Auto article from SolMexico

[jrm30655]

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Yucalandia, a very informative blog about living in Mexico, just published an article regarding the changes to Aduana's rules on the importation of foreign-plated vehicles under Mexico's new Immigration Laws, which we thought might be useful to our readers:

There have been tons of rumors, suppositions and misinformation flying around on expat forums and expat blogs about what people think are the current Aduana rules for temporarily imported foreign-plated cars, a.k.a "TIP" (Temporary Import Permit) cars.

Here at Yucalandia, we like facts supported by the official rules and laws. Using that basis, let’s evaluate what is written in the current law and official rules:

First: There are no Aduana rules or law that specifically cover how to issue or renew Permisos de Importación Temporal de Vehículos for foreigners with either Residente Temporal or Residente Permanente IMN residency permits. ~ Zip / Zero / Nada ~

In the absence of any published law or rules, each local Aduana office is currently doing what they think makes sense - likely as decided by their local director.

Second: The information recently presented by a few local Aduana personnel at Nuevo Vallarta meeting was NOT OFFICIAL, nor does it apply nationwide. If we read their 2 Powerpoint presentations carefully, we find a number of factual errors, because they are NOT official nor legally-binding documents. They are, instead, just informal non-legal presentations to try to help the local gringos understand how Nuevo Vallarta agents are temporarily choosing to handle foreign-plate cars for gringos with the new INM Residency permits. The Nuevo Vallarta powerpoint Aduana presentation was effectively JUST A SET of PROPOSALS, because there have been NO NEW OFFICIAL written policies or rules promulgated out of Aduana in D.F.

Local Aduana offices are given broad discretion and wide latitude in how they apply policies. In the absence of any new national policy: The Nuevo Vallarta Aduana personnel are fully allowed to apply overly stringent local policies, while Puerto Vallarta Aduana personnel (who are approving some TIP extensions) are fully allowed to grant very liberal local policies.

Third: All gringos whose INM permits have not expired, must really WAIT until there are formal policies/rules or a law written and approved by Aduana D.F. The current Ley Aduanero uses out-dated, obsolete, legal terminology ("No Inmigrante" or FM3, and "Inmigrante" or FM2 and "Inmigrado") - so, the old Aduana law terminology no longer fits the new INM residency permits and INM’s legal terminology. This leaves Aduana’s local offices with NO clear detailed legal guidelines on vehicle Temporary Import Permits (TIPs) – so they are just TEMPORARILY making things up as they go.

Does Mexico Really Plan to Allow Residente Temporal and Permanente Residents to Only have Mexican Plated Cars?

Many gringos are trying to use individual local Aduana personnel actions as evidence to make logical sense of the national policies of 2 very different and very separate Mexican Government agencies. There is no official information on what Aduana has planned for us. These problems were created by INM dramatically changing the numbers and kinds and names of residency permits - which made Aduana’s written rules... obsolete, because there is Zip / Zero / Nada equivalency between the old INM FM2, FM3, & Inmigrado permits versus the new INM Residente Temporal & Residente Permanente permits.

INM has very different needs and different agendas than Aduana. There appears to be almost ZERO/zip/nada coordination between INM’s changing to new policies (creating totally new immigration categories), and Aduana. The problems INM has caused to existing Aduana policies, makes it clear that they did not coordinate policies with some intent to screw expats.

INM issued their new law in May 2011, and then issued totally new policies on Nov. 9, 2012. In the meantime, Aduana has issued ZERO/zip/nada official adjustments to Aduana policies to accommodate the new INM rules => no coordination => no evidence of any plan => no evidence of any intent.

Some gringos are imagining that Aduana is "saying that the only cars they want legally in their country those cars that have a Mexican plate." There is Zip/Zero/Nada official information to confirm this.

Really, we all must wait to see exactly what Aduana’s official national policy will be.

Aduana may allow our foreign-plated vehicles ... or they may not...

In the meantime, we only have various, individual, non-binding proposals being made by a few local Aduana offices.

History of How this Mess Evolved: INM’s FM3 and Aduana’s TIP program were originally created in response to a 1990's Mexican Government effort to support the growth of maquiladoras/factories in Mexico to take advantage of NAFTA.

