FMM Requirements

Flying in on Alaska Airlines.
The last few times there were no FMM cards needed.
What is the current situation?
When I fly out of Tijuana on Volaris they require an FMM card filled out.

We flew in on Alaska 3 weeks ago. They handed-out the forms to be filled-in, no problems. Remember to tell Migracion how long you intend to stay, although I believe they're giving everyone 180 days.

When we flew out of Tijuana they made us pay for every day past 6 days.

My observations indicate that FMM requirements vary between airlines and airports. Where Alaska Airlines landing in Mexico may not require the FMM conversion form some days there is a definite need for it when arriving with Volaris from Tijuana Airports. Overall checking in advance remains essential since time fluctuations are possible.

¡¡¡¡¡¡¡WHAT!!!!!!!

--
Tim Sullivan

When we flew out of Tijuana they made us pay for every day past 6 days.

I've never heard of anything like this before, and it sounds like you were scammed.

When we flew out of Tijuana they made us pay for every day past 6 days.

I've never heard of anything like this before, and it sounds like you were scammed.

There might be some confusion regarding the free 7-day visitation visa that is available at the border crossings in Tijuana. At the two border crossings, you can get a free 7-day visitation visa. It was not available at the Tijuana airport as of last year. Various websites claim that it is only available when crossing by land. When non-citizens walk across either of the two border crossings in Tijuana, they will be issued the free 7-day visitation visa. (If you are a Mexican citizen or have a permanent or temporary visa, you just keep walking. These are the majority of pedestrians each day.) If you drive across, no one will ask for nor offer this document. They may randomly stop your vehicle to check for items to be declared (or weapons being smuggled) but they won't ask for or offer a visa. Remember this is the busiest border crossing in the Western Hemisphere. Tens of thousands of people cross every day. Gotta' love Mexico. Obviously the pedestrian agents and the vehicle agents don't talk much to each other.

The immigration officers at the airport most likely asked if they were staying 7 days or less and then tried to explain that if they had crossed at the border crossings, they could have gotten the free visa. Otherwise, you are required to buy the 6-month tourist visa. By the way, the Tijuana security officers no longer ask to see your visa when going through security into the airport, just your boarding pass. They also no longer ask to see your visa when leaving the airport upon your return, just your passport. One could conceivably forego buying the tourist visa when visiting Mexico but I certainly wouldn't recommend it. Heaven forbid anyone in the area you were visiting asks to see your visa. That might be an experience that you could tell your grandchildren but Your Humble Fellow Zihua Lover doesn't want to be one of those who live to tell the tale.

Many UnitedStaters use our Cross Border Express (CBX). It is very convenient but costly. You enter from the U.S., then walk across a bridge and are dropped off in the Tijuana airport. I don't use it myself but I am fairly sure that you are required to buy the 6-month tourist visa when using the CBX. If you are staying less than 7 days, it would be worthwhile to ask the Mexican agents issuing the 6-month tourist visas if they offer the free 7-day visas since you are crossing by land.

We used CBX and flew out.on Volaris and back on Volaris.
Out stay was 10 days and we used the agent at CBX for our FMM form.
There was a fee we had to pay for over 7 days and it was expensive.

We are now leaving on Saturday for Zihuatanejo for 43 days and leaving from TJ through CBX.
We will have to have a FMM form filled out to get through security./customs.
Although this time we return back to San Francisco on Alaska.
In the past few years, when arriving into Zihuatanejo there were no FMM form requirement.
They stamped your passport with arrival date and put the departure date at 180 days after.

Since that is not goin to happen, I assume I will have to show the agent at Alaska counter my FMM card I received in Tijuana.

Rather than using CBX at airport to do this, I am going to try and fill out FMM form online and see if there is a charge that I have to pay doing it that way.

When flying internationally, say the US to Mexico, the cost of the FMM is included in the airplane ticket cost. Residents can file with the airline for a refund of this fee.

I am not sure if that is true on a Volaris ticket.
With US airlines it is.

There isn’t a need for the FMM when fling into Zihuatanejo from Tijuana as you have already cleared customs in Tijuana.
But there probably will be a need for it when flying out of Zihuatanejo on Alaska.
I will not have a stamp in my passport, that you typically get on arrival in Zihuatanejo from USA.

You are flying within Mexico so you won't have an FMM attached to your ticket, you bought it when you crossed the bridge. You'll need it when you exit with Alaska.

You are flying within Mexico so you won't have an FMM attached to your ticket, you bought it when you crossed the bridge. You'll need it when you exit with Alaska.

We entered Mexico on 9 January, via Alaska. We were given no FMM card as in previous years.....just a stamp in our passports showing 180 days each. So there's nothing to surrender when we leave, except to show our passports.