Travellers planning to transit through Mexico’s airports will now face additional requirements after the country’s government introduced visitor visas.
In a statement, the Mexican embassy in Havana said the measure will affect all international travellers transiting through Mexican airports, reports VisaGuide.World.
However, there will be some exceptions to this decision. The embassy in Havana has stressed that permanent residents of visa-free countries such as Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Schengen zone and members of the Pacific Alliance, as well as those from Japan, will not need a visitor’s visa.
According to the statement, nationals who require a visa and plan to travel through Mexico’s airports “must have a visitor’s visa without permission to carry out paid activities (tourism), regardless of the duration of their airport transit”.
The new changes will take effect from 22 October this year. The embassy noted that the latest requirements must be met in order to board a flight from that date.
The decision is expected to affect a large number of Cubans who use a connecting flight to reach Nicaragua with a stopover in the Mexican city of Mérida.
According to a report in the Cleveland American, the Mexican authorities have suspended flight permits for those who have entered the country illegally in order to immigrate to the United States.
A large number of Cubans live illegally in Mexico. Recently, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that about 10,000 migrants a day were trying to reach the US, blaming the US economic sanctions against countries like Cuba for the influx, according to an AP report.
The president also stressed that the number of migrants attempting to reach the US through Mexico’s northern border was partly due to the nearly 6,000 migrants a day who crossed into Mexico from Guatemala last week.
Foreigners who require a visa to enter Mexico must obtain a Mexican tourist visa. Such a visa is required for tourism, visitation, business, cultural/sports events, or other similar purposes that do not require a person to engage in paid employment.
The Mexican Tourist Card, which is required before entering Mexico, indicates the number of days that foreigners can legally stay in the country, and they are required to leave before these days expire.
