Mexico’s automated migration e-gates: which airports have them and which passports can use them

Tourists arriving at several of Mexico’s main airports can clear immigration at automated gates instead of an officer’s desk. The Embassy of Mexico in Belgium explains that the National Migration Institute (INM) has introduced Autonomous Migration Filters, known as FMA, which let eligible travellers enter without direct interaction with a migration agent and without prior registration.

The embassy lists gates at Mexico City (AICM) Terminals 1 and 2, Cancún Terminals 3 and 4, San José del Cabo Terminal 2, Guadalajara Terminal A, and Terminal 1 at Puerto Vallarta, Querétaro and Tijuana. Users must be over 18, travelling for tourism and not accompanied by minors, with an ordinary electronic passport valid for at least 180 days issued by one of 30 listed countries, among them Spain, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Japan. Portugal does not appear on the embassy’s list.

The process begins by scanning the passport photo page, then passing through the gates into an airlock where a photo is taken for facial verification. The system checks biographic, biometric and flight data automatically. Travellers receive a ticket with a QR code and a digital stamp; scanning the code downloads the digital Multiple Migration Form (FMM), which must be kept until leaving Mexico.

People travelling to study, work, take up residence or for family reunification or humanitarian reasons cannot use the gates, nor can holders of diplomatic, official, service or consular passports. As the list of airports and passports can change, check it with official Mexican sources before flying.