Mexico travel guide

Many visitors can enter Mexico for tourism without a visa, including citizens of the US, Canada, the UK, Japan, Australia and most EU countries, for stays of under 180 days. People who already hold a valid visa or permanent residence card from the US, Canada, Japan, the UK or a Schengen country can also visit without a Mexican visa. If you fly in, the old paper tourist card has been replaced by a digital one, the FMMd, which you download after you land. This guide covers how entry works, where to go and when, getting around, money, and staying connected.

Entry rules and the tourist card (FMM)

Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) publishes the list of nationalities that need a visa. Its list for ordinary passports, linked from the Mexican consulate in New York, which applies to visitors who will not be paid in Mexico and will stay under 180 days, shows citizens of the US, Canada, the UK, Japan, Australia, and countries such as Germany, France, Spain and Italy as exempt. Some nationalities in the region are not: Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, for example, appear as needing a visa. Lists change, so check yours on the SRE list or with the nearest Mexican consulate.

The Mexican consulate in New York confirms a second route in: if you hold a valid visa from Canada, the US, Japan, the UK or a Schengen country, or a permanent resident card from one of those countries, you can enter for tourism, business or transit without a Mexican visa. You show that visa or card with your passport on arrival.

How the FMM works now. The FMM (Forma Migratoria Múltiple) is the record of your visitor status. According to the Mexican consulate in the UK:

• If you arrive by air, you get a digital FMM, the FMMd, and have 60 calendar days after entry to download it from the INM (National Migration Institute) portal.
• If you arrive by land, you fill in the FMM form online.
• The immigration officer reviews and stamps your passport and decides how long you can stay. Visitors can be given up to six months.
• You may be asked for your FMM when you leave Mexico.

GOV.UK’s advice for British travelers adds practical detail that applies broadly. The number of days you are given is written on your passport stamp, so check it before you leave the desk. At e-gates, keep the printed e-gate ticket to show when you leave. Officers can ask for a return or onward ticket, proof of accommodation and proof that you have enough money for your stay. Your passport must be valid for your whole stay, and the Mexican Embassy recommends at least 180 days of validity.

Two more charges to know about: the state of Quintana Roo, home to Cancún and Tulum, charges visitors an entry tax that you can pay online, and you show proof at the airport when you leave. GOV.UK also notes that a departure tax may apply when you leave by air or land.

Regions and when to go

Mexico is big and varied, and each region suits a different kind of trip.

Region	What it is like	Good to know
Mexico City and the central highlands	Museums, food, historic cities such as Guanajuato	Parts of Mexico are high enough for altitude sickness to be a risk
Yucatán Peninsula and the Caribbean coast	Beaches, Maya sites, cenotes, Cancún, Tulum, Mérida	Quintana Roo charges a visitor entry tax
Oaxaca and Chiapas	Food, crafts, mountains, Palenque	Protests have at times blocked roads to Oaxaca airport, so allow extra time
Pacific coast	Beach towns and surf	Hurricanes can affect this coast too
Baja California	Desert landscapes and road trips	Land arrivals from the US fill in the FMM online

Weather. GOV.UK says hurricane season normally runs from June to November and can affect both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. You can still travel then, but get travel insurance that covers disruption, watch forecasts from the US National Hurricane Center, and follow local instructions. Check current travel advice for any region you plan to visit, as some areas carry warnings against travel.

Photo by Mila Rut on Unsplash

Getting around

• Domestic flights are the quickest way to cover long distances, for example from Mexico City to the Yucatán. Compare fares on flight search sites, and see our guide to finding cheap flights.
• Long-distance buses connect most cities and are a common way to travel between nearby destinations.
• Tren Maya is a railway across the southeast, through Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo. Its stations include Palenque, Campeche, Mérida, Chichén Itzá, Valladolid, Cancún Airport, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Bacalar and Chetumal Airport. Tickets are sold through the official Tren Maya website.
• Taxis. GOV.UK advises using regulated “sitio” taxis from authorized ranks, or asking your hotel to order one, and using only authorized pre-paid taxi services at airports.

Money

The currency is the Mexican peso (MXN). Cards are widely used in cities and resorts, but carry some pesos for markets, small shops, street food and tips.

GOV.UK recommends care at ATMs and exchange offices: use machines inside shops or malls in daylight, avoid large withdrawals, and carry only the cards you need. If a card terminal offers to charge you in your home currency, choosing pesos lets your own bank do the conversion, so you can see the rate it uses. Tell your bank you are traveling before you go.

