All people who are going for one reason or another to visit Mexico - a country located at the junction of the two Americas - are interested in the question of how to get a visa. In Mexico, for the purpose of tourism, business trip, transit, you can once enter without this document, but only for thirty days and only with electronic permission. By the way, it is issued for free. But do Mexico need a visa for those who plan to stay in the country longer than a month? Of course, yes. We will talk about how to obtain a permit or a consular visa, and what documents will be required for this, in the article.
Rules for issuing and using electronic permission
The document is issued to Russian citizens with a passport, which after the trip must be valid for at least another six months. You can use the services of absolutely any airline for your flight to Mexico, but be sure to check in advance if your chosen carrier participates in the ERM scheme. It should be noted that electronic permission is applied only in case of arrival in the country by air.
Does Mexico need a visa for people who decide to travel on land or sea? Of course. It should be obtained at the embassy. You will also have to contact the Mexican embassy if the issuance of a permit for some reason has been refused. In this case, a visa to Mexico is required. You can find out the timing of the paperwork there, as a rule, the process takes no more than seven business days.
Obtaining electronic permission
On the website of the Mexican Embassy in Moscow, you must fill out the questionnaire yourself online. It must indicate your personal data, including nationality, citizenship, date of birth, religion, number and date of issue of the passport. As well as the date of entry and the planned period of stay in the country, the purpose of the trip. As a rule, a positive response comes within five minutes.
We draw your attention to the fact that the received electronic permission should not contain any errors, inaccuracies, because this is fraught with problems upon arrival in Mexico - you may even be deported from the country. Now there is a practice when people with very common surnames, such as Ivanov, Petrov and so on, are denied electronic permission. If you have suffered such a failure, there is nothing to be done - you will have to find out what kind of visa you need in Mexico and apply for it in the established manner through the Embassy.
Entry Rules
If there are no problems, and electronic permission has been obtained, you can (attention!) Fly in the direction of Mexico. But this does not guarantee that you will be allowed to enter the country. Do not forget to print the permit at home - you will need to provide it at the check-in counter on the day of departure. And upon arrival in Mexico, while passing the border control, a migration officer will check the electronic agreement and your current passport. If all the details are correct, you will be issued with an entry permit.
For children under eighteen
Traveling minor children (without parents or with one of their parents) require additional documents to enter and exit Mexico: originals of consent to leave the child and birth certificates, notarized translations of these documents into Spanish. In case of inability to present the above papers, entry / exit will be refused.
Migration card
Before passing control (upon arrival in Mexico) you need to fill out a migration card and a customs declaration (one declaration is filled out per family). At the control point, one part of the card will be taken from you, and the second you will have to keep at home until the end of the trip - it will be required when leaving the country. Loss of a migration card is fraught with a fine. Usually, cards are filled in on the plane to speed up the process of passing border controls. Stewardesses give them to passengers, as well as assist in filling. But this does not always happen, therefore, if during the flight you did not fill out a migration card, do not forget to take it at the counter at the airport. This document should be written in Latin block letters in black or blue ink. It is necessary to fill out a card for each person entering, that is, for a child too.
Who doesn’t need a visa to Mexico?
Citizens of Russia with a valid US visa in all categories or permanent residents of Schengen states, as well as Japan, the USA, Canada, do not need a visa to Mexico. Electronic permission to these categories of citizens also does not need to be obtained.
Consular visa
Such a permit is multiple and issued by the consular department of the Mexican Embassy in Moscow for a period of six months (one hundred eighty days) to ten years. Which visa you need in Mexico depends on the purpose of your trip. If you are going to visit the country as a tourist, you need a tourist visa, you are going to work - working, to visit or on business - guest or business. The cost of each type of document is different, we will talk about it later.
First stage
So, for starters, you need to register on the website of the Mexican Embassy, because the request form for issuing a permit is electronic. A visa to Mexico is issued within five to ten business days. After registration, a password will be sent to the specified email address, providing access to the questionnaire. Please note that it takes only ten minutes to fill out, so prepare in advance all the required data, including phone number, address and name of the hotel (or other place) where you will stay. Application form for a visa to Mexico is filled in Latin letters (this is a prerequisite). After all the data has been entered, click on the “Submit” button, then print the application form.
After sending the request, an email will be sent to the email indicating the date from which you can contact the consulate for putting your visa in your passport. Keep in mind that the date of contact is indicated by the time of Mexico (the difference with Moscow is eight hours), so add another day to it. In addition, it is recommended to call the consulate after filling out the questionnaire and clarify whether it is exactly in the system.
Second phase
Next, you need to directly contact the consulate and submit the necessary package of documents and fingerprints, as well as pay the consular fee. It should be noted that a visa to Mexico for six months and ten years is issued differently.
Documents for obtaining a visa for six months
1. The original of a valid passport and a copy of its first page.
2. Two 3x4 photos meeting the following requirements:
- must be made no earlier than six months before submitting a request;
- the image should occupy about seventy percent of the picture, be color on a white background;
- photo paper - matte;
- frames, ovals, corners in the photo should not be;
- in sunglasses, a headdress it is forbidden to take pictures, except in situations when it is necessary for religious reasons.
3. People who are not citizens of the Russian Federation, but applying for a visa in Russia, are required to provide the original and a copy of the document that confirms their legal stay in the country.
4. Documents that confirm your solvency:
- a bank account statement (original and copy) for the last six months (in the absence of a certificate of employment, it is desirable that the amount is from $ 2,400, which is equal to the minimum wage in Mexico City for five hundred days);
- certificate of salary (original and copy) for the last six months (it is desirable that the monthly salary is from $ 715, which is equivalent to the minimum wage in Mexico City for one hundred and fifty days);
- for students - a certificate of a scholarship, allowance or salary, a certificate from the place of study (original), a certificate from the place of work of the person who sponsors the trip, and his application;
- for schoolchildren - a certificate from the place of work of the person who sponsors the trip, and his statement, a certificate from the school;
- for non-working pensioners - a pension certificate (copy), a certificate of employment of the person who sponsors the trip, and his application;
- documents on the availability of registered immovable and movable property (if any);
- Documents that prove ownership of a business or partnership in a business (if any).
Documents for obtaining a visa for ten years
The list of documents is the same, but it is desirable that in the salary certificate for the last six months, the monthly amount is from $ 1,400, which is equal to the minimum wage in Mexico City for three hundred days. It is also required to make copies of passport pages containing the stamps of the migration service and valid visas. If we are talking about athletes, scientists, artists, journalists, then they need to provide papers confirming achievements, international or national recognition. People who are related to Mexican citizens should submit documents confirming it (birth certificate, marriage certificate).
If you are invited to Mexico by the company with which your work is related, you also need to submit an invitation letter that contains the name, registration number, address of the company and information about the work that you will perform in the country.
Fingerprints and Consular Fees
After reading the package of documents, the consular officer scans all applicants (regardless of their age) with fingerprints. Then you can pay the consular fee. Despite the fact that it is set in US dollars, payment is made in rubles at the established rate. A tourist visa to Mexico will cost you 36 dollars, a guest or business one - 134 dollars, and a working one - 195 dollars.