We want to update the data and tell you what the current prospects are for extending your stay in Mexico as a traveler. When we say “guest visa”, we mean the FMM migration form or entry stamp in your passport that you received upon entering Mexico and which indicates the period of your authorized stay in the country as a guest of the state.
1. Extension of a travel visa is not possible under any conditions. This means that you cannot obtain a new FMM, a new stamp in your passport, or change the number of permitted days of stay entered into the migration database during entry processing.
For peace of mind, you can contact the migration service with a request to extend your guest visa. You will be denied an extension.
2. If you are a citizen of Ukraine, Russia or Belarus, you have the right to stay in Mexico even after the expiration of your tourist visa (permitted period of stay). Although you do not have valid immigration status (you are an illegal immigrant), your presence in Mexico will not be considered illegal and you will not be deported. This information is based on the decision of the migration service regarding citizens of three countries. The solution has not been published anywhere, so we cannot provide a link to the official source. But it actually applies from March 2022. Always carry your original passport with you to prove your citizenship.
How long can you stay in Mexico now after your travel visa expires? Nobody knows the answer to this question. Conditionally, until the migration service decides that you have the opportunity to safely return to your country of citizenship. But this attitude can change at any moment. Now the migration service perceives all citizens of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus as asylum seekers and provides them with such temporary asylum in the form of the opportunity to stay in Mexico for an unlimited time. Perhaps the migration service will make some special decision regarding citizens of the three countries and officially regulate their migration status, but there are no prerequisites to say that such a decision will take place. Mexico continues to maintain a neutral position on the war in Ukraine.
Therefore, it does not matter what length of stay you are allowed to stay in when you enter Mexico. Exceeding it is not currently a problem.
The presence of citizens of other countries in Mexico after the expiration of their sovereign visa is considered illegal, and when detained by the migration service they face deportation. The Migration Service will provide the prospect of resolving the migration situation by issuing a residence permit, if there are grounds for obtaining a residence permit.
3. Staying in Mexico without a valid migration status may incur some inconveniences. Now all airline and bus companies are sympathetic to the stay of citizens of three countries in Mexico without a valid migration document and do not refuse to sell tickets or board a flight.
Problems may be associated with refusal to register a marriage, issue documents and certificates. These problems can be resolved, for example, by applying for a public service in another state. When processing documents at the Mexican Migration Service, you will most often have to pay a fine for violating the migration regime (exceeding the permitted period of stay), but this will not be a reason for refusing to issue documentation. This fine can also be avoided.
4. Violation of the authorized period of stay does not cause restrictions on leaving Mexico. When leaving by plane, if the guest of the country does not have a valid migration document, before registering for the flight, you should contact the migration service at the airport. The stay there will be extended by 1 day — You will be issued a new one-time migration form, which must be shown to airline employees. They charge 638 pesos for the offer (2022). This applies to citizens of all countries, but if you are a citizen of Ukraine, Russia or Belarus and you try to convince them that you came to Mexico to seek temporary asylum, you have the right not to receive payment.
5. If you have exceeded the permitted period of stay in Mexico, this will not affect subsequent entries. You can enter the country and enter an unlimited number of times. There will be restrictions on entry, but they can give you a shorter permitted period of stay.