Finally, Common Sense Prevails for Mexico’s Tourist Visas Juan De Jesús Breene - Pulse News Mexico
go to original August 31, 2022

How FMM Changes Affect Tourists, Residents and Folks in Between (Two Expats Mexico)

First, it was a piece of perforated paper, then the option existed to create the document on-line.

For years, a standard 180 days were issued. But about a year ago, immigration officers in Mexico began to assign everything from 10 to 90 days for some.

What are we talking about? Every foreign tourist in Mexico can easily guess the answer: that pesky FMM, the Formato Migratoria Múltiple, known as a tourist card, the visitor visa that international tourists to Mexico had to fill out on an airplane or at other entry points.

If a flight attendant was kind, you got a pen loaned to you to fill it out; otherwise, you had to beg a fellow passenger for a loaned pen or bring your own.

As they filled it out, passengers tended to ask said themselves, “Who, in God’s name, even looks at all of this information?” and “How many filing cabinets exist to store these cards?”

Upon arrival, an immigration officer scribbled a number and slammed a heavy dated stamp on it, retaining half, and returning the other half to the international visitor.

And, lo be unto those who lost the half that was supposed to be surrendered upon exiting Mexico. “Will I be sent to a Mexican prison for hard labor?” they might ask. (The answer is no, but they did have to pay a heavy fine.)

But finally – FINALLY — thanks to technology already embedded in most passports, Cancun, Mexico’s busiest airport for international tourists, along with four other Mexican airports, began a pilot program on Friday, Aug. 19, to eliminate the use of the FMM.

According to Sergio González Rubiera, president of the Mexican Association of Travel Agencies (AMAV) in Quintana Roo, the new program reduces wait times from possible hours to just minutes.

González Rubiera said that INM officials have been trained on using the new paperless system.

The other Mexico airports with the paperless FMM system are the new Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA, which so far, is only used by one international carrier, Venezuela’s Conviasa), Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta and San José del Cabo.

“The new system is reducing wait times from two-plus hours to around 20 minutes,” González Rubiera said.

Read the rest at Pulse News Mexico

Related: Now With Mexico Implementing Electronic Fmms Is a 180 Day Tourist Permit Automatic? (Mexico Daily Post)

Related: New Office to Process Passports to Open in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco (Mexico Daily Post)

Related: GAP Kicks off Construction of Puerto Vallarta Airport’s 2ND Terminal (BNamericas)