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debmport · Joined: 10 Nov 2007 Posts: 34 Location: Guadalaholla

Hey yall quick question.

If I were to hypothetically overstay my 180 day tourist visa am I totally screwed?

I mean I've read that sometimes you can have problems when you do leave and sometimes not, and with what it would cost to leave the country just to turn around and come back, I'm thinking of taking my chances.

Is this a terrible idea?

TheLongWayHome · Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 1016 Location: San Luis Piojosi

MikeySaid · Joined: 10 Nov 2004 Posts: 509 Location: Torreon, Mexico

You could drive (Edited... Note: I meant to write "try" but for some reason "drive" came out of my fingers.) leaving by land instead of by sea... I have slipped in and out of Mexico undetected by bus.

What I mean is... if you take a bus out of Mexico into the US, it's likely nobody will look at your travel document. . I don't know how that would affect you on your next trip INTO Mexico... but I left Mexico back at Christmas, crossed by bus into El Paso, and then when I returned, I got on a bus in El Paso and crossed back into Ciudad Juarez and nobody ever looked at my passport or anything. Granted... I was in the border region. And I had a work Visa... so there were no consequences... but Mexico never even knew I left.

imbabyj · Joined: 28 Nov 2004 Posts: 15 Location: mexico

When you overstay and your leaving at the airport you just tell them you lost the little paper thingy and they send you over to immigration to pay 250 pesos for a new one then your done and go back to the checkout counter for them to stamp it. Before I got my work permit I overstayed a year once and this is what happened to me when I went to the states. Just "lose" the paper if you are over your time and you can get issued another to leave. Tourists always lose them. Immigration didnt even charge me the 250 pesos but maybe that was just a lucky day. Its always better to become legal then you have zero worries. But, if you can't I wouldn't sweat it to much. Can't say I have ever heard of too many horror stories with immigration here.

imbabyj · Joined: 28 Nov 2004 Posts: 15 Location: mexico

Check with other teachers in your area to see how strict immigration is in your area. Maybe in places like df it could be stricter I can only give an opinion on my area. I live in Nayarit and travel often in the gdl, vallarta, mazatlan airports.

jfurgers · Joined: 18 Sep 2005 Posts: 442 Location: Mexico City

corporatehuman · Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Posts: 198 Location: Mexico City

Surprisingly this Christmas when I flew back to the U.S. no one took my tourist visa. You never know. Maybe if you check in late or act in a rush or panicked about something else they might not ask or it; probably depends on the person. It's not the worst idea at worst you may have to just pay a fine.

debmport · Joined: 10 Nov 2007 Posts: 34 Location: Guadalaholla

Thanks everybody.

That's what I was hoping to hear.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

GueroPaz · Joined: 07 Sep 2007 Posts: 216 Location: Thailand or Mexico

That was my experience as well. One time I took a domestic flight, Tapachula-DF-Matamoros, and forgot to turn in my long term visa. Nobody asked for it, and we proceeded to Brownsville. That long term visa (no-inmigrante) nearly expired when I lived in Brownsville, so I just rode my bike back across the border and turned it in without even having my passport on me. Another time, leaving Cancun to Miami I think, I needed to get my long term visa stamped before leaving Mexico and had difficulty finding an officer to stamp the visa out.

Maybe I am wrong, but I got the impression prior to 2002 that they didn't much care who leaves Mexico. There used to be a staffed booth at the foot of the international bridge where you could turn in your tourist visa, but it disappeared.

debmport · Joined: 10 Nov 2007 Posts: 34 Location: Guadalaholla

lozwich · Joined: 25 May 2003 Posts: 1536

The advice has been for leaving the country, but what happens if you get caught in Mexico without a valid tourist visa? I'm sure it says somewhere that you have to keep your visa on your person at all times Shocked

so what would be the consequences of being found out while still in Mexico?

MO39 · Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:47 pm Post subject:

Samantha · Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Posts: 2038 Location: Mexican Riviera

Immigration acts on spot-checks as well as complaints. If you are without a valid tourist card, you will be asked to leave the country (you will be given time to prove you have one and you don't need to carry it around).

I know a guy here who ticked off the wrong person, and was reported to Immigration. They called him and asked him to present himself, along with his tourist card, the next morning. They already knew from the lack of a file that he didn't have an FM3. When he didn't show up, they went to his house. He did not have a valid tourist card and was told to leave Mexico. Being deported would be embarrassing.

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

I always kept photocopies of the 'photo pages' of both my FM3 and my passport in my wallet. I had occasion to show one or the other, and having the photocopies came in very handy.

guatetaliana · Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 5:57 pm Post subject:

Yup, just so you know, I went by bus to Laredo, Tx yesterday. Nothing was done upon leaving Mexico. On the US side, we got off the bus at the immigration checkpoint, the officers barely looked at my photo in my passport, and then that was it. I was surprised, I usually get grilled when I return to the US, but that's always been at Chicago O'Hare airport, so I guess the border is not as big a deal. Huh. Point is, there was never a chance for me to turn in my old FMT, meaning I actually still have it. And my passport was definitely never stamped.

Anyways, to return to Mexico was equally no big deal. At the immigration checkpoint on the Mexico side of the bridge, I had to go into the little office, pay the $23 and get a new form. Again, they didn't stamp my passport or anything, and absolutely had no questions for me.

Oh yeah, there was a Japanese guy on my bus doing the same thing so he could continue living in Monterrey as well. He had no trouble, either.

I'm pretty sure you should have no trouble if you cross by bus.