Exiting Mexico by Land

[peterth]

Having attended the Chapala Immigration workshop and being told that we need to fill out the form coming or going from Mexico. So we get to the Columbia crossing and go to immigration and show our passports and Temporary Resident cards and ask for the form to fill out. We are told the form is only for tourists and that Temporary and Permanent do not fill them out. He stamped our passports but would not give us any forms. This fellow also spoke fluent English so it was not a matter of not understanding our request. Anyone else coming across this.  

[RVGRINGO]

It seems that it is only appropriate when flying, in order to satisfy the airline requirements.  I saw the video and those INM gals seemed uncertain too.  If you are planning on naturalization, just get the passports stamped out and in.  You will need that information later for SRE.

[Paco Loco]

I have a US plated vehicle that I need to remove from Mexico as I have a Residente Permanente visa. Do I need to fill out a FMM at the border or can I just drive out of Mexico, leave the vehicle in the US, and the return to Mexico by air ( no FMM)?

[RVGRINGO]

You need a Retorno Seguro for the car & stop to get its sticker removed and receipted, but you don‘t need to do anything with INM.

[AlanMexicali]

20 hours ago, peterth said:

Having attended the Chapala Immigration workshop and being told that we need to fill out the form coming or going from Mexico. So we get to the Columbia crossing and go to immigration and show our passports and Temporary Resident cards and ask for the form to fill out. We are told the form is only for tourists and that Temporary and Permanent do not fill them out. He stamped our passports but would not give us any forms. This fellow also spoke fluent English so it was not a matter of not understanding our request. Anyone else coming across this.  

This thread above explains what the INM officials were saying at the meeting last week. Click on "Entering/Leaving Mexico" in blue. No need to fill out any part of a FMM when leaving Mexico by land or air. Only fill out the larger top portion of the FMM when entering Mexico by land or air. They keep the top larger portion and throw away the bottom smaller portion as it is only for tourists. Your recent experience proves this which probably was a recent INM memo sent to all INM officials at land crossings and airports. In the video the INM officials didn´t even mention the need to have passports stamped in or out of Mexico for Residente Temporales or Residente Permanentes.

I presume airline personnel will have to stop asking departing legal residents for the bottom smaller portion of FMM cards soon as they are not necessary and only given to tourists. Your resident card should be sufficient to board your international flight as you never needed this card when entering or living in Mexico as proof of being in Mexico legally unlike foreigners that entered as tourists for so many days and need to prove they left the country before the days granted on the tourist FMM card upon entering are up.

This makes perfect sense to me. Just skip going to the INM desk in airports and their office at border crossings - it appears to be a waste of time unless you are planning to become a naturalized Mexican citizen and in that case should have your passport stamped out when leaving and stamped in when returning plus fill out the larger top portion of a FMM card when entering as instructed in the video for 3 years before you apply. They only allow máximum 180 days out of the country in those 3 years to be eligible.

[tomgates]

We have come and gone 3 times by car and never checked in with INM. We have a Mex plated car. 

[RickS]

22 hours ago, Paco Loco said:

I have a US plated vehicle that I need to remove from Mexico as I have a Residente Permanente visa. Do I need to fill out a FMM at the border or can I just drive out of Mexico, leave the vehicle in the US, and the return to Mexico by air ( no FMM)?

RV addressed the first part of your 'situation'. The Retorno Seguro (Safe Return) document from SAT will insure you are 'legal' driving your (now) illegal car out of Mexico. These days it is a pain to obtain one and many people just 'chance it' and drive the vehicle 750 miles to the border hoping they won't 'get caught'. But by all means stop at the border and cancel the temporary sticker (you MUST have the original paperwork the sticker was attached to to accomplish this) to remove this from your 'record'.

The kicker is flying back in where one is 'captive' to Mexican immigration/customs upon landing. The airline once you are onboard will provide you with an FMM form (usually used by tourists to get their tourist card). Being a Permanente you should really only have to show them your card and your foreign Passport to get 'through the line'. BUT, there have been some instances (recently verified by Spencer and others) where the INM Agent there, being used to marking hoards of folks FMM as Visitor/180 days have mistakenly marked some Temporal and Permanente's FMM that way (tourist/180). This has the disasterous affect of, without your knowledge, cancelling your Temporal/Permanente immigration status and making you a tourist! AND if/when you find out you must start all over getting your Residente status back. 

So, flying back in, wise folks will fill out the top portion of an FMM received onboard AND write PERMANENTE or TEMPORAL across the top of the paper/form boldly so the INM Agent will see that and not make a mistake. Another practice would be to hand the Agent your Permanente or Temporal card first (so that it registers with him/her), pause, and then hand them your Passport. This should 'wake them up' to the fact that you should not get a tourist/180 card.

 

 

[RickS]

37 minutes ago, tomgates said:

We have come and gone 3 times by car and never checked in with INM. We have a Mex plated car. 

Driving out and in usually doesn't present any/many chances for something to go wrong. And since your have a Mexican plated vehicle you don't have to 'bother' with a TIP so you can just 'drive on'. The rub sometimes comes when one, say, drives out and flies back in. Then one HAS to interface with INM at customs in the airport.

But as I understand it, if you at a later date decide you want to Naturalize, one of the things you have to do is prove your presence in the Country 'over time'. One of the things they use is your Passport (stamps or no).  That was what RV was alluding to in his Post.