How the US immigration views Mexico

[Ojaybee]

Hi there,

I'm currently living in Playa Del Carmen and have applied for my FM3. Everything is going smoothly so far so please let me know if anyone needs any info about FM3s and applications thereof. As for my question, I have a few friends who would like to visit me on their travels and a certain visa question keeps popping up.

If you travel via the states to and from Mexico, the US grants you a 90 day tourist visa. However, Mexico can grant you up to 180 days. Now the states does not view Mexico as a border hop (i.e. you are not classed as having left the states if you only go to Mexico). So if you were to stay in Mexico for over 90 days and then try to travel back to your home country, what would the implications be in terms of overstaying your US visa. Additionally, could any potential problems be overcome by doing a border hop to, say, Belize.

I'd really appreciate any help on this matter. Thanks for your time,

Olly

[synthia]

Wecome to the forum! Is your friend entering the US with a visa, or under the 'visa free' program. If it is the 'visa free' program, I think Mexico counts as leaving the country, and it affects whether you can get back in again. I think this solely because someone told me he had a problem doing that. It's something your friend should check out, anyway.

You should also verify whether a 90-day visa keeps running when you are outside the country. In general, multiple entry visas are valid 90 days from the day you activate the visa, so leaving the country doesn't extend the visa, even if it is counted as a border hop. So if a visa is originally set to expire on the 5th of February, that's when it expires, even if you left and spent a month in another country. So that's another thing you need to verify.

Have you looked at the US State Department site, U.S. Department of State - Home Page

[duckdavewave]

Yep, your' friends should definitely check up on this before they come over.
I had a bad experience a couple of years ago (a bit different to your' question).
I was returning to Mexico from the UK on the return leg of a flight i bought in Mexico. I checked in and on presenting my ticket at the gate was asked where my return ticket was. "This is it". Because i was flying via the US and you no longer can simply be in transit there, i had to show i was coming back to the UK. I could not 'prove' i was living in Mexico either, because i had not yet ontained my FM3.
To cut a long story short (and alot of shouting and pleading), the airline wouldn't let me fly (Continental).
I suppose i'm trying to illustrate that it's a pain transiting via the US and best avoided as far as i can see. Your' mates should just fly direct to Mexico City.
Suerte
Dave

[synthia]

All these new rules are the reason that the US is the only country in the world with a declining number of internatinal tourists. I´ve read that business travelers hate it so much that companies will fly several people from the US to their offices rather than send one person to the US for a meeting. So international business travel is on the decline, too.