Getting online

A travel eSIM is the simplest way to have data from the moment you land, before you have to deal with taxi ranks or find your hotel. There is no Mexico comparison list on this site yet. Our Top 5 unlimited data eSIMs compares day-pass style plans that work in many countries.

Pelesim, our own eSIM store, sells prepaid data-only plans for Mexico: fixed amounts of data, or daily day passes with a fair-use limit. You install the eSIM before you fly, the plan starts when it first connects in Mexico, hotspot sharing is allowed, and you can get a refund within 30 days of purchase if you have not activated it. Keep your home SIM active in the phone if you need to receive bank codes by text.

Calling home

Messaging apps such as WhatsApp call contacts who use the same app over the internet. To reach a bank, an airline, a hotel, a tour operator’s landline or relatives without a smartphone, you need an app that calls the phone network.

To reach a hotel, a tour company or your bank back home, CallTuv calls regular landlines and mobiles from your browser or phone, pay as you go from $0.03 a minute, with credit that never expires. It makes outgoing calls only and cannot call emergency services. In Mexico, dial 911 for police, fire or an ambulance.

See our guide on how to call home from abroad and our Top 5 international calling apps for more options.

Plugs and voltage

Mexico uses Type A and B plugs, the same shapes as the US and Canada, on a 60 Hz supply. Household voltage is around 120 to 127 V, so a device rated 100-240 V (most phone and laptop chargers) only needs a plug adapter if you are coming from a country with different sockets. Single-voltage 220 to 240 V appliances need a converter.

Health and safety basics

GOV.UK advises drinking only boiled or bottled water and avoiding ice in drinks. Hospitals may not deal directly with your insurer, so be prepared to pay up front and claim the money back, and make sure your travel insurance covers local treatment and medical evacuation. In an emergency, dial 911.

Read your government’s current travel advice for Mexico before you book, as it is updated region by region. If you are combining Mexico with the US, our USA travel guide covers the ESTA and US entry.

Staying longer: remote work, visas and setup

Mexico lets many visitors stay up to 180 days. The catch is that the immigration officer decides how many days you get when you land, and the number is written on your digital tourist card. These rules come from Mexico’s foreign ministry (SRE), its consulates and the immigration institute (INM), as published in October 2026. This is not legal or tax advice.

How long a visitor can stay

The SRE describes the visitor visa as valid “for a period of up to 180 days”. The INM’s officer at the border sets your actual stay and records the departure date on your FMM. Ask for the days you need when you arrive. Mexico’s migration law says visitors cannot change to another status from inside the country, apart from humanitarian and family cases, so you leave when your stay ends.

Temporary residence for remote workers

Mexico has no visa labelled for digital nomads. Consulates place remote workers under temporary residence (residente temporal), which covers stays of more than 180 days and less than 4 years. The SRE says it lets you work in Mexico as long as your salary is paid from abroad.

• Where: you apply at a Mexican consulate outside Mexico, then exchange the visa for a residence card at an INM office within 30 days of arriving. The one-year card costs MXN 11,141 and can be renewed.
• Money: each consulate publishes its own figures, and they change. In 2026 the New York consulate asked remote workers for an employer letter allowing work from abroad plus pay of at least US$4,200 a month over the last 6 months, or savings of at least US$71,500 over the last 12 months. The Houston consulate showed about US$4,342 a month or US$73,189 in savings. Check your own consulate’s current sheet.
• Fee: the consular visa fee is around US$54 to US$56, depending on the consulate.

Temporary residents get a CURP, Mexico’s population registry code, automatically with their residence card.

Tax

Under Mexico’s federal tax code, you become a tax resident if you set up your home in Mexico. If you also have a home elsewhere, you are resident in Mexico when your centre of vital interests is there, for example when more than half of your income comes from Mexican sources or your main professional activity is in Mexico. A long stay with a rented home can raise this question, so get advice if you stay most of the year.

Setting up for a month or more

• Phone lines: under rules approved in December 2025, every Mexican mobile line, prepaid included, must be linked to an identified holder. Foreigners register with a passport or a temporary CURP, and unregistered lines are being switched off in stages until 31 December 2026. If you buy a local SIM, register it when you buy it. How the rules apply to foreign SIMs on roaming has not been settled yet.
• Data: a travel eSIM works from the moment you land. Before a long stay, check whether the registration rules have been extended to roaming lines.
• Health: make sure your insurance covers a long stay and medical evacuation, as covered in the health section above.