Another one way ticket nightmare!

The US wants to know two things—will you leave before 90 days is up and do you have an onward ticket that takes you to some place that is not Canada, Mexico, or a Caribbean island? Your two tickets would satisfy both requirements. In fact, the US says that you must have a ticket for every leg of the trip if you are leaving from Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean.

The reality is, they don’t always ask to see proof of that onward travel. It’s even rarer to be asked for proof of every leg. However, there is one important thing for you. Does that flight from Mexico to the UK transit the US? If so, you may have a problem. The US has no transit areas in airports. You must clear US immigration and customs, even if you will be flying out two hours later. That means you would need to re-enter the US without meeting the “leave North America first” requirement.

Sometimes, if you have spent a substantial amount of time in Canada or Mexico, the US will let you in so you can catch that flight home. There is no definition of “substantial time,” and this admittance is not guaranteed. It is totally up to the immigration official. One option would be to visit a country in Central America as part of your holiday. The other, of course, is just to be sure your flght from Mexico doesn’t transit the US.

By the way, on entering, it might be a good idea to say you are visiting friends, not a boyfriend. Mention of a romantic attachment is a flag to immigration that you might overstay and/or try to work illegally.

Note that one ways from Mexico to the UK are expensive, unless flying from Cancun.. But these are Thomas Cook and similar..

One of the best ways so you don't have to transit in the USA is by going via Canada.. You can find one ways on skyscanner here for 350 on some major airlines,... Look via Toronto!!

If you have a ticket to Mexico within 90 days of your arrival in the US, and a ticket from Mexico to the UK some time later that doest stop in the US, you should be fine.

If you have a ticket to Mexico and then a ticket from Mexico to the UK that may stop in the US, all within 90 days of your arrival in the US, you should be fine.

If your trip doesn't satisfy either of those, but you have a flight out of North America to the UK AND you are spending less than 90 days in the US, you might be ok.

If you fly into the US under the Visa Waiver Program then you need to show a ticket out of the US within 90 days and a ticket out of North American sometime and you are not supposed to fly back to the UK via the US if you are over 90 days from your original entry. If you enter the US by land from Canada as #2 suggests then they will probably ask you to show a ticket out of the US within 90 days but you do not have to show a ticket out of North America. Both Toronto and Vancouver have airports just across the US border (Buffalo and Seattle) if you decide to cross by land.

Yes all this is completely different if you have a US visa. Then you can fly to the US on a one way ticket, you can depart to Mexico or Canada and re-enter at your pleasing, and length of stay is usually 180 days, not 90.

Ofcourse depending on where in Mexico your vacation is, you could fly to Belize or Guatemala and cross a land border to Mexico.

Just talk to the US consulate as suggested, you will not get official answers on a website. If your friend is a US resident perhaps its better to just get a 10 yr tourist visa - well the bet will be if that price will amortize over the length of the relationship but with a visa travel in whatever case is much easier.

Just talk to the US consulate as suggested, you will not get official answers on a website.

Good luck trying to get through to a US consulate if you are not a citizen!

You must be kidding marka55 - the task of consulates is to answer visa questions. Just call and set up an appt.