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RPermanente Crossing the Border North


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I thought that I already posted this question, but it doesn´t seem to show up. We are driving to the US for the first time since we became permanent residents. Do we need to have any interaction with INM on the way out of Mexico? It is my impression that we do not, but I would like to that to be confirmed. Thanks.

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In 15 plus crossings...we have NEVER been asked for our Mexican papers although I have frequently mentioned them to agents that simply smile.

I have crossed hundreds of times. As far as I know when you drive across the officials are Mexican Customs agents. I have never seen an Immigration official at the booths in Mexico. If you need them they show you where to go to park in front of their office and you go in to see them.

At the new Chaparral crossing at the San Ysidro crossing in San Diego you have to drive 1/4 mile down the divided lanes marked "Something to Declare" and stop at their office, inside the ADUANA building if you need to see them. When walking across you only have Customs at the entrance and a military guy with a rifle. If you want to go to Immigration you need to enter Mexico and walk to their office.

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INM law/regulations say foreigners must check-out when leaving the country, but they don't make it easy, and generally have not been enforcing the rule, but clauses in the law could allow them to fine you in the future if they check their records and find entrance record entries without accompanying exit record entries.

If you ever wanted to become a citizen, your INM records would be missing the exits and show only entries, complicating the process of proving how many days you have been in Mexico and complicating INM's reports to SRE, as SRE requires clean INM reports for naturalized citizen applicants.

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Yes, see another thread--and today's confirmation by Spencer--that we (residente permanente, temporal or turista) must complete the FMM form both outbound from Mexico and inbound upon return, whether by air, land or sea. There are potential fines and loss of time accrued toward your "visa" for irregularities, which include missing inbound/outbound immigration stamps in your passport or your "ins" not matching your "out" records.

OK, here it my post from March 6, 2015. Everyone is supposed to complete the FMM immigration form on the way in and out of Mexico. These are directions to the Laredo Bridge II Juárez-Lincoln.

IMN at Bridge II is not the easiest to find, the first time, or in the dark because the way there is somewhat convoluted. But it is large and staffed 24/7. Colombia is more direct but comes out about 20 min N of Laredo and is not open 24/7. It's also deserted for a stretch coming off the cuota...on both Mexico and US sides. It is a much faster crossing due to fewer vehicles. The process is identical.

For Bridge II, come into Nuevo Laredo and follow the clearly-marked signs after the cuota for Puente Internacional II; it's a few miles, then the sign will have you turn right onto Blvd Luis Donaldo Colosio (and I think there are signs pointing to the zoo, as well as speed traps galore from hereon in due to the various soccer fields etc. Stay well within the ridiculously low posted limits...it's mordida country.) You'll end up dead-ended at the Rio Grande. You actually want to turn to the left (where the bridges are) but doing so takes you to the tolls and bridge, which you don't want yet. To get to INM you need to make a right at this dead end, make your first retorno to get onto the far lanes (there are 2) that hug the river (not the internal lanes in the same direction which block you from where you want to go) heading in that direction. (When in doubt, hug the river. You follow it and are almost under the access to the Mexico/US bridge.) On your left in about 1/2 mile or so and past various soccer fields, parks etc you can see up on the left hill where the incoming buses have to stop at INM. You make a left turn into the large parking lot (it is a one story white building), park, and go into the building. There's a money exchange directly ahead, bathrooms upstairs, and the door to the INM area is to your right. Get on line and, if there is a long line, let someone in a uniform know you are filing your FMM de salida como residente permanente. That will shorten the line for you as, at that point, everybody funnels into the available agent(s). We've sometimes had no wait, on one occasion the wait at a holiday period was over 4 hrs.

Note that no pets are allowed in the building so if this applies to you, take the docs (including your completed FMMs) for the dogcatcher in the car and when, the agent asks, tell him that the other person is in the car with the pets. I've done this every time, successfully, albeit sometimes begrudgingly.

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At the INM office prior to (and a few blocks from) paying the bridge exit toll on the Mexico side, and before crossing the bridge. I posted turn-by-turn directions on a thread a few months ago in response to another poster's query for driving directions. On your return, you'll work thru the INM officer at the airport.

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Thanks for the input. I was under the impression that there is no minimum stay time in Mexico if you are a RP, and that one is free to leave and return as often or seldom as one wishes. But we will try to find them as we head to the Santa Teresa crossing west of Ciudad Juarez. Also there is no document to stamp anymore unless they wanted to stamp one´s US passport. But I´m told that they normally don´t even look at your passport if you show them the Residente Permanente tarject. So I am still confused. Don´t know where to find Spenser´s post that is referred to above. I would like to read it.

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The document you use is a FMM and there are boxes that you check when exiting and entering Mexico for this purpose. The rule states it is for statistical purposes and there is no time out of the country limits on Residente Permanente or Residente Temporal visas. As snowyco stated it is used when you are applying for Mexican citizenship where there is a time out of the country limit to be eligible to apply for citizenship. I have a US passport card and they do not stamp them [can´t obviously] but don´t ask to see it when at the INM at the border either.

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So even if we are planning on becoming ciudadanos, this still won´t have any effect if we don´t check in with them, right?

The point is if you walk or drive out when you fly back into Mexico on an international flight and don´t get a FMM when exiting you will have a problem when landing in Mexico with the INM at the airport with no second part of a FMM to hand them and then they give you one and stamp your passport in.

If you drive out or walk out and drive back in or walk back into Mexico you have to go find the INM office both times to get a FMM and hand the second half back in when re-entering. The INM is not checking anyone leaving or entering Mexico, upon entering Mexico only Customs is with their Red light/Green light system. So if someone did not go to the INM at a border crossing who would be the wiser? If you drive a Mexican plated vehicle does this make it more difficult if you have an accident while in the US? I really don´t have a definative answer.

As a side note: My Canadian friends Snowbird in Palm Desert California at their homes for 6 month in the winter. They have told me that Canadian and US Immigration send data to each other when a Canadian re-enters Canada or enters the US and count exactly 182 days per 12 month period before the Canadian is considered legally in the US. If the Canadian re-enters Canada after the 182 days the US Immigration knows. As far as I know the US Immigration Dept./Homeland Security do not have this relationship with Mexico [yet].

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  • 1 year later...
6 hours ago, MichaelBb said:

My wife and I will be crossing at Laredo in a month or so and just wanted to verify that INM is still where jrod indicated...between the two bridges in the same building as CIITEV.  Thanks!

Still right there...

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