U.S. tourists have needed a passport to return from Mexico since June, but now they'll need one to get into Mexico as well.
Under new rules taking effect today, every U.S. or Canadian citizen traveling into the interior of Mexico will need to present a valid passport or passport card, said Julian Etienne, a spokesman for the Mexican Consulate in Tucson.
Visitors traveling into Mexico through Nogales must present their passports at the Kilometer 21 checkpoint.
Tourists who stay in Nogales won't be affected by the new rules, and those traveling into Mexico's interior shouldn't experience increased waiting times, he said.
"It is going to have minimal repercussions to the tourist and business flows," Etienne said. "Ninety-nine percent of Canadians and almost 100 percent of Americans who travel to Mexico already have a passport."
U.S. residents who aren't citizens can enter with other documents, including a green card or a refugee travel permit.
For more information, pamphlets outlining the new rules are available at travel agencies or at inm.gob.mx/EN/index.php
Devlin Houser is a University of Arizona journalism student who is apprenticing at the Star. Contact him at 573-4198 or at [email protected]
Mexico starts requiring passports for travel
Under new rules taking effect today, every U.S. or Canadian citizen traveling into the interior of Mexico will need to present a valid passport or passport card, said Julian Etienne, a spokesman for the Mexican Consulate in Tucson.
Visitors traveling into Mexico through Nogales must present their passports at the Kilometer 21 checkpoint.
Tourists who stay in Nogales won't be affected by the new rules, and those traveling into Mexico's interior shouldn't experience increased waiting times, he said.
"It is going to have minimal repercussions to the tourist and business flows," Etienne said. "Ninety-nine percent of Canadians and almost 100 percent of Americans who travel to Mexico already have a passport."
U.S. residents who aren't citizens can enter with other documents, including a green card or a refugee travel permit.
For more information, pamphlets outlining the new rules are available at travel agencies or at inm.gob.mx/EN/index.php
Devlin Houser is a University of Arizona journalism student who is apprenticing at the Star. Contact him at 573-4198 or at [email protected]
Mexico starts requiring passports for travel