Aduana was told to create a permit that allowed American and Canadian manufacturing managers and experts to move to Mexico temporarily, and live and work in Mexico temporarily... temporarily bringing-in their foreign-plated cars. The intent was a TIP with no final hard-and-fast expiration date, but instead to create a flexible permit for business men and experts to come to Mexico – work a while – and return back to Canada or the USA.

After the TIP was created, (and the FM3), lots of US and Canadian retirees decided to use these temporary-businessman programs for their own purposes: coming into Mexico to live effectively as permanent residents – often with NO intent to permanently return to the USA or Canada – and certainly not intending to return their cars to the USA or Canada. The gringo retirees did this by filing for temporary residency and temporary auto import permits in Mexico, even though their effective intent was to permanently leave the cars in Mexico.

The Mexican systems were not designed for how the Americans and Canadians used them. "Temporary" permits were intended to be temporary, for businessmen to come and go easily, but because the Mexican Government did not anticipate the gringo retirees’ unintended usages when writing the FM3 and TIP rules, the rules were basically later used by gringo retirees as loopholes to avoid becoming permanent residents – and used by gringos as loopholes to avoid paying duties to bring in the cars for what they really use as permanent importation.

The facts? Gringos wanted to bring their cars into Mexico and basically not ever take them out, without paying the import duties. Pay Zero/Zip/Nada in import duties. Pay Zero/Zip/Nada in annual permit fees. Pay Zero/Zip/Nada in annual registration fees nor getting plates. Pay Zero/Zip/Nada in taxes - all while liberally using the Mexican roads and services ... all for free. Free - A word gringos treasure...

Should we blame Mexican officials from later trying to clean up the mess of 10,000's of gringos who came into Mexico and stayed here using their vehicles for free - free from unrestricted by pesky registrations, free from even reasonable import duties, free from getting new license plates – all by simply using loop-holes in Mexican policy designed for truly temporary businessmen and manufacturing experts?

What are we left with now? Unfortunately, Mexican government policies change only very slowly, and since INM policy changes made Aduana TIP policies obsolete: Aduana is taking a while to try to formulate a new policy. It is difficult to create a new policy where Canadians and Americans who really come here as permanent residents can be shifted to actually allow their cars to be here for long periods (effectively permanent imports) - and to stop scooting through the loophole of basically free temporary auto permits.

Canada and the US don'tt allow Mexicans to import their cars into Canada and the USA, and keep them there for free, especially Mexicans who want to live there for more than six months or a year.

I am left asking: Why should Mexico offer something that the USA and Canada (and pretty much all other countries) prohibit?

Why should individual Americans and Canadians in Mexico, expect much free services and free usage of the roads, and expect more liberal treatment from the Mexican Government, than they offer Mexicans who are guests in the USA and Canada?

Unfortunately, all governments change their policies and rules over time – and the rest of us are left to figure out what to choose from the resulting options.

We have to wait until Aduana actually publishes something official.

Let’s all hope that Aduana comes out soon with official policies that work.

More information can be found at yucalandia.wordpress.com.

[Ezzie]

"Why should individual Americans and Canadians in Mexico, expect much free services and free usage of the roads, and expect more liberal treatment from the Mexican Government, than they offer Mexicans who are guests in the USA and Canada?"

I disagree with this comment. I would be more than willing to change the licence plates on the vehicle I have brought with me from NOB if there was a reasonably easy way to do this without paying exhorbitant "nationalization" fees to some questionable private business. I think it is only fair to support Mexican roads through the payment of annual renewals, smog inspections, etc. There should be a way for each Mexican state to allow their DMV's to do this just as there is between states or provinces in the US and Canada. It should not be under the jurisdiction of Aduana in my humble opinion.

[lakeside101]

thank you JRM for the post. i agree, we should expect to pay taxes, etc to support the roads etc. someone who moved back to the US with her Mexican Honda Fit, had to remove it within 6 months because it did not meet safety standards. we have been very lucky in keeping our foreign plated vehicles as long as we have.

i just wish i knew the issue with Non-nafta cars before bringing one in, but if i can nationalize it, i will.

if not, i will take it to the border. in the meantime, i'm not booking my airfare for a visit to the states till i know if i'm driving one way. it's the not knowing that is frustrating.

