Sao Paulo
Mexico will require visas from foreigners entering the country from the 22nd, the Mexican Embassy in Brazil announced last Friday (29th). The announcement came after a communications failure in late September prevented several tourists from returning to Brazil from Japan via the Latin American country.
Until then, anyone flying in Mexico with connections of up to 24 hours is exempt from presenting an entry permit.
As of the 22nd, only those who have permanent residence or a valid visa in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, the countries of the Schengen area (which includes most of the European Union) and Japan are free from this requirement. However, the Asian country stopped requiring visas from Brazilians last Saturday (30).
On this day, an agreement signed between Brazil and Japan in August came into force, mutually exempting travelers from both countries from visa requirements. The regulation, which initially applies for three years, applies to people on tourist trips lasting up to 90 days.
Brazil and Mexico tried a similar approach in May. That month, Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira claimed to have spoken with his then Mexican counterpart Marcelo Ebrard and announced, without specifying a date, that Mexico would again exempt Brazilians from visa requirements based on the principle of reciprocity, as Mexicans were not required to enter Brazil require approval.
The idea was to continue the policy in place until the end of 2021, when Mexico again required visas from Brazilian travelers, interrupting a derogation agreed between the two countries that had been in place since 2013.
However, the hurdles for Brazilians entering Mexico seem to be getting bigger and bigger. For example, in May last year there was a blockage of the electronic visa system for entry into the country, which led to several Brazilians missing their trip and even organizing protests outside the doors of consulates.
The situation worsened about two weeks ago when Brazilians staying in Japan were denied return travel via Mexico on the grounds that the Latin American country no longer accepted entry without a visa even if they presented a Japanese permit as required would have done this too. The outward journey took place via the same route.
When questioned last week, Mexico’s foreign ministry attributed the disruption to an update to a platform used by airlines to verify documents and suspended the change until Oct. 22, when entry without a visa will no longer be possible for connection.
However, in the time leading up to the clarifications, the damage had already been done: several tourists reportedly had to buy surprise tickets for the return journey via other routes the Sheet He spoke to two of them who said they paid at least R$10,000 to return. Others managed to return via Mexico days later but their commitments in Brazil were affected, such as English teacher Isabela Dias, 43.
A resident of Volta Redonda (RJ), she traveled to Japan on September 2nd and was scheduled to return on the 23rd of the same month, a day after the first Brazilians were stopped by Aeroméxico, the airline responsible for the flights. According to them, the airline justified their visa on the basis of single entry the Japanese embassy in Brazil offered single, double or multiple entry visas.
The teacher was only able to return last Tuesday (26) when the measure was suspended. However, according to his report, the Brazilians continue to face difficulties on the trip.
Dias says he stayed in the transit room theoretically reserved for those who don’t have a visa and are transferring for four hours and only managed to go to the toilet after yelling at one of the room’s staff. In addition, his passport was retained by Aeroméxico throughout the trip, which was heard from at least four other tourists, according to the report.
Neither the company nor the State Department responded to whether the seizure of the document was an order from the Mexican government. “We are working to ensure that it will soon be possible to apply for an electronic visa to facilitate the flow of Brazilian tourists through Mexico,” the ministry said.
The background to the confusion is the pressure from the American government on the Latin American country. The United States is experiencing an unprecedented flow of irregular migration at its southern border. Authorities have detained more than two million people at the border in 12 months, according to data released in September.
Tensions remain in Central American countries since January, the number of people who have crossed Darién, a jungle on the border between Colombia and Panama, has exceeded 402,000, according to the Panamanian Ministry of Public Security.
The changes are worrying those traveling in the coming months, such as trade representative Luiz Silveira, 42, who began logging daily to the Mexican Foreign Ministry website to check for any changes.
With a trip to Japan planned for December with a stopover in Mexico, after the turmoil of the last few weeks, he tried to arrange an interview to get the visa for himself and his family, but was unable to do so and paid a consultant to take care of it the papers, which would have cost him around R$800 in total.
“When I bought the tickets at the beginning of the year, I was calm because I didn’t need a visa to continue my journey,” he says. “I saw reports that people were being humiliated there, I was shocked.”
Through the website of the Mexican Foreign Relations Secretariat, the reporter could only access the calendar to schedule the visa pickup at the consulate in Rio de Janeiro, whose appointments began on October 17, and could not find the transit visa option. only for visitors with or without permission to carry out paid activities and for temporary or permanent residents.
Last week, the Mexican Foreign Ministry said Sheet which takes measures to ensure that the rights of foreign nationals entering the country are respected. “Mexico encourages visits from tourists from all over the world and we particularly want to ensure that Brazilians are welcomed with open arms in our country. At the same time, Mexico strives to manage orderly, safe and regular migration flows,” he explained to the folder.