Mexican deputies approve raising the foreign visitor fee to 1,158 pesos for 2027

Foreign visitors to Mexico would pay 1,158 pesos for their visitor document in 2027, up from 983 pesos this year, under a reform of the Federal Duties Law (Ley Federal de Derechos) passed by the Chamber of Deputies. The 175-peso rise, 17.8%, is about half the 35.8% increase first proposed, according to Mexico's tourism ministry (SECTUR).

The charge is the non-resident fee, or Derecho de No Residente (DNR). Mexico's National Migration Institute (INM) lists it under article 8, section I of the law, as the fee for the document that grants the status of a visitor without permission to do paid work. INM's 2026 tables set it at 983 pesos for visitors arriving by air and by sea.

What the deputies approved

The Congress's television channel, Canal del Congreso, reported on October 14 that the Chamber had approved the bill by 329 votes to 117 in the general vote, and by 339 to 113, with one abstention, on its individual articles, leaving it as the finance committee had drafted it. The bill was then sent to the Senate.

The 1,158-peso figure came from that committee. The plan it received would have raised the fee by 35%, the channel reported on October 12, and the committee amended it to 1,158 pesos.

Where the money would go

The bill also sets how the revenue is shared: 57% to the Defense ministry (Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional), 15% to INM and 28% to the Treasury. SECTUR says the Defense ministry's take per fee would stay practically at 2026 levels, while 173.70 of the 175 extra pesos would go to INM for technology, border security and migration-control systems.

SECTUR argues that the money would modernize document checks, the recording of entries and exits, and the handling of migration procedures, and would add capacity at airports, seaports and land crossings to cut waiting times. Tourism secretary Josefina Rodríguez Zamora said the update would strengthen that infrastructure and offer better conditions for visitors and airlines.

The objections

Opposition deputies spoke against the rise. According to the Congress channel, José Elías Lixa Abimerhi, who leads the PAN's deputies, warned that higher charges on foreign visitors could make trips to Mexico more expensive and hurt tourism. Patricia Flores Elizondo of Movimiento Ciudadano questioned sending a large share of the revenue to the Defense ministry while tourist destinations face needs of their own, and cited the sargassum seaweed that affects beaches and businesses.

Other changes for travelers in the bill

• Fees for ordinary visas would be set at a single rate of 1,639.80 pesos.
• Fees for the use of Mexican airspace would rise by 10%.
• On Sundays, Mexicans and foreign residents of Mexico would be exempt from the duty for entering protected natural areas that contain museums, monuments or archaeological zones.

What travelers pay now

INM's 2026 air-travel table also lists a 232-peso charge for migration services at airports for passengers on international flights leaving Mexico, and 294 pesos for the form that authorizes children, adolescents and people under legal guardianship to leave the country. INM says its staff never accept cash: you pay by Visa or Mastercard at its offices, at a bank counter with a payment slip, or by electronic transfer.

The UK's travel advice for Mexico adds that you may need to pay a departure tax when leaving by air or land, that some airports and border crossings accept only cash, and that most airlines include the cost in the ticket price. If in doubt, it says, check with your airline or tour operator.

What happens next

SECTUR's statement says the changes remain subject to final approval by Congress. In the Senate, the joint finance and legislative-studies committees approved the duties bill on October 21, together with the 2027 revenue law and the income-tax changes, and sent it to the full Senate, the Congress channel reported. On October 28, the channel reported that the full Senate had passed the revenue law, the Ley de Ingresos, and sent it to the President. As of October 29, the channel had not reported a vote by the full Senate on the duties bill, and the reform had not been published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación (DOF), the federal government's official gazette.

The fee rises as arrivals grow. According to INEGI surveys cited by SECTUR, Mexico received 32.68 million international tourists from January to August 2026, 3.9% more than a year earlier, among 67.69 million international travelers in all.