Q24N (VOA) A viral rumor has been circulating on social media platforms in recent days that Mexico has proposed a mandatory visa for U.S. citizens.
The posts, in video format with the TikTok seal, include images of the presidents of Mexico and the United States, Claudia Sheinbaum and Donald Trump, respectively. In addition to texts that say: “Mexico proposes a mandatory visa for Americans entering the country” and “they enter like Juan through their house, it’s over, a level playing field for everyone.”
These videos, approximately 18 seconds long, include the song “El papá de los pollitos” as a musical background, performed by Los Tucanes de Tijuana, a northern band from Sinaloa that has been associated on several occasions with narcocorridos, according to reports from media such as BBC Mundo, Infobae and El Universal. The fragment of the lyrics used says:
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“Open up, I’m carrying fire. Either you get out or I’ll take you away. You know that I’m not playing…”
On January 15, 2025, a user on X shared these image sequences, which have received around 1.5 million views and more than 2,000 comments. The description read in capital letters: “LEVEL FLOOR. YOU ASK ME FOR A VISA. I ASK YOU FOR A VISA.”
However, these posts are disinformation, as confirmed by verification specialists from the Reuters and AFP agencies, who analyzed variants of these posts on TikTok and Facebook on previous dates.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) of the Mexican government has not made any changes, so far, to the requirements for US citizens who do not need a Mexican visa to enter the country.
The SRE website reports that “foreigners who have a valid passport and a valid and current US visa” may travel to the country without the document, as visitors, without permission to carry out paid activities for up to 180 days.
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Vladimir Castillo Ledón Tomás, director of International Information of the General Directorate of Social Communication of the SRE, confirmed to both Reuters and AFP that, so far, there is no visa requirement for US citizens visiting Mexico.
According to Castillo’s explanation to AFP, “the countries that require a visa are published by the SRE in the Consular Regime by Nationality” and that this “is published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF), it is an agreement and the countries are notified.”
In this sense, the most recent list of countries that require a visa to enter Mexico indicates that the US is “exempt.” It was last updated in May 2024, Castillo told AFP.
Therefore, we rate the viral publications circulating on social media as false. To date, the Mexican government has not proposed the implementation of a mandatory visa for US citizens wishing to enter the country, as confirmed by the evidence consulted.
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