Does Mexico still stamp passports in 2026?
Less and less. The paper FMM is being retired and the big tourist airports have moved to e-gates that issue a receipt or a digital record instead.
Status Phasing it out
For decades the Mexican entry ritual was the paper FMM tourist card plus a stamp writing your permitted days by hand. Mexico has been dismantling that, replacing the paper form with a digital record tied to your passport.
At the main tourist gateways - Cancún, Los Cabos, Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta - eligible travellers now pass through e-gates. You scan the passport, the gate photographs you, and what you get is a printed receipt or an electronic record rather than ink and a handwritten number.
Keep whatever you are handed. Your authorised length of stay used to be legible in your own passport; now it may live only on a till receipt or in a database you cannot read. The responsibility for not overstaying it, of course, is still entirely yours.
How to still get a stamp
Smaller airports and land borders still process by hand. If the stamp matters to you, that is where to cross.
Sources
- Procedures for Entering and Leaving Mexico - Mexperience
- Mexico Phases Out Paper FMM for 180-Day Tourist Stamps - Stamped Nomad
Sources last checked September 7, 2026.
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Frequently asked questions
Does Mexico still stamp passports in 2026?
Less and less. The paper FMM is being retired and the big tourist airports have moved to e-gates that issue a receipt or a digital record instead.
How do I get a Mexico passport stamp as a souvenir?
Smaller airports and land borders still process by hand. If the stamp matters to you, that is where to cross.
Does a missing stamp mean my entry was not recorded?
No. Border authorities keep an electronic record of entries and exits regardless of whether ink goes in the passport. The stamp is a copy of the record, not the record itself.