Mexico Passport - Duration of Stay OR 180 Days

stevesmiff

The GOV website says: "To enter Mexico, your passport must be valid for the duration of your stay." Simple as that, clear as day. The next line then reads: "The Mexican Embassy in the UK recommends passports be valid for at least 180 days because this is the longest you can stay in Mexico as a tourist." ok, so that has now added confusion!

So my child's passport runs out 4 months after we return. If I read the first line, we're fine. So why does the second line "recommend" me to have 180 days left on the passport? This would force me to renew my child's passport early adding unwanted costs to my trip.

I've already had the "just renew it to be on the safe side" chat with the OH but I'm taking the stance that it is just a recommendation and not a requirement so we are okay. Would be nice to get some feedback from other users who have maybe experienced this.

NoodleDoodleMan

A forumite flagged up this useful online tool not so long ago - apologies I can't mind who it was.

https://www.tui.co.uk/passport-checker

That might answer your question ?

sheramber

Contact the Mexican  Embassy and ask them. 

jimi_man

From the Mexican consulate online.

• All foreigners, regardless of their nationality, are required to present a valid and not expired passport or travel document when entering Mexico (traveling by air, land or sea).
• The Mexican government only requires that your passport is valid during the entirety of your trip. Please contact the airline(s) you will be flying on to ensure that they let you board the plane as the United States does have a six months validity rule for passports that may apply.

Hope that helps. 

(Also the USA - should you be routing through there, only requires passport validity for the length of your stay).

Wriggly0169

@stevesmiff

Got a similar issue but we're only out by 12 days (passport is valid for 168 days from our departure date). 

Just wondering if you had travelled yet and how you had got on. We've only got a few weeks left and I really want to avoid an expedited renewal if I can help it!

DullGreyGuy

The Mexican government website links to https://visitmexico.com/en/pagina/visado-y-pasaporte which is similar to the UK Gov website that you only need to have for the duration of your visit but it may be sensible to have 6 months.

Presumably you are flying into Cancun? I would be exceptionally surprised if you had any problems at all. The airport broke its record of number of visitors in a year during Covid which gives you an idea of their priorities 

Wriggly0169

Thanks for the link! The section on passport requirements specifically states:

To enter Mexico, your passport must be valid throughout your stay in the country. Although a minimum validity of six months is not required as in other destinations, it is highly recommended to have a passport that is not about to expire to avoid setbacks.

That seems pretty clear to me, thank you!

DullGreyGuy

Wriggly0169 said:

Thanks for the link! The section on passport requirements specifically states:

To enter Mexico, your passport must be valid throughout your stay in the country. Although a minimum validity of six months is not required as in other destinations, it is highly recommended to have a passport that is not about to expire to avoid setbacks.

That seems pretty clear to me, thank you!

Last time I was there was during the later stages of Covid, at the testing places you had two choices:

1) $15 got you a latflow test, you stick the swap in, wait and hour and get the results certificate

2) $20 got you a latflow no covid certificate straight after

If 1 resulted in a fail there was no discounted upgrade option to 2

It's a great country, spent a lot of time there, just hope you arent going All Inclusive. Tourism is the lifeblood of the region and you have to really doing something wrong for them to not want your money.