[ACinMX]

Great posting - thank you. Most of us are reasonable people that realize their car should be "legalized". However it just doesn't make sense that the car has to be a NAFTA car in order for an individual to nationalize it. All I want to do is go into a License office pay the duty, taxes and plate fees and drive off. I'm just offering to pay money so it would seem reasonable that they should meet me half way:-).

It could be interpreted that every foreign plated car in Mexico is illegal after the next renewal because the FM2 & FM3 does not exist and all of the Aduana laws specifically refer to those documents.

[Mainecoons]

We do pay taxes for the roads. The primary source of government funds in this country is Pemex, which we support when buying gasoline, and the VAT, which we support when we buy anything in a store here like everyone else. Not to mention those rather stiff tolls we pay when we want to drive practically anywhere around the country. When they had the "car tax" it was a major revenue generator but now that is gone and you are just paying the usual modest plate renewal fees. It is incorrect to suggest that expats are getting anything like a free lunch here, in fact many other central and South American countries offer a much more generous deal to expat retirees.

Equating the Mexican rules with NOB rules that bar cars that do not meet safety and emission standards is an apples to oranges comparison. Any U.S. or Canadian car brought here exceeds the corresponding Mexican standards. This is all about protectionism, not about vehicle standards.

The bottom line here, which the OP explains very clearly, is that car rules for the new visas have NOT been issued yet. A rational approach would be to have a short-term amnesty for nationalization of vehicles imported under the old visas followed by a very clear set of rules for each of the new visas. One can only hope at this point.

[moonhill]

I totally agree with Ezzie, we are willing to pay our fair share, but the cost and process is not reasonable. One other thing to consider: the local traffic cops are most likely aware of our concerns about these possible new laws and will not hesitate to use that to their advantage, especially while the new vehicle guidelines are in flux. So having the knowledge that the original poster has given us is no protection against these transito cops, you all know what I'm talking about. All of this just gives them one more thing to stop us for and threaten impounds, their latest tactic.

[AlanMexicali]

We do pay taxes for the roads. The primary source of government funds in this country is Pemex, which we support when buying gasoline, and the VAT, which we support when we buy anything in a store here like everyone else. Not to mention those rather stiff tolls we pay when we want to drive practically anywhere around the country. When they had the "car tax" it was a major revenue generator but now that is gone and you are just paying the usual modest plate renewal fees. It is incorrect to suggest that expats are getting anything like a free lunch here, in fact many other central and South American countries offer a much more generous deal to expat retirees.

Equating the Mexican rules with NOB rules that bar cars that do not meet safety and emission standards is an apples to oranges comparison. Any U.S. or Canadian car brought here exceeds the corresponding Mexican standards. This is all about protectionism, not about vehicle standards.

The bottom line here, which the OP explains very clearly, is that car rules for the new visas have NOT been issued yet. A rational approach would be to have a short-term amnesty for nationalization of vehicles imported under the old visas followed by a very clear set of rules for each of the new visas. One can only hope at this point.

You state: "Equating the Mexican rules with NOB rules that bar cars that do not meet safety and emission standards is an apples to oranges comparison."

But ,however the poster who said this was wrong about Mexican cars not being able to be imported to the US because of emission and safety standards. NO Mexican cars are allowed to be driven or imported my Mexican´s who have a USA Temporary Resident or Permanent Resident visa no matter what. The US does not allow used Mexican vehicles to be imported by ANYONE. Alan

[Mainecoons]

Incorrect.

http://www.bordercenter.org/chem/vehicles.htm

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/imports/basicinfo.htm

It is difficult and expensive but it can be done. It depends primarily on emission and safety compliance.

Don't know about Canada although the second link provides information for importing Canadian vehicles to the U.S.

[jrm30655]

I don't have any real problem nationalizing my car. My question is what happens if I move back NOB.

As far as I can find, I won't have any problems getting it registered again in the US but I haven't been able to find that in writing anywhere.

[Mainecoons]

Well, you could get South Dakota plates for it and keep them current, just don't put them on the car while it is here.

[AlanMexicali]

Incorrect.

http://www.bordercenter.org/chem/vehicles.htm

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/imports/basicinfo.htm

It is difficult and expensive but it can be done. It depends primarily on emission and safety compliance.

Don't know about Canada although the second link provides information for importing Canadian vehicles to the U.S.

Thanks for posting the 2 links. That explains the procedure to import any auto into the US. Alan