US Mexico Relations: New Requirements for Americans Entering Mexico as a Tourist

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V I D E O S    T O    W A T C H    N E X T :


Online Business Tips to Working and Traveling In Mexico: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zGH0voCyOc&list=PLh3xKhkMgH_IA6s3KvB_g9Cc9Ze1eji8j&index=2

Moving to Mexico: 10 Reasons Why We Chose to Live in Guadalajara https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK23vD8_xjc&list=PLh3xKhkMgH_LAY7UV78YMgms-f2e1UcwN&index=23

Tips for Moving Overseas: Top 5 Remote Work Skills That Make Money: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFzjCrlNAL8&list=PLh3xKhkMgH_IA6s3KvB_g9Cc9Ze1eji8j


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Transcript

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There have been a lot of rumors circulating the past few weeks, especially in light of Trump's tariffs on Mexico, as well as his stricter immigration policies that Americans are now facing additional scrutiny and additional requirements to enter Mexico even as a tourist. Today, we're going to separate fact from fiction and tell you everything that you need to know. Welcome to Entrepreneur Expat. This is Justin. I'm Amanda, and on this channel we talk about being American expats, living in other countries, digital nomadism, and making money from anywhere in the world. We currently spend most of our time in Mexico, so if that's something that you're interested in, make sure to subscribe and hit the notification bell so you don't miss a single video. We have coming out on this channel and like this video because it helps us out a lot with the algorithm in our mission of reaching a million expats and aspiring expats as well. In addition to that, many of you have been asking for advice on how to create location independent businesses.'cause the reality is with things getting stricter all around the world and not just Mexico, and we'll talk a little bit about that today. It's getting harder to get visas with a job, and for most people it's much easier if they run their own online business and then they can go anywhere in the world. We each have been running our own online businesses for 15 years, and we've opened up some spots on the calendar to help you figure out your own online business, so you can go anywhere in the world if you're interested in that. The information on how to get in our calendar is below it's entrepreneur expat.com/apply. So for those of you that have been following the channel for a long time, you know that we have been away for a little while. We've been quite busy the last few months. Uh, we took some time off actually back in December. We took almost an entire month off of our business completely. We had a little break with our, with our clients. They did an amazing job of kind of coaching themselves and figuring everything out and. Using the materials that we provided while we were gone. So it was fun to be able to take time off and also, uh, to have our business not only keep running, but actually we made more money in December and January than the past two months, uh, combined. So that was really cool without us even really being there at all. We did like two or three calls during that entire period of time. Uh, then we, we were in, in Miami visiting family of Amanda's. We were, uh, we celebrated Christmas. We also. Uh, got married. That was fun. Yeah. Married life now. And uh, then we went on our honeymoon cruise, which was on the biggest ship in the world, the biggest cruise ship, the icon of the seas. And there's gonna be a video actually about that coming. Out very soon as well. Uh, so that's what we've been up to. That's where we've been. We've been posting a few updates on our channel. Um, but we're back now and we're going to be getting more amazing content to you guys about Mexico, about traveling the world and about becoming an entrepreneur expat. In these coming weeks, so stay tuned for all of that. We also have been busy behind the scenes filming interviews with expats all over the world. So we've interviewed people in Europe, in Asia, in other parts of Latin America to bring you more information about what it's like to live in different countries. Because even though we're in Mexico right now, and a lot of you are interested in Mexico, there's also lots of you interested in other countries and. Quite frankly, we are too. So we're gonna be bringing these interviews to you throughout the next few weeks. So once again, make sure to subscribe and hit that notification bell so you don't miss a single one. So let's start talking about these crazy rumors that are flying around all over social media.'cause I think part of the reason why we also took a little bit of a break is because obviously Donald Trump is now president in the United States. The new cycle has been insane, and the new cycle between, uh, Mexico and the United States, the social media rumor mill has been working. Over time, and a lot of people are very confused. So we've seen rumors like, uh, the United States is closing embassies in Mexico, which is not true, is not true. In fact, they just opened a new one in Mexico City. Uh, we've been seeing