Mexico’s New Visa Policies Promote Tourism and Investment
To the end of increasing the number of tourists and businesspeople, the Mexican Government has carried out different simplification actions to facilitate the granting of visas and reduce process time, thus strengthening competitiveness of the country as compared to other tourist destinations and investment markets.
Tourists and businesspeople while in the country, generate revenues that trigger investments, job opportunities and regional development. This is why a workgroup was created, headed by the Secretary of State, with the participation of the Ministries of Tourism, Foreign Affairs and Economy-ProMexico, with the mandate to identify actions to simplify and facilitate for people interested in traveling to Mexico, in particular those coming from emerging economies such as Brasil, Russia, India and China, which have shown especial growth in recent years.
Therefore, the Government of the Republic implements the following measures of general application.
First. It has been posted on the internet portal of each agency presenting this new policy towards the exterior, the list of countries whose nationals require a visa to visit Mexico.
The list is available in the web pages of the National Migration Institute and the Foreign Relations Ministry, as well as those of the Secretary of State, Tourism, Economy, and ProMexico.
Second. The Government of Mexico, watchful of the needs of tourists and businesspeople who travel often to the country, established in February 2009, the long duration consular visa, which is granted for ten years and allows multiple entries into the country.
This visa expedites the procedures for travelers who seek to enter the country on repeated occasions for business or tourist purposes.
Also, since July 2008, regulations are in effect to allow the visa procedure to be made through accredited travel agencies, and they are undergoing revision to extend its application to a larger number of countries.
Third. To the end of providing free movement of international travelers regardless of their nationality, Mexico softens criteria as to entry and visa issuing for permanent and temporary residents of United States, Canada, Japan, European Union, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.
Fourth. In relation to the aforementioned cases, Mexico pledges to respond to visa applications within 48 hours.
Fifth. Business travelers from APEC member countries traveling to Mexico are given the possibility of obtaining the ABTC Business Travel Card (named after the English acronym for APEC Business Travel Card) with which they can gain preferred access to national airports when entering the country.
ProMexico, through its offices abroad, will promote starting August, the use of the ABTC card among the business community.
To date, the procedure can be started on line, from the APEC portal (www.businessmobility.org/key/Mexico.htm) and the portal of the National Migration Institute.
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