Recently, information has appeared in a number of media outlets that Mexico has abolished the health form for air travel. This form must be completed when boarding any flight arriving or departing from Mexico, as well as for domestic air travel.
At the time of writing, there is no official announcement regarding the cancellation of the form. Advice to fill out a form before boarding remains posted on many airline websites. A site where such a form can be filled out electronically — Vuela Seguro — continues to function. Formally, the requirement to fill out the form remains in force, but in fact, control over its implementation has weakened significantly.
The health form is very simple and usually takes no more than 5 minutes to complete and is hassle-free. The form can be filled out either electronically or on paper. However, for many passengers, the need to fill out some paperwork is an irritating factor.
On December 10, 2021, Hugo López-Gatell, the deputy health minister and the Mexican government's top person in charge of combating the coronavirus, said his agency plans to abolish the health form within a month. According to the official, this form does not make it easier to prevent the spread of the disease, but only creates problems for airlines and passengers. Allegedly, because many passengers are forced to fill out a form before boarding, this leads to longer service times at airports and creates long queues for check-in.
It must be said that many Mexican airlines have long been checking passengers’ uniforms rather superficially or not at all. The main confirmation of filling out the form is a QR code, which must be shown to the airline when checking in for the flight. Since no one scans this code and no one checks that the passenger’s last name matches the form, it has become common practice to replicate screenshots of the completed form. Some airlines simply handed out pre-printed form confirmations to passengers, rather than having to wait for them to fill out the form and explain how to do it. The form has become unnecessary formality.
Moreover, a contradiction has arisen when for arriving passengers the form must be completed no earlier than 12 hours before arrival in Mexico, the flight time is more than 12 hours, but airlines require the form to be completed before boarding. Moreover, upon arrival in the country, no one checks the completed form.
Bottom line: Check with the airline in advance to see if you need to fill out a health form. If the airline says you should, you will have to fill it out or risk not boarding the flight. You can find instructions for filling out the formHere. The immigration service and health authorities at Mexican airports do not check this form.
At the same time, Mexico remains one of the few countries in the world that does not require foreigners to enter either a coronavirus test, a vaccination certificate, or an insurance policy.