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Laredo Crossings


RickS

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Border officials are not concerned with your license or registration, although they may ask if you own the car.  If a Texas policeman were to question your right to drive a Mexican car with a license from anywhere else, he is in error in doing so. There is reciprocity, but some of them might want to “pull your chain“.  It never happened to us in several states with Jalisco plates & we never worried about it.

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This past Sunday I was heading south from Saltillo on Hwy. 54.  While going through the Federal Police inspection point, I was waved over for a "chat".  The officer was checking vehicle registrations (ours is Jalisco plated) and wanted to look at the "Tarjeta de Circulation" and the Residency card of the owner (my wife who is Permanente and was the passenger at that time).   I was driving and he didn't ask to see any of my ID.  Interesting - I can only speculate that they were blitzing for legal registrations.

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Bridge 1 is closed and will remain si fir the next 12 to 18 months.

The road into NL is blocked at the exit to Bridge 2 forcing all cars to exit  there.

The wait on Bridge 2 for customs was of course a little longer than last year  but wait times can vary greatly based on day of week and time crossing. I got a SENTRI pass  hoping to bypass the wait in Nuevo Laredo but the US says Mexico is charging a $5,000 peso yearly "road usage" fee if you cross at Bridge 2. Columbia doesn't have that charge nor do others. I haven't seen anything written about such a fee nor can figure out a way that Mexico can collect it.

 This is as of 2 weeks ago.

 

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On 10/13/2016 at 10:21 AM, Ezzie said:

I used to cross at Pharr and take Hwy. 97 down to 101 via Ciudad Victoria.  Due to a brush with "banditos" on Hwy. 97 last fall I have gone back to my preferred alternate - the Columbia crossing.  Last week on a trip up to Houston I tried the newer crossing on the west side of McAllen - Anzalduas - and really liked it due to it's proximity to the 40D and the Reynosa Libramiento..... BUT.... the high cost of the tolls to get from there over to Saltillo (for access to either 57 or 54) is very painful when pulling a single axle trailer.

Ezzie would you tell us what the "brush" with banditos was all about?  What time of day, what day of the week and where?

We're headed that way shortly.

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21 hours ago, Ezzie said:

This past Sunday I was heading south from Saltillo on Hwy. 54.  While going through the Federal Police inspection point, I was waved over for a "chat".  The officer was checking vehicle registrations (ours is Jalisco plated) and wanted to look at the "Tarjeta de Circulation" and the Residency card of the owner (my wife who is Permanente and was the passenger at that time).   I was driving and he didn't ask to see any of my ID.  Interesting - I can only speculate that they were blitzing for legal registrations.

Thankfully you were not driving what was once a foreign plated vehicle that now has illegal EdoMex plates. 

saludos

Sonia

 

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On 10/14/2016 at 4:57 PM, tomgates said:

Rick,

Did you get any info from your friend about the Mex DL required in driving a Mex plated car into Texas?

 .
US law is controlled by a 1940's treaty that the USA and Mexico signed,, requiring the USA to accept foreign drivers licenses, as reciprocity for having US licenses accepted in the other treaty countries.

US Customs and Border Control document this:
" Motorists visiting the United States as tourists from countries that have ratified the Convention on International Road Traffic of 1949 may drive in the U.S. for one year with their own national license plates (registration tags) on their own national license plates (registration tags) on their cars and with their own personal drivers' licenses. "

https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/importing-car 

Since the US CBP officially says "with their own personal drivers' licenses" ,     US Treaty requirements say 

we are allowed to drive a Mexican plated car in the USA for up to a year on our "own personal drivers' license".

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Maybe you should check the law to see if an American citizen or green card holder can legally have a foreign plated car in the US. They told my wife, a green card holder at the time, that she could not have her car in the US because it was Mexican plated and she was a legal US resident. I think that if you show a US driver's license, that says you are a legal US resident, and most states only give you 2 weeks to change your legal residency on your driver's license, You could have a problem. Of course, if you never get stopped by US police, then probably you will not have a problem. I can imagine the problems when responding to a state hwy patrol when he asks " is this address your current address" when you show him your DL when driving a Mexican plated car.

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I have a Mx plated car and permanente.  I want to drive up to Laredo (and Austin) in a few weeks.  With the current construction on Bridges 1 and 2, what sort of problems will I encounter crossing the border?  I don't have a TIP to worry about.  In the past, with no construction, all I've had to do crossing NOB was show my passport and answer a few questions at a drive up booth.  Returning to Mx I've been waved through on Sunday mornings without talking to anyone.  I drive to Laredo in 1 day and will stay overnight there.

