Mexico is a vibrant country that attracts Russian tourists with its contrast. Some Russian travelers, buying a ticket to Mexico, are wondering if they need a visa to this country. Yes, I need it. Let us further consider the main features of obtaining it if you need a trip to Mexico on a package tour or, if necessary, a longer stay in the country.
Total information
A visa is a permissive document of an established form that allows a certain person to visit a particular state for any purpose. This permission can be presented in any form: in the form of an insert that is entered in the passport, stamp, a separate document. Some countries require an electronic visa pre-registration. Among these is Mexico. It should be noted that the registration of this type of permit is necessary not only for a tourist visit to the country, but also for any other type of it. The only exception is when the applicant needs a permit for long-term residence in the country.
Next, we consider all the features of obtaining electronic permission to Mexico.
A trip without a visa
You should pay attention to the fact that there is a certain list of people who have the opportunity to visit Mexico without special permission. These include representatives of diplomatic missions. The persons who are entitled to visa-free entry into the country include citizens as well as residents of certain states: Canada, the USA, Japan, the UK, as well as countries within the European Union. In order for them to be able to legally cross the Mexican border legally, they only need to present a document at the airport in Mexico that certifies that they live in these countries or are their citizens. Examples of such are internal civil passports or special permits.
The benefits of an electronic visa
The first advantage of the type of authorization in question is the ease of obtaining it. Moreover, permission is granted absolutely free of charge.
In addition, a standard electronic visa to Mexico allows you to cross the border of the country for various purposes: tourism, doing business, participating in sporting events, short-term training or attending any courses, carrying out religious affairs, etc.
And finally, the third advantage, which concerns the electronic visa to the state in question, is that it is quite easy to use the system in which the request for its provision is made. To do this, it is enough to be a holder of Russian citizenship, as well as have a valid passport. On the same site you can fill out the proposed application form. After providing all the data, the system into which they were entered generates a new request and literally a few seconds later gives a response about granting permission or refusing this action. As practice shows, positive decisions are issued (failure rate - about 1%).
Mexican Electronic Cross-Border Crossing Rules
It should be noted that there are certain rules regarding the crossing of the Mexican border, with electronic permission. They found that crossing the border on a pre-obtained electronic visa to Mexico is possible only once. All data on this is recorded in the automated database of the State Migration Service.
When purchasing a guided tour to Mexico from Moscow, you should definitely pay attention to whether the carrier proposed in the package belongs to the SRS system. The thing is that carriers that are not members of this union are not able to check electronic permits, as a result of which a tourist simply will not get on board an airplane.
Upon arrival in Mexico, the traveler must find a migration agent and present him with a certain set of documents required for the legal crossing of the state border. These include not only electronic permission to Mexico for Russians for Russians, but also a well-filled immigration card, as well as a valid passport. In the presence of all necessary documents, the service agent affixes a stamp on which the date of crossing the border is marked. In addition, at the moment, the agent must enter the basic data about the tourist in a special migration base.
Immigration card
Travelers who make a tour to Mexico from Moscow are required to present to the migration agent in the general package of documents a correctly completed immigration card. As a rule, the procedure for entering data into it is carried out on board the aircraft. All data must be entered in it exclusively in Latin letters and in strict accordance with the way they are indicated on the pages of the passport. The peculiarity of the procedure is that the first part of the questionnaire must be completed in English, and the second in Spanish.
Tourists must take into account the fact that one part of the immigration card will be left to the migration officer, and the second will be given to the owner. It must be understood that the given root must be maintained until departure from the country. In the event that the document is lost, a fine of $ 100 (about 6,000 rubles) will have to be paid for it.
Other types of visas to Mexico
As you know, an electronic permit to Mexico is issued exclusively for a short stay in the country. In the event that it is necessary to visit the state on a long visit (for example, to visit relatives or stay for some time), then a visa is required.
The peculiarity of this type of document is that it provides the tourist with the opportunity to visit the country frequently, which the holders of the electronic visa to Mexico for Russians cannot do.
There are three types of visas to Mexico: student, semi-annual, and ten-year. Often, they are executed by employees of companies that operate in two countries - Mexico and Russia. As for specifically ten-year visas, they are ideal for those citizens of Russia who are owners of real estate in Mexico. It is often formalized by people who have relatives in the country, or those who do business here.
How to get a long-term visa
The process of obtaining a long-term visa is more complicated than the one that is carried out in the case of the acquisition of an electronic permit to Mexico. In order to become the owner of this type, a certain set of documents should be prepared, including confirmation of the validity of the purpose of the visit. To obtain a long-term visa, you must contact the consulate of Mexico and have an interview with a representative of the diplomatic mission.
Documents
What documents will be required to obtain the necessary visa? First of all, the general package should have a valid passport, as well as a color copy of it, made from the main pages. In addition, you will need to provide a properly completed questionnaire, as well as a pair of photographs 32 x 26 mm in size) made in a photo studio on high-quality glossy paper.
The Mexican Consulate will also ask if the applicant is a solvent person. In order to confirm the fact of his solvency, the tourist can provide one of the proposed documents: a certificate from the place of work or about receiving a pension for the year, an extract from a bank account drawn up in the name of the applicant himself, or, for example, a sponsorship letter in which a certain person undertakes take all the costs for yourself. As for the amounts reflected in the documents under consideration, they can be expressed in any currency and must correspond to the size of about 550 dollars per month of residence in Mexico (about 33-35 thousand rubles).
Special attention is paid to those documents that confirm the purpose of a long-term visit of a tourist to the country. They should accurately reflect the need for a long stay traveler in Mexico. Examples of such documents are: an invitation from a Mexican university to study or a certificate of admission to the ranks of students (for those who wish to get an education), the existence of a kinship with a Mexican citizen (for reuniting family ties), and the availability of real estate in the state (for permanent or long-term residence).
When making a request for a student visa, tourists must provide proof of payment for the entire period.
Application Form Requirements
Special attention should be paid to what rules exist regarding the filling out of the application form for a long-term visa to Mexico. It should be noted that all the data that is entered into it must fully correspond to those indicated in the applicant's passport. In the event that they do not correspond, the tourist risks receiving a refusal to provide the coveted permission. Moreover, the real purpose of the trip, which will subsequently be confirmed by certain documents, must be indicated in the appropriate field.
The application form can always be downloaded on the official website of the country's diplomatic mission in Russia. If you have any questions regarding the correctness of filling, you can always contact the consultant who is available at the diplomatic mission.
Ride with baby
In the midst of the holiday season in Mexico, many Russian tourists are thinking about making a family trip to this country. It should be noted that the procedure for obtaining a visa for a young tourist is no different from that carried out by adults. Then, at the airport in Mexico, the appropriate stamp is affixed to the child’s international passport.
In the event that a long-term visa is required, there are certain nuances in the implementation of this process. The first of them is that the application form, submitted with a common package of documents, must be signed by parents or guardians in the presence of a consular officer. The second nuance concerns the case if one of the parents is absent when applying for a visa - in this situation, the notary must have permission to carry out all actions without his personal presence, as well as to take the child out.
Terms of registration and cost
During the opening of the holiday season in Mexico, visas to this state among Russians become especially popular. And if electronic permission is provided on a free basis, then for a long-term document you will have to pay 36 dollars (about 2100 rubles). It should be noted that in the future it is planned to introduce a certain tariff for the provision of electronic visas.
As for the terms of processing the document, the consideration of the electronic application takes place within a few seconds after its submission. In the event that the tourist plans to receive a long-term document, then the consideration of documents takes, as a rule, no more than 10 days.