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"New" FM-3 Cards at the Airport


donandjim

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Having not flown to the states since receiving my "new" Temporary Resident FM-3 card, I was wondering if anyone knows if, and/or where, in the GDL airport you present this card when departing? I know we used to have the old FM-3 booklets stamped at a small booth near the food court on the ground level. I am assuming there must be a form or something that has replaced "the stamp"?

Also, how about returning? Is there anything I should be aware of that may have changed in past few years in regards to the FM-3 and returning to Mexico?

Thank you in advance for any feedback.

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Your Residente Temporal is not called an FM-3. It's just a Residente Temporal. It takes the place of both the FM-3 and the FM-2.

Go to Inmigración at the airport and they will give you a two-part FMM document, permission to leave and return to Mexico. When it's time to board the plane, the airline will collect the 'leave' part. You keep the 'return' part--don't lose it!--and turn it in when you come back to Mexico.

Remember, you no longer have an FM-3. You have a Residente Temporal.

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Upon arriving at the airport to make your departure, go to the booth that is along the back wall just to the left of the international arrival / customs doors which exit out into the terminal. Present your Residente Temporal card and your boarding pass you printed at home. They give you a two part FMM form to complete. This is the same form that tourists receive on the plane when entering Mexico. Fill out the bottom half and be sure to write "RESIDENTE TEMPORAL" on the top margin of the form. (Once we had a nice agent who completed the form for us.) Give the complete two part form to the agent with your plastic Visa card and passport. He does his stamping and scribbling and gives them back to you. Put away your visa card now. Go check in at your airline and hand the completed half of the FMM form to the airline agent with your passport. Keep the other half of the FMM form in a safe place for when you return to Mexico. When you complete that half on your return, write "RESIDENTE TEMPORAL" at the top of that part of the form, just as you did on the other part of the form when leaving Mexico.

Some people have reported theft of personal items as a possibility when you're completing your form by the immigration booth window, so have your pen in hand ready to write and keep your carry on between your feet. Sometimes for the early AM flights there is no one in the booth. Just get the attention of any security person in the area and they will call for someone to come wait on you.

If you can grab an extra one of these forms, like at the airline gate departure counter in the States or when they hand them out in-flight, you can have a form at home for future use and have it already completed when you go to theimmigration booth.

I think this is all correct, based on my aging memory. I'm sure if anything is now different, someone will correct me....

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Two possibly refundable taxes are included in the price of your airline ticket. Below is a blurb from Alaska Air on the subject. I have never thought to ask about a refund of the cost of a tourist visa when I fly (even though I am Residente Permanente) nor use tax. But for $62 per flight, I might start inquiring.

http://www.alaskaair.com/content/travel-info/before-your-trip/mexico-tourism-tax.aspx

Mexico Tourism Tax

If you fall into one of the following categories, and if your itinerary involves travel between the U.S. and Mexico, you may be entitled to a refund of the Mexico Tourism Tax (approximately $22, fluctuates with the exchange rate) and/or the Mexico Airport Use Tax of approximately $40 (fluctuates with the exchange rate) included in the price of your ticket:

  • Mexican passport holders
  • Legal residents of Mexico, regardless of nationality (holding form FM2 or FM3)
  • Infants under the age of two
  • Passengers who will remain in Mexico for fewer than 24 hours
  • Diplomats

If you believe you are entitled to a refund of one or both taxes, please present your documentation to a Customer Service Agent when you check in at the airport. The Customer Service Agent will initiate a refund request for you. Or, you may mail or fax copies of the documents, along with your ticket number or confirmation code to:

Alaska Airlines
Attn: Refunds
P.O. Box 68900
Seattle, WA 98168

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Some things we learned over the years.

They don't open up till 4 or 4:30am so don't get to airport before 4am as you just wait at closed immigration.

Get extra copies of the tourist visa on airplane and fill them out before you go to airport to save time. Easier to get forms from airlines than Mexico immigration.

Get document done before waiting in airlines lines as you will need document for airlines unless you like going through airlines lines twice. Don't fight the system.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Would I be correct in assuming that it would be the same process, filling out a FMM form at INM, when driving to the border?

I've got to go to Yuma and cross at Lukeville AZ in a couple weeks. The border checkpoint is about 50km before Lukeville outside of Sonoyta, has anyone done the process there? Or would it be at the border itself?

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I am not familiar with the location of INM on that route, but the FMM process is the same. Be absolutely sure that you indicate your visa status. If necessary, write it boldly at the top of each part of the form and keep the other half for your return.

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In Vallarta the person checking forms upon your return, before you get on line, tells Temporals and Permanentes to get in the "Mexican" line. Same in GDL ?

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  • 4 weeks later...

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