Mexico: Documents Needed for Entry

Updates on the H1N1 virus outbreak:

• Mexico City has reopened businesses and is getting back to a normal workflow, though Mexicans are still extra-cautious.
• No new deaths have been reported due to H1N1, but the CDC does expect more confirmed cases.
• CDC is not advising against travel throughout the US, though all non-essential travel to Mexico is still discouraged.

And we would like to take this opportunity to clear up a common misconception:

YOU CANNOT GET H1N1 (SWINE FLU) VIRUS FROM CONSUMING PROPERLY COOKED PORK PRODUCTS. more

Documents needed for entry to Mexico

The legal documents required for entry to Mexico are dependent upon the way in which you enter the country.

• To visit Mexico by land or sea until June 1, 2009, you can use a passport or you can use proof of US citizenship, like an embossed birth certificate, with a government issued photo id. Regardless of id choice, you also need a tourist card. (You don't need a passport, but you can -- and probably should -- use a passport instead of the combo of a birth certificate with id.) To return from Mexico by air, you need a passport and Mexico tourist card.

• NOTE: Although Mexico only requires a picture ID and a birth certificate to enter, the United States now requires that you have a valid U.S. passport to travel between the U.S. and Mexico in either direction. You cannot leave or return to the United States without a passport. more