Member's Home Forums General Discussion Mexico Mexico Changing Entry Procedure for Private Acft

This is a “heads up” and is preliminary but some persons have begun to communicate it. We had hoped to have more answers to the tough questions than we presently have but wanted to get this out there. We do know that the following is being communicated to those airports in Mexico with an AFAC office.

Mexico's AFAC is planning to change the entry process for foreign aircraft.

Historically Mexico’s Civil Aviation law said that PERMITS were NOT required of foreign aircraft but rather an AUTHORIZATION. Nonetheless, for many years the authorization was called a Single Entry and Multiple Entry Permit. This year (2023) they changed the Civil Aviation Law and its Regulation, and the concept of a Multiple Entry Authorization was eliminated.

It appears that Mexico’s AFAC is eliminating the reference to a Single Entry Permit and a Multiple Entry Permit and replacing it with a "Single Entry Authorization" (Autorización de Internación Única) which will be valid for 180 days. There are ambiguous references which could be interpreted that the authorization could be used like the previous Multiple Entry Permit for a period of 180 days but that is not yet clearly specified. For now, assume this new authorization is like the old Single Entry Permit which is valid for 180 days or when the aircraft leaves the country, whichever comes first. There are also plans to replace the old procedures for the arrival processing of foreign registered aircraft into Mexico. In the meantime, they plan to continue to use the old procedure until the new procedure comes out in the first half of 2024.

The biggest issue we see is that the NEW Single Entry Authorization must be requested 2 DAYS BEFORE the aircraft arrives in Mexico. There is no explanation of what will happen when an aircraft arrives in Mexico that did not request their authorization 2 days in advance nor is there any mention of how this prior approval process is going to work to request an authorization in advance. Obviously the 2 day prior permission required is going to pose challenges to aviation tourism.

Given the time of year, we are hoping that the AFAC will postpone this implementation or offer a grace period until the procedure is better defined, explained and communicated. However, if you are planning a flight to Mexico after December 31, 2023, you should investigate what the final requirements are. We hope to have more in the coming days.

As of right now, the "un-official" procedure (unofficial because nothing has been published in an AIC or NOTAM) is as follows:
- If you are presently in Mexico under the old Multiple-Entry Permit, get out before 23:59 LT on December 31. Do not take ANY chances, get your plane out
- If you are in Mexico and entered with a Single-Entry Permit, which is valid for 180 days or until the aircraft leaves the country, you should be OK
- Starting January 01, 2024 there will be a Single-Entry Authorization (SEA) which should work like the old Multiple-Entry Permit but only for 180 days
- The minimum 2 day notice requirement seems to have slid to a minimum 2 day recommendation (more on why this could be a big issue in a moment).
- Before the SEA can be issued, each comandanica at a Mexican International Airport must obtain the authorization Number from AFAC Headquarters in Mexico City after submitting all of the required information to headquarters. We have been told that they plan to have the central email address at AFAC headquarters staffed weekends and holidays.

Where I anticipate two potential issue are:
1) Today, each Comandancia generates their own authorization number. Under the new procedure each comandancia must obtain it from the central AFAC headquarters. I do not know if anyone in headquarters has calculated how many aircraft arrive in Mexico per year needing an authorization, divide that number by 365 days and considered how a single email address will be staffed to receive the request, process the information and issue the permit number. What is worse is that those arrivals are not evenly spread throughout the year but rather are highly seasonal. For example, these coming months are the peak travel period, and the volume will be at its peak. Therefore, I would urge everyone planning to fly to Mexico to contact the AFAC at the airport that they plan to use and submit their request ahead of time wherever possible.

2) The Authorization is NOT VALID without the authorization number from the central AFAC headquarters and I foresee that authorizations are not going to be instantaneous like before and those aircraft that planned to continue on to another airport or airstrip in Mexico could wind up stuck at the airport of entry waiting on their authorization.

Right now, behind the scenes, there is a lot of internal scrambling going on within the comandancias trying to get clarifications as well as amongst the FBO's, Handlers and airport operators. For example, is there going to be a specific format that we need to fill out for the authorization request. Is it confirmed that we can enter and leave the country during the 180 day period like we used to with a Multiple-Entry Permit. Where will pilots get the email addresses for the airport they plan to fly into, etc. etc.

There has been information posted about specific airports and individual experiences. We have had our customers flying to Mexican Airports Of Entry (AOE) all throughout the country these last 4 days which allows us a broad view of what is going on. Not surprisingly, we are seeing a wide range of interpretations and applications of the new procedure.

One new “document” being requested for the Entry Authorization (AIU) is a Layout Of Passenger Accommodations (LOPA). What we recommend is that you should look in the Weight and Balance section of your POH/AFM and scan the page that shows the physical layout of your aircraft as actually configured. Many aircraft models can have multiple cabin configurations so be sure to scan the layout that matches your current aircraft configuration. To satisfy this requirement, AFAC at some airports are taking pictures of the cabin interior, some require a LOPA, and others are just not asking for anything.
Behind the scenes there is a lot of confusion and frustration within the airport AFAC offices as well as the airport and FBO operators. Here are some scenarios playing out across the country to be aware of:

• Time to get an authorization number from AFAC headquarters to finalize the AIU is varying between 5 minutes to 2 days at the same AFAC offices. There is no clear set of circumstances to define why there is this wide variation in time.
• Some AFAC offices cannot obtain the necessary payment form to make payment for the AIU which restricts the processing of the AIU.
• If an aircraft lands at an AOE and the pilot wishes to continue to another airport in Mexico and has yet to obtain an authorized AIU, they may, or may not, be allowed to go. If allowed to proceed, they will likely be required to return to the original AOE. This has been at the discretion of each AFAC office and not surprisingly, there is no consistency. If you are planning a multi-airport trip within Mexico, plan ahead.
• If an aircraft is just landing to drop off passengers, you may be allowed to leave but your authorization may not be ready. In this case, “someone” will need to send you the original AIU when it is available. If you return to the USA, do not receive the original AIU, and subsequently fly to another Mexican AOE, the AFAC office at that airport may require that the original AIU that you never received be canceled and that a new AIU be requested, and you start all over again and pay the fee again.
• Some AFAC offices are taking the position that if you return with different crew and/or different passengers, then an entirely new AIU must be obtained.
• Each time an AIU is requested, pilots will have to pay the approximately $128 USD fee plus whatever processing fees the airport may add on to it.

We must remember that the leadership and staffing of the AFAC at the central and airport levels have been replaced with Mexican military. The new AFAC employees coming on board are unfamiliar with civil aviation and don’t want to make a mistake. Those AFAC employees that remain from the “old guard” are afraid for their jobs. This new procedure does not have clear guidelines to follow. Not a good combination.

We will continue to monitor and hope that over time the procedures will become more standardized. Standardized to what, we will have to wait and see.

The implementation of the new Mexico Entry procedure continues to unfold. Despite no official document or guidelines to substantiate it, the AFAC officials at certain airports in Mexico are adding additional requirements for the issuance of a Single-Entry Authorization know now as an AIU. In addition to the information originally requested, some airports are requesting the following additional documents:

- Picture of exterior of aircraft
- Picture of interior of aircraft
- Manifest of the passengers that will be aboard the aircraft when it arrives in Mexico

Stay tuned as this topic unfolds