Many Americans are surprised when they are just about to leave Mexico and go home. At the departure gate, an airport officer says they have to pay $25 as a tourism fee in order to leave the country. This is only partly true.
If you flew into Mexico, you already paid the departure fee as part of your "airport taxes" that made up almost half the price of the ticket. The fee only applies to those who walked across the border, got bused in, or took the train, and now they are flying out of Mexico. However, if you flew in, just have with you your ticket stubs to prove that.
The best proof is the picture above of the Forma Migratoria Multiple (FMM). Every passenger on the plane gets this before you arrive in Mexico. Don't lose this. They will not collect it when you leave the airport in Mexico, so some people just toss it. But you need this in order to leave for home, so keep it in your passport.
If the airport officer keeps insisting you have to pay, he is wrong and misinformed. Stand your ground, and he'll just waive you off because he's exhausted. You will not need to present the FMM to anyone else anyway.
If you flew into Mexico, you already paid the departure fee as part of your "airport taxes" that made up almost half the price of the ticket. The fee only applies to those who walked across the border, got bused in, or took the train, and now they are flying out of Mexico. However, if you flew in, just have with you your ticket stubs to prove that.
The best proof is the picture above of the Forma Migratoria Multiple (FMM). Every passenger on the plane gets this before you arrive in Mexico. Don't lose this. They will not collect it when you leave the airport in Mexico, so some people just toss it. But you need this in order to leave for home, so keep it in your passport.
If the airport officer keeps insisting you have to pay, he is wrong and misinformed. Stand your ground, and he'll just waive you off because he's exhausted. You will not need to present the FMM to anyone else anyway.