rumors like, uh, Mex, uh, I think part of the confusion was a lot of news stations in the United States and a lot of social media posts. Have been saying that now Americans need visas in order to enter Mexico. So that's one of the rumors. That's probably the one that you guys have seen on the news. We just saw one, a new segment from Arizona this morning. Mm-hmm. Uh, telling people in Arizona that they now need to fill out this extra. Paperwork to get a visa to enter Mexico. Uh, other rumors have been that the lines at customs and immigration have been very long, up to three and a half hours, up to three and a to get into Mexico, to get into Mexico. Other situations have been that Americans sometimes by certain airlines are starting to get asked. Uh, for their exit ticket out of Mexico or to show proof of residency. So it's kind of what we've been telling you guys for a long time. This stuff is getting harder and it's getting harder all over the world. Mexico is not the only one, uh, getting stricter. We're starting to see it get more strict in other countries as well. And the question is whether or not Donald Trump has something to do with this. And the answer is probably like yes and no. Uh, yes because. Do you have some people at Consulates that maybe don't like Donald Trump and then because there's no kind of uniform process at the Mexican consulates that they're asking for a bunch of extra stuff that wasn't there before and they're kind of doing whatever they want. Yeah, sure. That's definitely possible. But uh, Mexico was kind of moving in this direction anyway. Anyway. Yeah. Regardless of whether Trump was there or not. And a lot of countries were moving in this direction and Mexico's not really doing anything. New. It's just that they're starting to enforce things that have been on the books for a long time and that other countries already due to Americans. No problem. So let's talk about what's actually going on, because obviously Trump may or may not have something to do with with certain things. But here's the reality. Like Amanda said, Mexico has been going in the direction of cracking down on people coming here and staying on tourist visas. Of becoming more serious about taking their immigration policies at face value and enforcing them and, and all sorts of things like that. So the biggest thing that we're seeing is perhaps. That the policies that are already in place are being expedited. So things are happening much more according to the book than they were before. So as an example in terms of the quote visa requirement, uh, that the Arizona news was talking about coming into the border, I believe they were referring to, to Puerto Penasco that a lot of Arizonans go to, uh, for like spring break and things like that. They were saying that there were lines of about three and a half hours, which by the way, if you've ever entered Mexico, uh, through like the San Ysidro crossing near Tijuana, San Diego area, you know that if you're coming down to Mexico any weekday, uh. Afternoon or or night, you could be easily waiting one to two to three hours in line. And that's been happening for a while. And that's not even with, uh, with them checking everybody that's coming in through the border. That was just the normal line. So I would imagine that San Diego crossing is probably getting even a little bit, uh, slower. But what Arizona's not used to at all is that they're actually starting to check each vehicle and each passenger, and making sure that people have what's called an FMM. Now, we're not attorneys. We don't play attorneys on tv. We probably weren't even here. So this is not legal or immigration advice of any sort. Um. But the FMM is not technically a visa at all. It's a tourist card now. Most of them are being issued digitally and you can print them out and that's what they're re requiring you to show them at the border where you basically pre-register your visit. A visa on the other hand is when you actually go to a consulate, you submit your information, they take your passport, they put that visa in your passport, but Americans do not need any new visas that they didn't need before to get into Mexico. There is still a visa waiver for Mexico, which means if you're a US citizen, you have a US passport, you're coming to Mexico, you do not need to apply for a visa. Very important. Now, the difference is they've always required a tourist card. But now they're enforcing it. So typically when you fly to Mexico, the cost of your airline ticket includes that tourist card, which is usually about 30 to$40 US and you will get a, a form that you fill out. Or recently they've been doing it more and more digitally, but that's included in the cost of your admission. Now, a lot of the time, by land, um, or by car, when people were going there, a lot of Americans were just crossing the border, staying for a few days, coming back. You still technically needed a tourist card, but there was a visa that would let you stay up to about seven days. For free. If you wanted to stay more than seven days and usually up to 180, you would have to pay about that$40 fee, uh, in order to enter Mexico. But you still needed that tourist card even for short stays. But they