Port of Entry - Return Ticket Required?

[dbarker2 1]

My mother-in-law and I will be traveling from Mexico City to Denver next week. I have seen conflicting information after doing some quick Google searches regarding return tickets.

We are not sure if my mother-in-law will return to Mexico City to visit her other daughter at the end of the trip, or if she will return directly to Veracruz. We also don't know if she is going to want to stay for the full 3-4 months that we were planning, because she may want to go back sooner. For those reasons, we have not purchased a return ticket yet.

From people's experience here, does not having a return ticket normally cause an issue at the port of entry at the airport? If we have a good explanation, plus all other proof of ties to the country, should that be good enough?

Thanks.

[JohnR! 5,495]

She may be required to show a return ticket. There is no guarantee one way or another. It would be wise and quite possibly cheaper for her to have her return ticket by the time the travels.

Good luck.

[Hypnos 6,576]

Tourists must have a return ticket; without one a refusal of entry is virtually guaranteed.

[dbarker2 1]

I think I'll play it safe and get a ticket then. Luckily Volaris airlines has pretty cheap flights to Mexico City, and for 24 dollars extra will allow you to change the date or the route of the flight without a fee. Thanks for the advice guys.

[Noel194 53]

Tourists must have a return ticket; without one a refusal of entry is virtually guaranteed.

This is not true. I just went through this with my MIL. The CBP said that a return ticket is not required but that a tourist could be subject to secondary inspection upon arrival and must provide an answer as to when and how they plan to leave the country. I had no problems with CBP it was the airline that actually tried to hold us and not let us board. Funny I am a USC so I am not sure why they thought they could refuse boarding to me. In the end she boarded and CBP had 0 issues with no return ticket.

[Hypnos 6,576]

My mistake, I was thinking of the VWP (for which you do need to have a return ticket or will be refused entry).

For a B-2 holder it's slightly more relaxed, although as you say you open yourself up to additional scrutiny this way.

[Stressed Out 81]

Maybe buy her travel insurance (for cancellations) for an extra 20-30 bucks?

[Teddy B 17,252]

Tourists must have a return ticket; without one a refusal of entry is virtually guaranteed.

I would agree with this and it happened to myself and my wife. No return ticket on a tourist visa is almost a guarantee of no entry. There may be a few exceptions, but not many.

[dbarker2 1]

I bought a return, non-stop ticket for November with Volaris Airlines. It allows you to pay 20 dollars extra to make any changes to itinerary or route just paying the difference in fare. We knew about when she would be going home, but didn't want to be tied down to an exact date in case she wants to leave sooner, so the flexibility on this ticket should take care of that problem. The ticket was only about 260 total, so I just had to move the money we had budgeted for a couple months down the road to this month, and now I feel less worried about it.