The Mexico Migration Service has stopped issuing country visas to new visitors for the next 180 days of stay in the country. During the coronavirus epidemic, such an opportunity was available to those tourists who, when entering Mexico on the FMM migration form, were given a maximum permitted period of stay of 180 days. Recently, health authorities in Mexico announced the end of the coronavirus epidemic, and accordingly, the migration service no longer sees obstacles to international travel and the need to stay in the country for longer than the permitted period.
Before the coronavirus epidemic, it was impossible to extend a guest country visa (FMM migration form) beyond 180 days. At the end of this period, the tourist was obliged to leave the country. I still have to.
An exception was made for Ukrainians and Russians in connection with the war in Ukraine. Xfrom after the expiration of the FMM, they do not have the opportunity to get a new form, but have the right to remain in the country on the old, expired form, conditionally, until the end of the war. At the same time, the migration service still considers them violators of the migration regime. It orders them to carry out migration procedures (in particular, to obtain a resident card based on marriage or the birth of a child) without resolving the migration situation, in other words, charging a fine. But they do not detain them as illegal immigrants and do not deport them.
As of October 2021, the Mexico Migration Service has changed the practice of automatically granting a maximum permitted stay of 180 days upon entry. This limited the prospects for extending travel visas, since only those who were given the maximum period upon entry were extended. However, with the start of the war in Ukraine, Ukrainians and Russians again began to be given 180 days upon entry. Unfortunately, with the change in extension, it became impossible to obtain a formal document on legal status in the country.
As we said, Ukrainians and Russians are not deported after the end of their permitted period of stay. But without confirmation of legal status, they cannot apply to the consulates of several countries in Mexico to obtain visas, and they may be denied the sale of a bus ticket or boarding a domestic flight (this option depends on the specific transport company). To regain legal status, travelers from Ukraine and Russia have the right only to leave Mexico and enter again.
The option of obtaining a Residence in Mexico for 4 years is still available for those who have already visited the country in 2020 or earlier. This so-called May «program for resolving the migration situation» was introduced at the same time as the extension of guest country visas — in the spring of 2020, at the height of the epidemic. The program has been in effect for 2 years already and has a “temporary” status. There is a high probability that it will not be extended until next year in 2023.
All other options for obtaining a residence permit in Mexico have not changed. Marriage to a Mexican or the birth of a child grants resident status without leaving the state. To purchase a resident card by invitation to work or study at a Mexican university, by economic viability (income or savings), by purchasing real estate in Mexico or a share in a Mexican public company, you must first purchase a resident visa at one of the foreign consulates.