Mexico City, Mexico — The government of Mexico has announced it has temporarily suspended visa exemptions for Ecuadorian nationals in an announcement that was made in a statement Friday by the Secretary of Foreign Relations.
The government of Mexico says that Ecuadorian nationals will maintain access to the immigration facilities, the same facilities established for all nationalities. In their statement, they said that “the Government of Mexico determined to temporarily suspend the Agreement that abolishes the visa requirement in ordinary passports for nationals of the Republic of Ecuador.”
The government goes on to say that the decision was made based on the third article of the 2018 unilateral Agreement that abolished the visa requirement, and which was enacted to promote tourist and business flows.
However, recently there has been a substantial increase in Ecuadorian nationals who enter the national territory under the aforementioned instrument, with a purpose other than that allowed by the condition of a visitor’s stay such as being without permission to carry out paid activities.
Likewise, networks of criminal organizations dedicated to the illicit trafficking of people that made use of this facility to profit from the intention of nationals of that country to migrate irregularly have been detected, using our territory as a transit country.
This decision will contribute to the reduction of inadmissions of Ecuadorian nationals at points of internment in Mexico by having to have the corresponding visa in advance.
Mexico expresses its willingness to work hand-in-hand with the Ecuadorian authorities in order to exchange information and effectively combat human trafficking and smuggling with the aim of reestablishing the visa abolition agreement as soon as possible.
