Flying into Los Cabos next year will cost a little more before you even clear immigration. President Claudia Sheinbaum is defending a proposed increase to Mexico’s Derecho de No Residente (DNR) — the fee charged to foreign visitors entering the country for tourism or business — arguing the hike won’t scare tourists away.
The DNR is set to climb from 983 pesos to 1,158 pesos in 2027, an increase of about 175 pesos, or roughly $10 USD. Most international travelers never see this charge separately because airlines typically bundle it into the price of the ticket, but it shows up as a government fee line item on fare breakdowns.
Speaking at her October 15 morning press conference, Sheinbaum called the increase reasonable and said officials ran
“a very large study”to land on a figure that wouldn’t dent arrivals.
“We’re not going to be irresponsible and impose a fee that reduces tourism when things are going so well,”she said, according to El Financiero.
What Is the DNR and Who Pays It
The DNR applies to non-resident foreigners entering Mexico by air for tourism or business purposes. It’s separate from the Forma Migratoria Múltiple (FMM), the entry permit most visitors fill out or receive automatically when flying in. Travelers arriving by land from the U.S. border for short visits are generally exempt, but anyone flying into airports like Los Cabos International (SJD) typically pays it as part of their airfare.
Where the Money Goes
Under the proposal, the extra revenue won’t go entirely toward tourism infrastructure. Of the total collected, 57% is earmarked for the Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional (Sedena), Mexico’s defense ministry, 28% goes to the federal treasury, and only 15% is designated for the Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM), the national immigration agency.
Sheinbaum said the INM’s share will fund technology upgrades meant to speed up immigration lines at airports and other entry points.
“We’re going to automate Migración further, not just at airports but at all entry points, particularly at every airport,”she said, referring to the long lines that sometimes build up at passport control during peak arrival hours — a scene familiar to anyone who has landed in Los Cabos during high season.
Industry Pushback
Hotel associations, airlines and other tourism businesses have objected to the increase, warning it could discourage visitors at a moment when Mexico’s tourism numbers are already strong. The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) cautioned that fees not reinvested directly into tourism infrastructure risk becoming barriers to growth rather than tools for improvement, a concern echoed in coverage by Revista Gente.
Mexico recorded 67.7 million international travelers between January and August 2026, a 6.3% increase over the same period in 2025 and the strongest showing in two decades, according to the Secretaría de Turismo. Of those, 32.7 million stayed overnight, generating $24.15 billion in tourism spending — numbers Sheinbaum has repeatedly cited since her administration’s visit to Cabo earlier this year, alongside other moves like the 2026 minimum wage increase.
What’s Next
The increase has already cleared the Cámara de Diputados, Mexico’s lower house of Congress, as part of the broader Ley Federal de Derechos (fee law) for 2027, and now awaits a vote in the Senate. According to the Secretaría de Turismo, the final figure already represents a 50% reduction from what was initially proposed, and no further changes are expected before the Senate’s vote on the measure.
For travelers booking flights into Los Cabos for next winter season, the takeaway is simple: expect a modest bump in ticket costs once the new fee takes effect, likely reflected automatically in airfare rather than collected separately at the airport.
