after that the bill will count for hours.
By offering the services of a lawyer upon detention for a second inspection, you will be “killed at a cost.” You will give up and continue to think that if there was a patch, the lawyer would get you out. No, I wouldn't pull it out.
After making the decision to order…
Once a decision has been made to deny entry to Mexico, it is considered final and cannot be reviewed by appeal. An alien who is denied entry is required to remain in designated airport facilities while awaiting boarding for a flight from Mexico.
Separately, the legislation states that a foreign citizen who is denied entry to Mexico is not considered to have entered the territory of the country. Formally, he has never been to Mexico.
The Migration Service is obliged to offer the foreigner a decision on refusal. If it is not done, you have the right to demand it. She will provide the same solution to the airline that will take you from Mexico. You also have the opportunity to request a copy of the decision from the airline.
Very often, the document formalizing the decision to refuse entry to Mexico does not really explain anything. It may be indicated there that you had a valid passport and travel document, the required confirmation, but at the same time, in the direction of the point «Entry is not allowed» will cost from the label «yes».
The decision to refuse must be executed within 24 hours after it is made. A foreigner is transported from Mexico 1) by the airline from which he flew, 2) by any airline to his home country, 3) by any airline to the country from which he was received. Considering that some airlines have the opportunity to fly rarely and not all countries will be willing to accept a foreigner, the wait for a transfer back at the airport in Mexico may take a long time. But most often they take the same flight they arrived on, or the same flight the next day.
Steps to appeal or file a request for clarification of cause from a refusal must be carried out through Mexico consulates abroad. As we said, a specific refusal of entry does not mean a ban on entry in the future.
Invitation — Is this reliable confirmation?
Invitation for visiting Mexico from a private person is not indicated in the list of documents required to confirm the purpose of the visit. Only invitations from legal entities, government and public organizations are indicated there. But in the Migration Law it is mentioned in the following wording: «Where appropriate, the name or company name and address of the person or entity who will receive you and who has invited you».
Whatever is written in the invitation, the usual practice is to check it with the migration service — call and questions to the person who signed it. There are cases when these questions were staged. You cannot know who is calling, and you are not obliged to pretend that you were waiting for this call.
In addition, a foreigner has the opportunity to ask questions about who invited him to Mexico. How much does your Mexican friend earn? You have no right to know the answer to this question, therefore, answer only what you are sure of.
These are the basic questions we wanted to answer in covering this sensitive topic. We will continue to monitor the situation and will update the publication with new questions.