If a person applies for a Mexican FMM online, will the background check be done immediately, and more importantly, before the FMM is made available to print out, and then at immigration you only have to get an entry stamp for validation and no further background check is done?
Or, is the FMM only filled out and paid for ahead of time when done online, and the actual background check is done when you present in person at immigration in Mexico?
I recently entered Mexico from the US by road at Tecate. Mexican Immigration wasn't present at the crossing, which was completely un-staffed. Leaving Mexico at the same crossing a few days later was the same.
While Mexican Immigration does look at my FMM and passport when I enter by air, and the airline collects the FMM on my way out, the border is not necessarily a fully-sealed boundary.
Thus, the question "When do they do the background check?" assumes a fact not always in evidence.