didn't enforce it as much. Now, technically, I. If you were caught in Mexico and the immigration, uh, officers decided to, to, let's say, pull you over or check your documents, and you were in Mexico. Even if you were only in Mexico for a few days and you were still within that quote, visa free exemption, you could still get into a lot of trouble and even get deported. It's just that they weren't really enforcing it and they weren't really checking it at entry. And especially in areas like Baja California, Norte, where there's a lot of San Agans crossing every single day, um, to, to live there or, uh, maybe coming for the weekend or whatever. They just weren't really enforcing it. And they just had this like, don't ask, don't tell policy. Uh, where they were pretty much tolerant of, of the Americans coming in, not even getting that, that seven day tourist card. And, uh, then going back across the border now. In recent years, there have been a lot more Americans coming here to Mexico and staying. In many cases, illegally, they were coming to Mexico and usually they would just let their tourist card run out and still stay. Or they would be a serial tourist and they would go back every six months, come back in, they would get 180 days again, uh, when they flew back or when they drove back. And they, they got that, that new tourist card. Now, they're also cracking down on that a lot. So if you do want to come and live in Mexico, you absolutely need to get a proper. Visa, and Amanda will talk about the details of that in a second, but what's really going on? The only difference is that they're being more strict in the enforcement of laws that were already on the books, just like Trump is being. And, and you could say that it's, it's retaliation. Maybe it is. What we're noticing at the consulates from a lot of our clients is, is this more, uh, kind of indiscriminate denial of visas for just really random, arbitrary reasons. Like a lot of these consulates now, uh. Maybe don't accept business bank statements that they used to before to prove income, you need to actually have personal income above a certain amount. Uh, there's some that are now requiring no matter what consulate you're going to, they're saying, well, you need not only the minimum, but you also have to have to have a notarized. Letter from your bank, uh, on their letterheads saying that these are your accounts or at least a properly like authorized letter, instead of just printing out a statement, it's gotta be an authorized bank statement directly from the bank signed by somebody at that bank. So it's getting a little bit trickier. What are some of the other things you've heard of people denying? Uh, the consulate's denying people visas for Yeah. So, um, there have been a lot of stories coming out in the expat Facebook groups for Mexico, and again, it's just kind of random and indiscriminate. And that's because they're, from my understanding, you can correct me if I wrong, there's like no uniform system. Yeah. They all, all the consulates make their own decisions when it comes to who they approve and who they deny for the visas. So because there's no uniform system and they're kind of indiscriminately. Making up the rules. Sometimes then people are starting to get asked for things that they were not being asked for before. So for example, I saw a post in a Facebook group the other day. They had gone to the consulate in Boston. Uh, they were applying for a temporary residency visa, which is the one that we have, and we'll talk about the different visas momentarily and the requirements. And basically they had everything. They had the letters from the bank. They had a letter from their employer saying they're allowed to work from Mexico. They met the financial requirements. Mm-hmm. And then they were asked for an exit ticket out of Mexico, which to me is weird because if you're getting a temporary residency, that means you can live in Mexico. Maybe what they were getting asked for is the exit stamps from past times that they visited to prove that they never stayed illegally. Like that could be it, maybe, but that's not what they posted in the Facebook group. Totally possible. And then maybe they got, maybe there, there was a mis miscommunication. Miscommunication. Or a misunderstanding or, or maybe you're right. Like maybe that is what happened to them and. They were like, oh, well, when's your ticket out? But that, to me, that also doesn't make a ton of sense. But they're just sort of doing whatever they want. Yeah. And then when they brought that up and they were like, Hey, this wasn't in the instructions, in the email, they're like, well, we can ask for whatever we want. Like that's what they were told. So in that aspect of it, maybe there's a little bit of retaliation, but the consulates have always also kind of done whatever they want, depending on the day, I think. I think, I mean, if we're looking at just, at least the anecdotal evidence, it is saying that they're. The, the, in the last year for sure. Uh, and definitely the last few months they have gotten more strict. I, I think they're just, I, I think it's partly posturing. I think it's partly, um, you know, just getting, leaning more