Monday morning,

Made contact with the Mexican embassy here in Ireland requesting information about the visa requirement since we do not have a return or onward ticket from Mexico. I think the outcome is that we will not be required to get a visa. I’ll be nervous until we get out of the airport in Mexico city and we are safely ensconsed in our hotel room. Otherwise we may find ourselves on a very short trip to central america!

Also tried to make contact with the Ecuador embassy in London. I couldn’t find any email addresses but they pretty much have the same requirement. Maybe a flight out of Chile will be sufficient? Who knows.

Here’s the text of the email conversation with the embassy…..

-----Original Message-----

From: Mullally, Evan

Sent: 31 January 2003 11:12

To: 'embasmex@indigo.ie'

Subject: Visa requirements: Republic of Ireland citizen

Hello,

Can you forward this email to a person responsible for entry visa

requirements for Mexico?

I am a citizen of the Republic of Ireland (Irish passport holder also) and

will be flying into Mexico City on the 1st April, 2003.

I will not be flying from Mexico however as I will be travelling into Belize

by bus / ferry.

Will I be required to obtain a Mexican entry visa before departing from

Ireland? If so can you send me the information that I will need to apply for

such a visa?

Regards,

Evan Mullally

-----Original Message-----

From: consular [mailto:consular@indigo.ie]

Sent: 31 January 2003 12:00

To: Evan.Mullally

Subject: Visa requirements: Republic of Ireland citizen

Dear Mr. Mullally,

With reference to your e-mail, we kindly advise you that as an Irish/EU

passport holder, you and your friends may travel to Mexico on holiday with a

TOURIST CARD (not a visa). The tourist card is issued free of charge, and in

some cases is valid for up to six months. This can be obtained on the

airplane, at the port of entry into Mexico or at the nearest Mexican

Consulate. Tourists are strictly forbidden to perform voluntary,

remunerative or lucrative activities.

Requirements:

· Passport, valid for at least six months from the date of travel.

· Return airline ticket, or onward ticket.

· Proof of financial means (international credit cards or travellers

cheques) may be requested at the port of entry

Should you need any further information, please contact the following Web

-----Original Message-----

From: Mullally, Evan

Sent: Friday, January 31, 2003 11:55 AM

To: 'consular'

Subject: RE: Visa requirements: Republic of Ireland citizen

Thanks for the response.

My travel arrangements are to travel into Mexico by air and then to travel

independently to Chile where I have a return ticket to Ireland. I will also

have an airline ticket from Costa Rica to Ecuador.

Does this constitute an onward ticket?

Thanks

Evan Mullally

-----Original Message-----

From: consular [mailto:consular@indigo.ie]

Sent: 31 January 2003 12:19

To: Mullally, Evan

Subject: RE: Visa requirements: Republic of Ireland citizen

Mr. Mullaly,

Yes they are.

Is this a conculsive answer? Who knows.

I wonder would the email carry any weight if I showed it to a Mexican customs official? I think I might err on the side of caution and see if I can book a bus ticket into Belize somehow. Even if I don’t use it, it may save me the hastle of the visa stuff.

On a brighter note S and I had our first Spanish lesson on Saturday. We now know how to say the alphabete, tell people our names and pronounce various different combinations of j’s, g’s, h’s etc. Also, we learnt the days of the week. Should we ever run into a dire situation where it’s "Death by Machete" or spell our names we should now be okay. EUR40 well spent!