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10 minutes ago, Denver said:

I have a Mx plated car and permanente.  I want to drive up to Laredo (and Austin) in a few weeks.  With the current construction on Bridges 1 and 2, what sort of problems will I encounter crossing the border?  I don't have a TIP to worry about.  In the past, with no construction, all I've had to do crossing NOB was show my passport and answer a few questions at a drive up booth.  Returning to Mx I've been waved through on Sunday mornings without talking to anyone.  I drive to Laredo in 1 day and will stay overnight there.

Mexican citizens that enter the US with a Mexican plated car have no issues. US citizens can not own a Mexican plated car in the US. I think most US police have not encountered this before, but I believe that soon that will change, and the law will be enforced.

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3 hours ago, RVGRINGO said:

That CBP individual had no right to even ask about your license, if you presented a passport.  He needs re-training.

I believe that is incorrect.

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15 hours ago, snowyco said:

 .
US law is controlled by a 1940's treaty that the USA and Mexico signed,, requiring the USA to accept foreign drivers licenses, as reciprocity for having US licenses accepted in the other treaty countries.

US Customs and Border Control document this:
" Motorists visiting the United States as tourists from countries that have ratified the Convention on International Road Traffic of 1949 may drive in the U.S. for one year with their own national license plates (registration tags) on their own national license plates (registration tags) on their cars and with their own personal drivers' licenses. "

https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/importing-car 

Since the US CBP officially says "with their own personal drivers' licenses" ,     US Treaty requirements say 

we are allowed to drive a Mexican plated car in the USA for up to a year on our "own personal drivers' license".

I believe that replies only to citizens of foreign countries. Makes sense to me.

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On 10/9/2016 at 9:30 AM, tomgates said:

The mountain pass might be the one just south of Monterrey? Wouldn't call it terrible, at least it wasn't in May.

Hud please quote your sources.

When did US imigration obtain the right to enforce state laws?  

What do you mean by "US citizens can not own a Mexican plated car in the US" Are saying for permanent use, or are trying to say it is illegal for a US citizen to drive a foreign plated vehicle that is titled in their name?

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They do not "enforce" state laws, they just turn you over to the state police if they believe you are subject to state laws. Personal experience. I don't have a source on the mountain pass, sorry. Maybe Tom does. :D

I'm  just saying what we have been told at the Border, that a legal, permanent resident of the US cannot have a Mexican plated car while living in the US. How do they know I lived in the US? I showed then my driver's license, when I was asked for it, which showed we were legal, permanent residents of Texas, with my correct address, when they questioned. Hey, do what you like, I do. Follow the rules, or don't. That is something you need to decide for yourself. Don't like what I post, ignore it. That is what I do when I read something that you post and I don't like it. OR, check it out for yourself, then you will know for sure, and you will not have to depend on what others say. :D

 

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BTW, those who have a problem with the BP agents at the Bridge asking about beer/liquor, because it is a state tax. Go ahead and say you don't have any (when you do) and let them pull you over, search, and find it. Then, you will know what they can actually do , or not do. Call that bluff ! :D

 

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To me, the easiest way around any problem is to show a US passport(or Canadian) upon entry to the US, and if you have a Mexican plated car, then you need a Mexican driver's license. That DL shows you are a resident and living in Mexico, not currently living in the US. Everyone is happy. When you show a US driver's license, that shows that you are currently living in the US( because it is current and your address has to be correct), and therein lies the problem with the Mexican plated car. When you are not in your car NOB, you can use your other DL for ID, etc. Seems simple to me. Do what you like.

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On 10/9/2016 at 9:30 AM, tomgates said:

 

I think you are making assumptions. I can find no state law that overides the federal customs regulation allowing temporary use of a foreign plated vehile in the USA . The federal regulation has no statements about residency requirements.

Immigration agents or customs agents have no legal right to see your drivers license when you have a passport. 

Some states do issue licenses to illegal non resident aliens. So your argument that US issued license is proof of permanent residence doesn't hold water.

Still lookin for your source. 

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Hud‘s only source is his imagination.  It is true that a US citizen cannot have a Mexican plated car in the USA WHILE IN RESIDENCE IN THE USA, but a US citizen is perfectly OK driving a Mexican car in the USA for up to one year, if he is resident in Mexico during that time. The source of his license is not a factor. One does not need to change a US state license when traveling to, or moving to another country, until the new jurisdiction requires it. Mexican states do not require it.

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The more I think about it, I think the CBP official was incorrect. I looked at the link to CBP website and it says clearly that only a valid DL is required, doesn't specify what kind. 

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On 10/17/2016 at 8:33 AM, tomgates said:

The more I think about it, I think the CBP official was incorrect. I looked at the link to CBP website and it says clearly that only a valid DL is required, doesn't specify what kind. 

>
Back in the day,  the Barney's of the world were given just one bullet - and required to keep it in his pocket, for exactly this reason.

:)

US CBP ?

382px-Don_Knotts_Barney_and_the_bullet_Andy_Griffith_Show.jpg

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