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Permanent Resident and Cars


Ajijic

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About 6 weeks ago a client was given preapproval for a Permanent Resident visa at a consulate. When entering Mexico she was given a car permit for 6 months, to mid December. Thinking that now she has her Permanent Resident visa her car is illegal, she went to SAT in Celaya for a Returno Seguro. When there SAT employee said she did not need a Returno Seguro as the permit is good until December.

To confirm this she called from SAT and had my wife speak to the employee. The advice from SAT is if stopped by Federales she show her passport and car permit and not her PR visa.

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The issue with permanentes has been the renewal of expired stickers, that is when immigration status come into play.

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RE: The advice from SAT is if stopped by Federales she show her passport

and car permit and not her PR visa.

Does it strike anyone else as funny that one government agency

would advise you to conceal information from another government

agency? Maybe SAT is just as frustrated with the new immigration

regs as expats are.

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I am still up in the air about what to do with my car. For all intents and purposes it is a new vehicle (under twenty five thousand miles). It has been well cared for and when I bought it I spent more then I had planned, but as the mileage was so low and the van was in such good condition I decided to spring for it and drive it into the ground before replacing it.

Little did I know that once again, the carpet would be yanked out from under me with the new, must have, "Permanente Residente" which I now have, eliminating me as a driver for our car, and which my partner will have in the fall. If I am understanding things correctly, then neither of us will be able to drive the van.

We cannot afford to buy a car in Mexico until we sell the Canadian plated van and are hoping to find another Canadian who is about to throw in the towel and return to Canada for good. I am almost there myself but I do love it here (except for the endless red tape). I would be willing to trade my Canadian vehicle for somethiing similar in value and size for a LEGAL Mexican plated vehicle, but have no idea how to go about that. Also, I have a sneaking feeling that if we give up our van, which is too young to nationalize, the "rules" which, as far as I can make out, are not yet written into the law, will change again and we will have sacrificed our vehicle prematurely.

Is there anyone else with a similar problem who has found a solution to the situation. The van is a 2009 so importing it is not possible. Leaving it sit in the driveway for a couple of years until we can nationalize it seems ridiculous. Driving it home to Canada before the spring is impossible for a number of reasosn least of all the time of year that we would have to make the trip following my partner's receiving her "Permanente Residente Status" which is likely to be in December or later. Any suggestions?

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RE: The advice from SAT is if stopped by Federales she show her passport

and car permit and not her PR visa.

Does it strike anyone else as funny that one government agency

would advise you to conceal information from another government

agency? Maybe SAT is just as frustrated with the new immigration

regs as expats are.

The person was probably given that advice to save time and a confusing explanation. There is nothing illegal about showing a passport and the permit.

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I am still up in the air about what to do with my car. For all intents and purposes it is a new vehicle (under twenty five thousand miles). It has been well cared for and when I bought it I spent more then I had planned, but as the mileage was so low and the van was in such good condition I decided to spring for it and drive it into the ground before replacing it.

Little did I know that once again, the carpet would be yanked out from under me with the new, must have, "Permanente Residente" which I now have, eliminating me as a driver for our car, and which my partner will have in the fall. If I am understanding things correctly, then neither of us will be able to drive the van.

We cannot afford to buy a car in Mexico until we sell the Canadian plated van and are hoping to find another Canadian who is about to throw in the towel and return to Canada for good. I am almost there myself but I do love it here (except for the endless red tape). I would be willing to trade my Canadian vehicle for something similar in value and size for a LEGAL Mexican plated vehicle, but have no idea how to go about that. Also, I have a sneaking feeling that if we give up our van, which is too young to nationalize, the "rules" which, as far as I can make out, are not yet written into the law, will change again and we will have sacrificed our vehicle prematurely.

Is there anyone else with a similar problem who has found a solution to the situation. The van is a 2009 so importing it is not possible. Leaving it sit in the driveway for a couple of years until we can nationalize it seems ridiculous. Driving it home to Canada before the spring is impossible for a number of reasons least of all the time of year that we would have to make the trip following my partner's receiving her "Permanente Residente Status" which is likely to be in December or later. Any suggestions?

I'll take a shot..... I'm not a lawyer so take this as information and not the gospel.

Unfortunately there is no known cure for your ailment UNLESS your partner does not go Permanent, but rather Temporal. And if the van TIP is currently in your name it will have to make a trip to the border to cancel that TIP and re-enter under your partner's Temporal.

You also cannot legally sell or trade it to someone in Mexico. The van simply must be taken out of Mexico. You could 'sell' it to another non-Permanente Canadian but they will of course have to take it out of Mexico immediately (with a Retorno Seguro) at least long enough to get a new Canadian title and then re-enter getting a new TIP. No one has reported that a car dealership in the US has bought a Canadian car and done all that import work themselves, but there have been a few reports of people being told that they would NOT.... "you import it to the US and then we'll buy it from you" seems to be the mantra.

You can sell it in the US but that process of importation is very complicated and pretty lengthy as it involves a number of government agencies and some pretty high taxes/fees.

Once your partner becomes Permanente in the Fall, the van cannot be driven legally.... or only out of Mexico with a Retorno Seguro permit.

Again, I think this is all correct information and I'm pretty sure that there is no alternative. BUT, if I were you, I'd make an appointment with Spencer or the like to make sure.

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I would be willing to trade my Canadian vehicle for somethiing similar in value and size for a LEGAL Mexican plated vehicle, but have no idea how to go about that. Also, I have a sneaking feeling that if we give up our van, which is too young to nationalize, the "rules" which, as far as I can make out, are not yet written into the law, will change again and we will have sacrificed our vehicle prematurely.

Have you talked to a MX car dealer about a trade in? The dealers seem to be able to do things we cannot do, or do as easily. If you can do a trade in for a MX plated car then that fixes your problem, that is until the next time INM decides to change the rules.

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I tried in Guad with Suzuki dealer. I want to trade my Suzuki US made in Japan for a new Suzuki! Simple? No, not taking

J car,they said: sell it by yourself. I did not buy a Suzuki but, a March Nissan from Spencer. I sold my J car by an other way.

J. Guerin

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Have you talked to a MX car dealer about a trade in? The dealers seem to be able to do things we cannot do, or do as easily. If you can do a trade in for a MX plated car then that fixes your problem, that is until the next time INM decides to change the rules.

Dealers do have different rules about permanently importing cars than foreigner private individuals. The costs for a dealer to go to the border and do the J-car import for trade-in cars, make the proposal to trade-in-your-car unworkable, except for dealers located close to the US Mexico border. The dealer's who do these imports and re-registration with Mexican plates charge $25,000 pesos for the service.

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