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Driving out of Mexico and flying back to Mexico


Sandrita

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On 5/25 I went to Banjercito just shortly before Nogales to cross in US. They removed my decal, took my TIP document and gave me a receipt. Long story but I didn't go to immigration to give them the "Exit" part of the FMM. I have kept some hotel & gas receipts while travelling in the US. I fly back to Guad on 6/24...will I have any problems with immigration at the Guad airport. I current have an FM3.

Input is appreciated.

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My experience (and others') has been that they don't care about your immigration status on the Mexican side when you drive out or walk out, only if you fly out. The first time I crossed at Tijuana I went over the highway to the other side to "check out" on my FM3 and they acted like they'd never seen that kind of request before. They handed me the whole form back and I had to tell them to keep the small stub which they threw into a corner on the desk. I have since found out I don't need to do that when exiting on foot. But of course you will have to fill out a form when you fly back, but you fill out only the larger part and just tear the stub off before you present it. You will see a box to put your FM3 number in, it's the one on the back of the card not the front, and you will see it says you don't have to reveal your local address like a tourist does.

So, if you drive or walk back over to return like I do at Tijuana to take Interjet back to Guad, if your immigration status is up to date, you don't have to stop at immigration or fill anything out, you just go through customs and fill that form out. Only if someone needs a new FMM tourist visa because that person is going south of the "no hassle zone" and can't stay more than 180 days would he have to go to INM to pay for the new tourist visa. They are used only for statistical purposes but a tourist would need it if asked for proof of legal status while south of the no hassle zone for those 6 months and for sure if he were going to fly out to staple onto the airline ticket.

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We returned a TIP at Piedras Negras in September, 2012. . Went to the Migración window at the same location and the officer just waved us on. He didn´t want to stamp anything.

We were worried, so kept our bridge toll receipt as well as the receipt we got from Banjercito. When we flew back in to Puerto Vallarta, we just gave Migración the FMM form which we filled out on the plane, same as everyone else arriving. No problem at all. They didn´t want to see anything else (other than the FMM, our Passport and I believe our FM2s).

No worries.

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Just arrived back today having just driven to Canada and flown back

I had a J car, my permanente is due in a week or so , and I decided to go up and down before it became complicated. No problems although making sure I did everything right at Nogales was a little

traumatic.

Nearly missed the area to return the T.I.P. so the tip there is when approaching Nogales keep your eyes out for a sign that directs foreign cars to an area. Foreign is spelled wrongly on the sign. . Having seen it I went to the area which appeared disused Everything was locked up . I moved on a little down the road and asked. I was sent back to the same place, having to do a U turn prior to joining the line of cars entering Mexico. This time I found one of the booths open, my windshield sticker removed and documentation returned. Got a receipt . Tried to ask about refund but my Spanish was not quite good enough. The lady thought I was asking for a refund there and then. Since found out that it will be refunded to my Visa but unfortunately I had to change the card since coming to Mexico so am not quite sure how to go about getting a refund.

My next problem was to try and find someone to stamp my exit paper as my FM2 was away with the Permanente application . I asked every official I met but although they were helpful no one seemed to know. It seems there are a lot of customs guys around but not many immigration. I do believe the office is actually at the last cuota booth. However I drove on and got into a line up , and it was not until I got very close that I realised I was actually entering the USA, and I still had not got my paper stamped . Crossing guards were great although they knew nothing about Mexican regulations.

They allowed me to park and walk back over, find the immigration office where a young lady stamped my docs as leaving , and I walked back to the U.S. . It was my first time crossing going North and I believe the process which probably should have taken 15 minutes tops, took me over an hour !!

Journey through U.S. was uneventful although I was always worried about the last 4 miles of the journey into B.C. Canada My insurance tags expired in September 2010, and although I had bought insurance for the U.S. and Canada I was not convinced that as a citizen and technically a resident of Canada I actually could use an insurance that was for a resident of a foreign country. I was happy in the U.S. as I was a foreigner! I talked to the Canadian customs officer who said, the insurance said Canada so he felt it was O.K. but I must admit that I was on tenterhooks for 4 miles. Next morning I was at the Autoplan office getting temporary insurance for the 5 days I was there. I gifted the car to my son, through ICBC, and he has put it on Craigs List . Already had some action so hopefully it will be sold quickly although it had to go for less than what I would have liked it to have got for it C'est la Vie !!

Flew back to day , no problems , my wife still has her FM2 for a little longer and I had my papers. No problems at airport.

I was asked about the route, We left mid day 1 night in Mazatlan One night Hermosillo, one night in Laughlin Nevada, One night in Twin Falls Idaho. Total 4 and a half days

All in all it was not as traumatic as we visualised

Now to find another car !!!!.

Out of interest on the drive up we passed several check posts , both police and military . No one was interested in any paperwork

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I had my letter of permission from INM . I stated above that I had to make an effort for someone to stamp my "exit papers" which I had ensured I had prior to leaving . This was stamped as leaving and again stamped on return.

Cannot quite understand how you manged to interpret that I was lucky and illegal. If you read my post I mention that I had to make an effort to ensure I got the stamp on leaving . I did not re-enter on an FMM I had all relevant documentation and re entered on my FM2 ( the INM document) I got that before I left.!

I have my permanente , just awaiting the card .and wanted to get up and back before I got it I wrote this as somewhere people were asking for potential problems. I wanted to ensure that they knew, as long as everything was above board and legal, it was easy

I am sorry if my post did not give that impression , I have read it again and it seems clear to me !! I am unable to ascertain how you came to the conclusion that anything I did was illegal !

I did not see any evidence of knowledge and enforcement being lax, all over evryome was knowledgeable, and helpful.

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