Staytill

How long can I stay in Mexico?

Destination · AmericasChecked Updated

Mexico's limit is a ceiling, not an allowance. The number you actually get is written into your passport at the airport, and it is the only one that counts.

Mexico

As a visitor
180days at most

The law lets a visitor without paid work stay up to 180 days in a row, counted from the day of entry.1

Visa
Citizens of the listed countries who visit for no more than 180 days, with no pay in Mexico, need no visa.2
The form
The electronic FMM is valid for a maximum of 180 calendar days and can be used for a single entry.3

The number in your passport

The law sets the most you can be given. The agent at the airport sets what you are given. At entry, the immigration agent stamps your passport and writes your estimated exit date, based on the period granted.4 The stamp in your passport shows the number of days you are allowed to stay.5

Read the stamp before you leave the booth: that is the moment to ask about a date shorter than you planned.

Worked example

Four months planned, fewer granted

  1. You land in Cancún planning four months away, and the agent grants 60 days.4
  2. The date written in your passport, not the 180-day ceiling, is the one you leave by.45
  3. A side trip to Guatemala spends that FMM: it is good for a single entry.3

Questions people ask

When do my days in Mexico start counting?

The FMM's validity is counted from the migration stamp.6

Do British visitors need a visa for Mexico?

British visitors traveling to Mexico as tourists need no visa.7

Can I work while I visit Mexico?

The stay status you obtain is visitor without permission to carry out paid activities.8

Your own count

Your limit is a date someone wrote by hand. Put it next to the days you have already used, and the count is yours to see each morning.

Staytill, the iPhone app that counts your days in Mexico and how many you have left How long can you stay in Mexico? The 180-day FMM

Sources

1 law and 7 official pages, each with its exact words
  1. Migration Law, art. 52(I) · Cámara de Diputados (PDF published by the Instituto Nacional de Migración) · read 26 Oct 2026 · Being rechecked
    Exact words Autoriza al extranjero para transitar o permanecer en territorio nacional por un tiempo ininterrumpido no mayor a ciento ochenta días, contados a partir de la fecha de entrada It authorizes the foreigner to transit or stay in the national territory for an uninterrupted time of no more than one hundred eighty days, counted from the date of entry.
  2. SRE, visitors who need no visa · Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, Consulado General de México en Montreal (Mexico's foreign ministry) · read 26 Oct 2026
    Exact words por una temporalidad no mayor a 180 días, y que no reciban remuneración alguna en territorio nacional, no requieren visa for a period of no more than 180 days, and who receive no pay in national territory, do not need a visa
  3. INM, electronic FMM · Instituto Nacional de Migración (National Migration Institute) · read 26 Oct 2026
    Exact words la FMM tiene una vigencia máxima de 180 días naturales y podrá utilizarla para una sola internación The FMM is valid for a maximum of 180 calendar days and can be used for a single entry.
  4. INM, digital FMM · Instituto Nacional de Migración (gob.mx) · read 26 Oct 2026 · Being rechecked
    Exact words Los Agentes Federales de Migración revisarán y sellarán el pasaporte o documento de identidad y viaje; y colocarán la fecha estimada de salida del país, de acuerdo a la temporalidad otorgada. Federal Migration Agents will check and stamp the passport or identity and travel document, and write the estimated date of leaving the country, according to the period granted.
  5. GOV.UK travel advice, Mexico · Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (GOV.UK) · read 26 Oct 2026
    Exact words You’ll get a stamp in your passport with the number of days you are allowed to stay.
  6. INM, electronic FMM · Instituto Nacional de Migración (National Migration Institute) · read 26 Oct 2026
    Exact words la vigencia de la FMM se contará a partir del estampe del sello migratorio The FMM's validity is counted from the migration stamp.
  7. GOV.UK travel advice, Mexico · Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (GOV.UK) · read 26 Oct 2026
    Exact words If you’re visiting Mexico as a tourist, you do not need a visa.
  8. INM, electronic FMM · Instituto Nacional de Migración (National Migration Institute) · read 26 Oct 2026
    Exact words la condición de estancia que obtendrá al introducir la información será la de visitante sin permiso para realizar actividades remuneradas The stay status obtained is that of visitor without permission to carry out paid activities.
Checked against Ley de Migración on 26 Oct 2026 Updated 26 Oct 2026 Being rechecked

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