into, following the, the laws that they already had on the books. And to be honest, this is where it gets a little trickier, especially if you don't already have your own business. And if you don't have options, is like they. They can deny you for any reason. Like you really have to have options. And most countries are not allowing people like Mexico, for example, uh, to work just remotely if they don't already have actual approval, uh, to work remotely in that country. Uh, so you've gotta have your own business and you've gotta have options. And Mexico is getting harder and harder to immigrate to. So, which is what we've been warning about for a long time. Mm-hmm. And we said, doesn't matter who comes out as president, they're really moving in this direction. Uh, and'cause we saw it happening from inside. So let's talk about the visas that are available, uh, and what the requirements are, just keeping in mind that they're subject to change and the consulates. Can ask you for whatever they want. At their own discretion. At their own discretion. So number one is the temporary Visa. That's the one that we have if you are not retired. Temporary residence. Temporary residence Visa. Thank you. The temporary residence visa. That's the one. That we have. And basically you get that temporary residency for a year, then you renew it for another three. It's based on income. Now, if you are not retirement age, this is the one that you are going to qualify for. And we've been seeing varying numbers, depending on the consulate, but we've seen as high as consulates asking for$4,100 a month. Yeah, in monthly income that you must prove to them. Some consulates are asking for six months consecutively. Others are asking for 12 plan for 12 months consecutively. We've seen others that are still around the 3,800 range, but it seems, it seems that most of them are moving toward that 4,100 range. Again, depends on the consulate and to clarify that's that's every month at a minimum consistently for either six or 12 months. It's not an average. So if let's say you've got five months where you had$6,000 and one month where you had$3,000, you're going to get denied in almost all instances. Will they? Will they maybe overlook that? Sometimes? Maybe. But I would not count on that. So you better make sure your ducks are in a row and you got that six month consistent minimum of income coming into that personal bank account that you can show them on that bank approved. Letterhead signed by your bank. If you're gonna do it based on savings, then plan for about$75,000 in the bank. From what we have seen, most people do it according to the income, not necessarily the savings when they're doing the temporary residency visa. The next one is the permanent residency visa, and that's if you're already retired, that's the one that they typically have you opt for if you are retired. Uh, that one I have seen as high as 7,500 a month in pension. In pension. Yeah. Is what they are asking for, which is kind of expensive for Mexico. You definitely don't need 7,500. How much do you have to be making a year for your, over your life on average to get a$7,500 a month pension? Yeah. I don't know. That's a lot. That's a lot. That's, that's, that's a hefty one right there. And I think the number in savings was almost close to 300,000. Mm-hmm. That's the permanent, uh, is what they call it. Visa. Uh, and again, totally depends on the consulate'cause we've seen lower numbers in some other consulates. We've seen other people reporting like$7,500 uh, a month, which like I said, is kind of expensive for Mexico'cause that's like way above what you need to live here. But they're trying to attract people who are not going to be with money. That's what they're trying to do. Uh, and it is what it is. And most countries. That's what they do. Yeah. Uh, which is why we keep saying, learn how to make your own money. Yeah. It's getting harder and harder to leave the, the us I mean, we've said it before, but it's like, like boiling a frog. Things are getting more and more difficult. Whether you agree with Trump, disagree with Trump. We're not really political, uh, on this channel, but you're gonna like or hate the next person and they're gonna make your life better or worse. And. It's gonna be this constant rollercoaster, and you don't even have to move to Mexico necessarily. You can get a residency here, you can get a residency in other countries, but it always helps to have options because you never know when, I hate to say it, but when, when an empire might fall, whether that's the us, whether that's somewhere in Europe that you're from, whether that's Canada, uh, things, you know, might get more totalitarian, uh, they're gonna lock things down more. There's gonna be another pandemic. Who knows, right? But you always want the option. You never want to be stuck. Where you are. And then there's another visa that many of you have asked about, which is the regularization program, which I know you are more familiar about that one. Mm-hmm. We've had reports from people who've tried where it's like a 50 50 shot, whether or not they are going to give you that one, however, it does still exist going into 2025. I know you are more