Like many other countries, Mexico has had a fee for visitors to enter for years. However, there were several loopholes that stopped the fee – which runs about $35 or so – from being too cumbersome. For example, if visitors planned to leave Mexico and then re-enter the country one or more times, or if they participated in a variety of paid activities while in Mexico, the fee could vary. And if they stayed for less than 7 days, they didn’t have to pay the fee at all.
Thanks to that second loophole, visitors who arrived in Mexico via a cruise (say, a day stop in Cozumel, Cabo San Lucas, etc.) didn’t have to pay the fee because they were only in the country for 1 day.
The Rules Have Changed
Unfortunately, the good times couldn’t last forever, and back in December, Mexico announced this “non resident” fee would increase to $42 per person and would count for even a 1-day visit…which would mean every cruise passenger would have an extra $42 added to their cruise fare. Oh, and it was going to go into effect as of January 1, 2025.
Cruise lines, of course, balked and made all sorts of threats. But after some discussion, Mexico backed down, to an extent. They said they’d hold off for 6 months, but the tax would still be $42 per person.
Cruise lines still weren’t happy. “The concept, for example, of a family of four visiting a Mexican cruise port having to pay an additional $168 in fees for just a few hours ashore…will have far reaching impacts,” said FCCA (The Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) is a not-for-profit trade organization that represents 23 cruise lines operating nearly 200 vessels in Floridian, Caribbean and Latin American waters).
So FCCA went back to the negotiating table with Mexico.
A New Agreement Between Cruise Lines and Mexico
According to several new outlets, including The Independent and Travel & Leisure, Mexico and the FCCA have apparently come to an agreement. It’s not great, but it’s still better than $42 per person.
Starting July 1st, cruise ship passengers arriving in any Mexican port will have to pay a $5 non-resident fee. However over the next 3 years, the price will continue to increase, until it’s raised to $21 per passenger.
As was always the case, the fee will be added to the cost of a cruise (visitors won’t pay the fee directly to the Mexican government).
“We are grateful to Mexico’s federal government for collaborating with us to reach an agreement on the transit fee that protects cruise ship tourism increasing benefits to local communities whose livelihood depends on it,” read an FCCA statement.
According to the FCCA, 3,300 cruise ships are expected to visit Mexican ports this year, bringing around 10 million passengers.…that’s a whole lot of non-resident fees.
Many thanks to Norman for giving us a heads up about this topic. Thank you, Normy! MWAH!
Feature photo: Roger W / flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
