Russian tourists were often denied entry to Mexico, moreover, in the process of deportation, as the affected tourists themselves describe it – a complete feeling that you ended up in prison with bullying and humiliation. The stories of tourists who were severely deported from this country were cited by Tinkoff magazine.
At the same time, official data are as follows: the Mexican Embassy in Russia confirmed to the publication that the number of refusals to enter has increased, but less than 1% of tourists are refused. Taking into account the fact that about 90 thousand Russians arrived in Mexico during the same year, these are hundreds of cases. The main official reason is that tourists are suspected that they are entering for the purpose of illegal migration to the United States. However, judging by the stories of the victims and those who successfully obtained the right to enter, an exceptionally random choice works, they detain and harshly throw out family tourists planning holidays in the resorts of Mexico, while singles with a “clean” passport, who later consider a route to the United States, quite may leak.
It is officially stated that at the border, tourists must show an electronic permit, a return ticket, a hotel reservation and other confirmation of the tourist purpose of the trip. But all this is not a guarantee – some tourists were “turned around” with existing hotel reservations and return tickets. Someone because of a small error in the entry permit. The other “jambs” were forgiven and entry was allowed.
For example, affected tourists tell the following story. They emphasize that in January they wanted to go on vacation to Mexico with the whole family with three children from 6 to 3 years old, spending 700 thousand only on tickets to Cancun through Turkey. “The problems started at passport control when we arrived in Mexico. The border guard girl asked a lot of questions, asked to show return tickets, hotel reservations, electronic permits to visit the country – this is an analogue of a visa that tourists from Russia must obtain in advance by filling out an application on the website of the country's migration service, ”says the injured tourist. Also, he said, she asked what tourists want to visit in Mexico. The catch was that the hotel reservation was not extended – the tourists planned to fly back in 21 days, but the hotel was booked only for a week. “The girl asked why. I explained that my sister would join us in Cancun and together we would decide which hotel we would stay in next. The border guard asked for my sister's phone number, and I dictated it. The officer went to the office, after a while she returned, asked to take the bags and follow her. We were very worried,” says the tourist.
And, as it turned out, not in vain – they were all taken to a room where other injured passengers were already sitting. “They asked me to hand over their phones. They brought the forms to me and my wife – in English, Russian and Spanish. It was necessary to indicate the last name, first name, patronymic, place of work, phone numbers and information about the flight and hotel. Then they asked to leave all things, take only jackets and follow one of the officers. I began to argue that backpacks are needed, they contain food for children, diapers, napkins, diapers. The border guards discussed this among themselves, checked the things and allowed them to be taken. We were led into a room enclosed by opaque glass. It was cold, the room was not heated. There were cold leather mattresses and dirty airplane blankets with an unpleasant smell on the floor,” the tourist said. Past this “prison” were other passengers who had just arrived. Moreover, when one of the “victims” asked a passerby for a telephone through a crack in the glass to contact his relatives, the officers immediately threatened all the “detainees” that they would take them to the basement if this happened again.
“At midnight they brought cold food: french fries, sandwiches and 0.5 liters of water per person. The next day, border guards came into the room and called our names. They told us to pack our things and they sent us back. Again without explanation,” said the injured tourist. At the same time, the passports were not given to tourists – and in Istanbul, passengers without passports, which turned out to be 13 people, had to visit the police station again, where they would spend another three hours.
“We spent more than 700 thousand rubles on a failed vacation. – how much did tickets cost from Moscow to Istanbul, from Istanbul to Cancun and back. The hotel reservation was not cancelled. Of course, after such an experience, we are unlikely to want to fly to Mexico again,” the tourists said.
At the same time, the opinion that only those who fly through Istanbul or Dubai are turned around is wrong – tourists who got through Europe, thanks to the available visas, also complained about this. At the airport in Mexico City, at the passport control, the officer asked for how long we had arrived, how many suitcases and money we had with us, asked to see the hotel reservation. We did not worry, answered all questions and submitted all documents. Another officer came up and asked me to go with him into the glass room. There they took away our phones and asked us to fill out a questionnaire in Russian and English, to indicate our data. The officers again made copies of the passports. We were asked to wait while the information was clarified. We sat in this room for 20-30 minutes. Worried, hands were shaking. Then an officer came in who brought us in, gave us our last names and said that right now we were being sent back to Paris. We tried to find out the reason. He briefly explained that they had suspicions that we gave a false reason for visiting Mexico, but in fact we were going to the border with the United States, ”the victims said. We note that their passports were also returned to them in Paris through the police – and they also do not find the desire to fly to Mexico again.
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