Research this for ten minutes and you'll come away with two confident, opposite answers: "children under 4 are free" and "everyone pays, even babies." Both get stated like settled fact, which is maddening when you're trying to budget a family trip.
Here's the part that clears it up. The rule changed, and a lot of pages never caught up.
The current rule, plainly
- Yes, children pay VISITAX. So do infants and babies.
- There's no age exemption anymore. The people who skip it are Mexican nationals and residents, plus diplomats and on-duty airline crew. Age isn't on that list.
- The old "under 4 is free" rule was removed by a 2023 amendment. Pages still repeating it are simply out of date.
- A family of four is four payments, whatever the kids' ages.
Why you keep seeing "under 4 is free"
Because it used to be true. For years, Quintana Roo exempted children under four, and that line got copied into hundreds of travel guides, forum answers, and reseller pages. When the state dropped the exemption in 2023, all that old text stayed online.
So you end up reading a 2026 trip report that quotes a 2022 rule next to a 2022 price. A quick tell: if a page says children under four are free and also lists the tax as around 224 pesos, you're looking at outdated information. The current tax sits near 283 pesos, and there's no kids' rate.
Where the rule stands now
As of 2026, the rule is short: every foreign visitor pays the same rate, regardless of age. There's no adult fare and no child fare, and no infant exemption. The under-four exemption that used to exist was removed in 2023, and nothing replaced it.
So when you read "babies pay too," that's the current rule, not a cautious guess.
Who is actually exempt
The exemptions have nothing to do with age:
- Mexican nationals (citizens)
- Mexican residents, meaning people who hold Residente Temporal or Residente Permanente status, not a tourist entry
- Diplomats traveling on official business
- Airline crew on duty
If you and your kids are visiting on regular passports, all of you pay, newborn included.
Paying for a family without filling the form five times
The one genuinely fiddly part of a family trip is that each traveler needs their own QR code, tied to their own passport. Entering everyone one by one gets old fast with a couple of kids and a baby in the mix.
You don't have to do it that way. A service can take everyone's passport details in one go and send all the QR codes back together, so a family of five is one checkout instead of five. Each person still gets an individual code for the airport scan. If you're traveling as a group rather than a single family, the same thing applies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do babies pay VISITAX?
Yes. As of 2026, VISITAX has no age exemption, so infants and babies pay the same rate as adults. The State of Quintana Roo's portal confirms a single rate for all foreign visitors regardless of age.
Is there an age exemption for VISITAX?
No. The exemption for children under four was removed by a 2023 amendment. The only people exempt now are Mexican nationals, Mexican residents, diplomats, and on-duty airline crew. Age is not a factor.
Why do some websites say children under 4 are free?
Because that was the rule before 2023, and the old wording is still all over the internet. If a page lists the under-four exemption, especially next to an outdated price like 224 pesos, it hasn't been updated for the current rules.
How much is VISITAX for a child?
The same as for an adult: 2.5 UMA per person, around 283 pesos, usually about fifteen dollars. There's no reduced children's rate.
Do I need a separate QR code for each child?
Yes. VISITAX is one code per traveler, tied to each passport, so every child needs their own. You can still pay for the whole family in a single transaction and receive all the codes together.
Are there any VISITAX exemptions at all?
Yes, but only for Mexican nationals, Mexican residents (Residente Temporal or Permanente), diplomats on official business, and airline crew on duty. There's no exemption based on age or nationality of visit.
For families, the simple version
Budget for everyone in your group, kids and babies included, because the age exemption is gone. The full rules on who pays, when to pay, and how the airport check works are in our complete VISITAX guide. For the trip itself, it's one payment per person, all sorted in a single go.