familiar with that. The regularization program is basically when you can show that you've been to Mexico in previous years. Sometimes it's like at least a year. In the past um, but typically, let's say that it's 2025, they're looking to see that you've been to Mexico at least once or twice in the last couple years before this current year is typically how it works. And it does vary a little bit as well from city to city. And you're currently on an expired tourist visa. Now, here's the challenge with that, and here's why I did not want us to have to do that, and why we went to the consulate and did the whole process of income verification and everything else instead. So if you did want to do that regularization program, the cost for that would be about$1,200 if you did it yourself. And you're probably looking at paying anywhere from about. Three to$500 in fees for an attorney as well, depending on what city you're in and who you go with and all that. So you're looking at around$2,000 upfront, all in. But that's not really the reason that we didn't do it because we, we could have done that. It would've actually cost less than our travels to the consulate and hotels there. And, uh, the amount of money we've already paid and attorney's fees and everything to get the card and then go back and renew it and do all that. But here's the real kicker. Um, number one, there's no guarantee that you'll get it. So that brings us to, to a more important point, which is in order to get that, you have to now be in Mexico illegally. So if you, if you can't qualify on income, and you're okay with the possibility of having temporarily, uh, gone into illegal status in another country. Uh, then you can go and apply for the Regularization program. We do have some contacts if you reach out to us, at least in Guadalajara, and apply at El Carmen and some other places of people that do process those kinds of visas. But be aware that you will be in the country illegally in order for you to be able to get that. And we've heard from people that depending on the city you're in, it is a little bit of a crap shoot. Sometimes they give it to you, sometimes they don't. You really want to try to avoid problems with immigration whenever you can. Uh, and there's a chance that, you know, you might end up spending money on flights and a short visa and then having to pay a find to leave the country anyway and not even get it. So if you, if you can at all, if you've already got a remote business or if you're looking to start one. Uh, then definitely do that and you can, you can actually go to entrepreneur expat.com/apply. We'll teach you all of the basics. If you're looking to turn what, what you have as a career now into a business that you can run location independent from anywhere, we'll help you do that. And then you can use that income very, very quickly over the period, uh, of the next six to 12 months and get visa the. Right way and, uh, not have any problems down the line. There's also a couple of other visas. One of those visas is if you invest in real estate in Mexico. Um, the last time I did the conversion, the property value had to be almost$500,000. Uh, in order for you to like safely. Get that visa. And then the other one is if you invest in a business here in Mexico, and I believe that number was around$300,000, you would have to invest in order to get a residency that way. So Mexico has a lot of options for residencies. Those are actual visas. It seems that what they're asking for is. Not really a visa, because Americans get a Visa stamp as soon as they get there. They get a, it's a tourist card. Yeah, so it's not really a visa, it's a Visa waiver. It's just like an entry card to document your arrival. That they used to be, like I said, a lot more lax on actually requiring, but now they just really want to keep tabs on everybody in the country to make sure that they're not overstaying because a lot of people have been doing that, not just Americans, but also Canadians and people from. Other countries, and again, could Trump maybe have something to do with it? Sure. I'm sure there's some negotiations that have gone down where they're like, Hey, can you, can you like also tighten up your immigration? But we've been here a while already and we saw that Mexico was starting to tighten up their immigration before Trump was even reelected. So who knows? That is all speculation. All right, well that's what we got for you today in terms of these new entry requirements or really just enforcement of the existing entry requirements. We hope this was really valuable and helpful for you. Make sure you like this video. If you enjoyed it, subscribe. Um, and click that notification bell so that you don't miss the upcoming content. And check out the Moving to Mexico guide below this video as well. If you're interested in the steps you need to take to move to Mexico legally and have all of your documentation and order. And if you're interested in moving forward with working with us. To create your own location independent business so that you can move to Mexico or anywhere else in the world. Just go to entrepreneur expat.com/apply. Link below in the description as well, and we'll see you next time.