Mexico

We found no evidence of any official restrictions on entry to Mexico based on HIV status.

According to UNAIDS and the US Department of State, there is no evidence that Mexico has entry restrictions based on HIV status.

The official website for online services has a list of supporting documents that should be included with a visa application and none of those documents makes reference to HIV or the general health of the applicant.

We found no evidence of any official restrictions on short-term stay in Mexico based on HIV status.

According to UNAIDS and the US Department of State, there is no evidence that Mexico has restrictions on short-term stay based on HIV status.

We found no evidence of any official restrictions on long-term stay in Mexico based on HIV status.

According to UNAIDS and the US Department of State, there is no evidence that Mexico has restrictions on long-term stay based on HIV status.

According to Mexican Official Standard NOM-010-SSA-2023, for the prevention and control of HIV, there is no legal impediment for people with HIV in the national territory, regardless of their migratory status, to access health services, including access to HIV treatment.

IOM reports that Article 4 of the Constitution of Mexico (1917) establishes that all persons residing in the country’s national territory have the right to health care. The Migration Law (2011) establishes the right to health care for the migrant population (regular and irregular). Facilities providing free health services to migrants at the national level, regardless of immigration status, include the General Hospital of the Health Secretariat, assisted by the Institute of Health for Well-being, and the hospitals administered by the Health Secretariat. These hospitals serve people who do not have social security or health insurance. The country’s other public health facilities are restricted to beneficiaries, such as people registered with social security institutions, including the Mexican Social Security Institute (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social) and the Civil Service Social Security and Services Institute (Instituto de Seguridad Social para los Trabajadores del Estado). In addition, migrants can receive first aid and emergency treatment when required at any public hospital, be it the Mexican Social Security Institute, Civil Service Social Security and Services Institute or a Health Secretariat hospital.

The report Migración, VIH y acceso a servicios de salud en México published by the Ministry of Health (Secretaría de Salud) in 2018, contains a detailed analysis of the law and practice of migrant access to health and HIV services.

IOM and UNHCR have compiled a list of services for migrants Directorio de servicios gratuitos para personas migrantes, refugiadas, desplazadas y retornadas en Ciudad Juárez.

Throughout the country, Outpatient Centres for the Prevention and Care of AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (CAPASITS) provide HIV treatment efforts are being made to provide treatment to migrants. In Mexico City, clinics “Clínica Condesa” and “clinic Condesa Iztapalapa” provide treatment to migrants.

Migrants with temporary and permanent residence who are not entitled to national social security and people who are in the process of receiving refuge for humanitarian reasons in the country, are cared for by INSABI – since 2019 – in its centres for the care of people with HIV. These are the Outpatient Centres for the Prevention and Care of AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (CAPASITS), Hospital Comprehensive Care Services for People with HIV (SAIH) and the Condesa Specialised Clinic in Mexico City. In order to access medical care, you must present copies of your resident ID, birth certificate or passport, unique population registration number (CURP) and proof of address (electricity, water or telephone bill) and proof of non-entitlement to the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS). This can be downloaded directly from the following link: www.imss.gob.mx/tramites/imss02020.

Undocumented migrants with official identification and tourists are attended to by INSABI throughout their stay in the country. Even if they do not have, as required by the General Health Law, a Unique Population Registry Code (CURP) or cannot present a certified birth certificate. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Centre for the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS (CENSIDA) published in March 2020 a guideline that explicitly states that ‘Care will be provided and medicines will be given to all migrants who, (…) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, remain in our country’ by ‘(…) presenting (only) an ID and a copy of it, (…)’.

A full list of INSABI’s HIV care centres can be found at this link.

• UNAIDS
• US Department of State
• Official website for online services
• Mexican Official Standard NOM-010-SSA-2023
• International Organization for Migration
• Migración, VIH y acceso a servicios de salud en México
• Directorio de servicios gratuitos para personas migrantes, refugiadas, desplazadas y retornadas en Ciudad Juárez
• Outpatient Centres for the Prevention and Care of AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (CAPASITS)
• “Clínica Condesa” and “clinic Condesa Iztapalapa”
• Gobierno de Mexico

Migrant populations

Refugees and asylum seekers