Tourist VISA Fees For Canadians?

Some Snowbird friends of ours arrived by car from Canada two weeks ago. They related the details of their trip through the US and their border crossing at Laredo. After registering their car for a TIP, they were asked to pay for their Mexico Tourist VISA FMM. One of the partners insisted that they did not have to pay for the FMM, since they were from Canada. The government clerk tried to explain that they did need to pay for the VISA but the Canadians were adamant that they did not have to pay. And they believe that they did not.

So. I understood that everyone who did not have a special immigration residency status and traveled beyond the border zone had to purchase a Tourist VISA for their stay in Mexico. Is there really a special exemption to this rule for Canadians?

Is it possible that my friends have no legal status in Mexico if they did not pay for an FMM?

What's the rule here?

Canadians are not exempt. If they were granted a stamped FMM without paying then I guess they got away with it. If they weren't given an FMM then they are here illegally as far as I know.

Bob is correct. The fee for FMM is collected from any and all visitors.

It occurred to me this morning that some of the traffic backup could be eliminated if the "glorieta" in La Floresta that has two traffic lights was a real glorieta. e.g. block the Careterra force all trafiic to use the glorieta. This would allow traffic from all four directions to enter and proceed in their desired direction, just like an actual glorieta functions!

David you're a genius. That should work well in theory. It may slow traffic but not stop it.

SunFan

I wonder who we can make this suggestion to?

Canadian and American visitors/tourists do not need a visa to enter Mexico.
They do need a stamped FMM (forma migratoria múltiple) tourist card/tourist permit.
FMMs are obtained on in-bound airplanes or at land border crossings.
The cost for an FMM is $500 pesos per person (approx. $25 U.S. dollars/$30 Canadian dollars).
On planes, the cost of the FMM is included in the airfare.
On land, FMMs obtained at the border are free for trips of 7 days or less.
--  Information is from January 2017

I agree with all that has been said so far. I'm sorry to have created confusion by suggesting that the FMM was the same as a VISA required for entry to Mexico. There are certainly differences. But the bottom line seems to be that Canadians are required to pay for the FMM like those of us from the US do.

The FMM is commonly referred to as a "Tourist Visa."