When traveling to the United Mexican States with children, familiarize yourself with some of the rules for the entry and exit of minors into the country.
Child — citizen of another state
1. Entry of minors under 18 years of age to Mexico is possible only with their a valid passport. Mexico does not accept any other travel documentation for children, including when the child is included in the parent’s passport.
Of course, the child must also have visa for entry to Mexico or electronic permission.
We wrote about the validity periods of foreign passports and visas in this article. It also sets out all the other standards required for entry to Mexico for both adults and children.
2. All minor children under 18 years of age traveling to or from Mexico unaccompanied by parents or accompanied by third parties (including as part of a group) are required to present an original permission from both parents + its certified translation into English or Spanish.
If a foreign citizen child travels with one of the parents, permission from the second parent is not required.
If the parents and the child have different families, you need to have an apostoration birth certificate + certified translation into English or Spanish. By different names we mean Ivanov and Petrova, but not similar Ivanov and Ivanova.
If one of the parents has died, it is required to have an apostoration death certificate + certified translation into English or Spanish.
If you are the child's guardian, this must also be confirmed with the appropriate document.
On the website Mexico embassy Moscow says that a child traveling to Mexico with one of the parents must have a royal permit from the other. However, on the sites of many others consulates Mexico from It is noted that foreign children may not have permission or letters of consent from their parents or guardians to enter Mexico, even if they are accompanied by third parties.
In fact, if you and your child have the same parents, no one at passport control in Mexico will demand permission from the second parent. If the families are different, always have with you a birth certificate with an apostille, plus a simple translation of it; usually this will be enough.
3. The website of the Mexico Embassy in Moscow indicates that permission from an absent parent must be present both when entering and leaving Mexico. However, the National Institute of Migration of Mexico (INM) in its page writes that for departure minor children — Foreigners do not need permission from the second from the absent parent (see paragraph 6 below), but will be required when traveling with other accompanying persons.
Child — citizen of Mexico
If your child — a citizen of Mexico, the rules for entry and exit from Mexico will be slightly different. In this case, the difference between a child of second citizenship or the citizenship of his parents does not matter. For Mexico, he is only a citizen of Mexico.
4. Entry into the child’s country — a citizen of Mexico is possible with any document proving his identity as a citizen, alone or accompanied. In addition, an expired passport does not act as an obstacle. No other paperwork or confirmation is required.
5. When leaving the child’s state — a citizen of Mexico is granted permission to leave only in the absence of both parents at the time of departure. If one parent is present, permission from the other is not required. Citizenship of parents does not matter.
A document confirming permission for a child to travel abroad can be:
- nfromarially certified permission from one of the parents, issued exclusively in Mexico
- Mexican court decision
- guardianship papers issued in Mexico or legalized in Mexico
Permits issued by the nfromarius or another authority other than the immigration service must indicate the mode of transport, destination and date of travel.
6. Parents or guardians can simplify the procedure for purchasing a travel permit for a child (Mexican citizen or foreigner) by first filling out the form SAM (Formato de Salida de Menores) on the INM website. If the child is traveling alone, the SAM INM permit process can be completed one or both parents.
The completed form must be printed (it is 3 sheets) and brought to any INM office in advance before departure (allowed at the airport). Moreover, in addition to this, you need to provide:
- Original and copies of the child's passport
- Copies of the child's birth certificate
- Copies of parent or guardian ID
- Original and copies of the adult accompanying person's identification if the parent or guardian gives permission to take the child out of Mexico
- Copies of powers of attorney or court decisions (if any)
All copies must be in three copies. When obtaining permission from the INM office, you must be present with the child and with whom the child will be leaving the country (parent, accompanying person or both). The received SAM INM permit must be presented when crossing the Mexico border.
SAM INM permit free of charge. It is valid for six months and is given only for one child’s departure.
Additionally
For information purposes only, we present the recommendations of the Russian travel company Anex Tour on entry to Mexico with children, which were contained in its “Memo for Guests of the State Traveling to Mexico.”
«As of February 15, 2013, all minor citizens (under 18 years of age) traveling to Mexico unaccompanied by parents, accompanied by one of the parents, with relatives (but not parents), in a group of children without parents, both when entering and leaving Mexico, are required to present a certified authorization from the parent(s), with a certified translation into Spanish.
If the children travel with both parents, but the last names do not match, then the birth certificate should be translated into Spanish and notarized.
If the children/child travels with their mother, and the birth certificate contains a dash in the fromer column, the birth certificate should be translated into Spanish and notarized.
If children travel without their parents, in addition to the legally certified permission from the parents with a certified translation into Spanish, 1 page of the parents’ passports should be translated and certified.
The absence of the above documentation will be a reason for refusal to enter or exit Mexico.»