We would like to tell you what happens to your visa after you enter Mexico with it. Perhaps these are unnecessary details for an ordinary traveler, but they will make it clear that after an entry stamp has been placed in your passport, your visa means nothing, and a completely different document begins to play the role of a visa.
Let us remind you that the visa grounds for entry into Mexico are as follows:
- visa-free regime between states. In particular, citizens of the USA, Canada, EU countries and many other countries only need a passport to enter Mexico;
- electronic permission. Entry through it is possible only for citizens of Ukraine, Russia and Turkey and only by air;
- Mexico visa;
- visa to the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Switzerland, Schengen countries. The visa must only be multiple;
- permanent resident card of the countries mentioned above, and in addition to Chile, Colombia or Peru.
So, to travel to Mexico, any of these documents are needed for the sole purpose — obtain an entry permit. When you go through passport control you will receive another document — FMM migration form if you are entering by land, or a stamp in your passport if you are entering through the airport. And on the basis of this form or stamp, and not a visa, you will have the right to stay in Mexico. After entry, no one will ask about the visa itself.
You can throw away the printout of the electronic permit, you no longer need it, they won’t ask for it or check it anywhere else. The next time you enter, you will need to obtain a new permit.
Moreover, the visa pasted into the passport will only be needed upon your next entry, if it is valid at that time. But in Mexico you will never be asked to show a visa.
You will never be asked why you entered Mexico. It is enough that you have an entry stamp in your passport. But you still have the right to ask on what basis you are in the country. In this case, you should always have an FMM form or a passport with an entry stamp with you.
The validity period of your visa and electronic permit does not in any way affect how long you are allowed to stay in Mexico. The electronic permit is valid for exactly 30 days, and in Mexico you can be allowed to stay for up to 180 days (from 7 to 180, as the migration officer decides upon entry). You have the opportunity to enter Mexico on a visa that expires in a week, and then live in the country for another 180 days. You will be able to stay in Mexico exactly as long as the migration officer at passport control allows, and not as long as your visa is valid.
Never tie your plans to stay in Mexico to the validity of your visa and do not try to get a visa with a longer validity period — this does not affect anything except the chances of multiple entries into the country. Even if you received a 10-year Mexico visa, you can still stay in the country for no more than 180 days after each entry, and not 10 years.
What kind of visa you have also does not affect how long you can stay in Mexico. Yes, a US, Canadian visa or passport from these countries greatly simplifies entry into the country. But both Americans and Canadians are ultimately allowed to stay in Mexico for the same number of days as Russians who arrived with an electronic permit.