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[Gold Rush]

I entered Mexico without a passport stamp.

I'm Canadian. I crossed the border to Tijuana by foot from San Diego, and took a domestic flight to Guadalajara at the TJ airport.

Nobody checked my passport, and I didn't pass through customs.

I'm in Guadalajara now, slowly working my way around Mexico. My next stop is Puerto Vallarta, and I plan to be in the country for a couple months at least. I'll leave Mexico via Cancun and head to Cuba.

At the Cancun international airport, will I be checked for an entry stamp by Mexican customs? If so, what should I tell him - that they forgot to give me a stamp?

The last thing I want is for them to rip me off and charge a ridicilious fee or something. I want things to go smoothly.

What do i Do?

[MELEE]

Do you have an FMT? A little piece of paper? You should have gotten one before leaving the boarder zone, if not at the boarder. I'm not sure what will happen if you don't have one. Maybe someone who lives closer to the boarder knows? Gringogordo?

[MikeySaid]

They didn't take any of my usual forms from me upon entrance/exit this last time, didn't stamp me, either. It was a little worrying, because I was sure it was going to cause me a problem.

In Guadalajara they told me "you'll be processed in Torreon" (my destination city. In Torreon, I just kind of walked off the airplane, got my bag, and proceeded.

On the way back... nothin. Nobody ever asked me for any entry/exit forms. Just checked my ID and let me on the plane.

You could end up with a huge pain in the butt upon leaving. Good Luck.

[Prof.Gringo]

I used to live in TJ. I crossed the border several times per week, sometimes almost everyday. If they(Mexican customs) had stamped my passport everytime I crossed back in to Mexico I would need several phone book size additions to my passport! Seriously, I do not think you will have any problems in Mexico. I have never had Mexico stamp my passport at any port of entry. As long as you have your tourist card you will be fine. Just relax and go with the flow!

[Guy Courchesne]

No, I don't think it will be all that easy, particularly if you are going to Cuba from Cancun. It is the airline at Cancun airport that will ask for your tourist visa to give you the boarding pass. The worst that would happen is that they send you to the migra office in the airport to get a new tourist visa. Here is when you give your sob story and hope they charge you only the 21 usd for the new visa to get out. At worst, you'll need some negotiating skills. Don't do this with only a few minutes before your flight boards...get to the airport early. Mexico to Cuba is not like crossing the US-Mexican border.

[Gold Rush]

you know what, they didn't even give me a tourist card either. I'm going to be in mexico for months and I don't have a stamp or a tourist card.

don't I need to have the card before I enter Mexico? Why didn't they give me one at Tijuana's aiport? They checked my luggage and looked at my passport for id purposes, but that was the airline, not customs.

I'm worried, even if in Cancun, all I have to do is buy the card on the stop, they might say you needed one before entering Mexico.

I have a feeling they might put the blame on me, instead of admitting themselves, that they screwed up.

I don't want to be inconvinienced.

[Guy Courchesne]

Don't worry about it so much...there won't be any problems...just a matter of negotiating the price. As I understand it, there would be no stamp or visa because you crossed on foot, inside the border zone that doesn't require a tourist visa. There's no reason for you to have passed through immigration at the TJ airport if flying domestic, so it's nobody's fault there. This situation of yours isn't all that uncommon...really, you'll be fine. In Cancun, tell them the story you're telling us here and pay for the visa, as is the normal law...just be ready to have to negotiate if they want to charge you any kind of fine because technically, it's your fault. If you go into that Cancun office blaming Mexican officials, you'll only be raising the fine.

[Gold Rush]

Interesting, here is the opinion of another user on another travel site.


"you should have a Mexican Tourist card.. This is your temp. visa to be in this country..... and yes cancun officials will request it to leave.. It is generally vaild for 30 days and can be renewed for a total time in Mexico of 90days max I believe. Walking in by foot I don't know what the procedure is as I am not in that area of the country... If I were you, before further ado, get yourself to a MIGRATION office and explain the situation when you arrived into Mexico, produce your plane ticket and all as evidence of the date of entry and such... Many times your passport is not stamped,but the tourist card is absolutely required.. I suspect you simply by passed an area in TJ that was for folks going beyond the "frontera" or the region so many kilometers from the border... perhaps out of ignorance and inability to read Spanish? Don't wander around with out a valid tourist card and don't allow it to lapse as there can be steep fines or jail or other fun experiences.... enjoy your adventure..."


