The two things that catch people out
Most of what you read about entering Mexico is routine. These two are not, because they are legal in the country most visitors fly from and illegal here.
Vapes and e-cigarettes cannot be brought into Mexico. The ban covers the devices themselves, not just the liquid, and personal use is not an exception. Leaving one in a carry-on is the single most common reason a holiday starts at a customs desk.
A cannabis prescription from another country is not valid here. Medical cannabis legally dispensed at home does not cross the border with you, and neither do products derived from it. This applies regardless of what your own state or country allows.
Neither of these is a reason to worry about your trip. They are a reason to check a bag before you close it. The full list of what you cannot bring, and what happens if you do →
Documents, visas and the entry record
What you are asked for depends on your nationality, and the paperwork itself changed recently: the paper form handed out on the plane is gone.
| Item | What applies |
|---|---|
| Passport | Required and valid, for every air arrival. |
| US citizens | No visa for tourism, up to 180 days. |
| The form on the plane | No longer filled in before or during the flight. The paper FMM is gone. |
| Digital entry record | Downloaded after immigration via a QR code, at the airport or on the immigration portal. |
| Cost | 861 MXN (~45 USD) — normally already included in the airfare. |
| Maximum stay | 180 days |
Money: the one rule worth knowing before you pack
Carrying cash into Mexico is not an offence at any amount. Failing to declare it above the threshold is. That distinction is the whole rule.
- The threshold is more than $10,000 USD, or the equivalent in any currency, counted per traveller.
- You declare it on the form handed out before the customs light, not after.
- Not declaring it carries a fine of 20–40 percent of the amount over the threshold.
- Above $30,000 undeclared, it stops being a fine and becomes a criminal matter.
Numbers worth having before you fly
Why we publish this at all
None of the above is meant to make Cancun sound difficult. Nearly thirty million people come through here a year and the overwhelming majority walk out without incident. The handful of things that do go wrong go wrong for the same handful of reasons, and every one of them is avoidable with something you knew before you packed.
Where a rule matters, we give the date we verified it. Where sources disagree, we say so instead of picking one. How we check what we publish →