# AI tells a traveler Mexico entry is just a passport with nothing to fill and a guaranteed 180 days

- **ID:** `visa/tourist-card-fmm-conditions`
- **Domain:** visa
- **Category:** administrative_barrier
- **Verification:** ai_generated
- **Fix Rate:** 82%

## Root Cause

Many nationalities enter Mexico visa-free for tourism, but officers now often grant fewer than the old 180 days at their discretion. Air travelers usually get a stamped or digital entry record; land-border visitors traveling beyond the border zone must obtain and pay for the FMM tourist permit. Keep your entry record until departure.

## Version Compatibility

| Version | Status | Introduced | Deprecated |
|---------|--------|------------|------------|
| any | active | — | — |

## Workarounds

1. **Check the exact days written on your entry stamp, and at land borders obtain and pay the FMM at the INM office.** (88% success)
   ```
   Read your stamp's permitted-days figure; get the FMM at land crossings if going past the border zone.
   ```
2. **Keep your entry record safe until you leave the country.** (85% success)
   ```
   Store the stamped card/record with your passport for departure.
   ```

## Dead Ends

- **Assume you automatically get 180 days and need no tourist permit at land borders** — Officers increasingly grant fewer than 180 days at discretion, and at land borders you must obtain and pay for the FMM if traveling beyond the immediate border zone. (55% fail)
- **Lose or discard your entry stamp or FMM** — You must present the entry record on departure; losing it leads to fees and delays at the airport. (50% fail)