You say don't worry, but which is it? Go get the stamp now or at the end of my Mexican journey (several months from now)?

Isn't there a fee for each day I'm in the country without a card?

[Guy Courchesne]

Fines can be assessed on a daily basis, so it is good advice to take care of it ASAP. I don't think there's any danger of deportation or jail...this is a simple clerical affair, not life or death struggle.

Why not pop into the migra office there in Guadalajara? You'll need 21 dollars (or the peso equivalent), and anything you have that shows dates, like the other person mentioned. Whatever you do, do not get angry and do not start pointing fingers at anyone at migra. In Mexico, diplomacy and politeness wins the day.

[Samantha]

Honestly, in this case I think I would say I lost my tourist card and produce the plane ticket to show when you departed TJ. They can be really strict in Guadalajara migra, but if you lost it you lost it. When you enter the country on foot or by bus it is the responsibility of the foreigner to ask for the tourist card since noone is going to just offer it to you. Blame most definitely cannot be placed elsewhere and as mentioned, not a good idea to even try to go there. You will need it to depart the Cancun airport, as Guy says, so you could just do it there. Allow extra time and there should be no problem. They are used to reissuing tourist cards at touristy airports for absent-minded travellers. Been there, done that.

[Gold Rush]

so Canadians need to pay to visit Mexico? I though it was free? Do Americans pay $21 as well? This tourist card sounds a lot like a visa - even though Mexico is supposed to be visa-free for North Americans, right.

Mexico's entry regulations seem phuked, not to mention unprofessional. I blame aiportt custom officials entirely for the situation I'm in, though I won't mention it.

[Guy Courchesne]

Pardon me for this, but you really should do some research before blaming others.

Most often, these fees are handled in airline tickets, so you don't even notice them. Anyone visiting Mexico pays the $21 usd fee, unless you stay within the border zone between the US and Mexico.

Did you know that Mexicans also pay such a fee to enter Canada? Mexicans also pay considerably more for the visa to get into the US. Americans pay $100 usd for the tourist visa in Chile.

There are many different classes of visa...yes, you don't need to apply for one before entering, but you do need one to be in the country. Mexico isn't Canada's community swimming pool (though we do piss in it all the same, don't we?)

Oh, and you're welcome for the help by the way.

[Samantha]

You are dead wrong that it was someone else's fault and this is where prior research comes in real handy. The place to obtain your FM-T (which is the tourist card) is obtainable somewhere in the vicinity where you crossed the border. Each border is set up differently. You must go into an office in the area and ask for it. Not everyone needs it obviously because not all are going deeper into the country, but once you are in the TJ airport flying to other places in the country it is NOT an issue and of course they won't ask about it because it is considered a domestic flight and not an international flight.

The tourist card (tourist visa, whatever you wish to call it) has been around since the big guy was a cowboy. You get it at the border, then go into a bank and pay the fee and get your receipt, and relinquish it if you depart by air. When driving or busing out they do not ask for it which is weird, but that's the way it is. Flying in, the amount is covered in the cost of your airline ticket so you would never notice it but it is not something new. Good luck in your travels. Keep us posted.

[Samantha]

Oops...had I known Guy was typing away at the same time, I could have saved my fingernails (and blood pressure!). I wasn't going to mention this but I think I will now. Another teacher who is working with a Canadian friend of mine in GDL also recently forgot to pick up his tourist card. When he went to get his FM3, Migra told him he had to fly out of the country and come back with a valid tourist card since they considered him illegally in the country. And he was. This guy actually flew to Dallas and back at considerable expense. He had crossed by bus at TJ and thrown away his ticket. Hopefully OP will have his airline ticket and can do the sob story and beg for forgiveness. I still think doing it in Cancun airport is the way to go in this case. No one is going to ask for a tourist card at random in his travels prior to that unless he is going to apply for an FM3 to teach. Then he may be flying to Dallas.

[Ben Round de Bloc]