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Immigration office closed


Gerry

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When we crossed at Reynosa this morning (easy route, great road and no delays) access to what appeared to be the Immigration office was barricaded off so we have no entry documents for ourselves or the Canadian plated car. We leave for Canada in three weeks do we need to do anything?

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A foreign plated car without that shiny windshield import sticker will stick out, especially in the daytime.  Do you even have legit Mexican car insurance, meaning without an import sticker will any insurance you bought, be valid?  

Stop driving until you call Spencer to see if there's a remedy.  

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Definitely see Spencer at Chapala Law. 

You and your vehicle are in Mexico illegally, and your excuse will make no difference. It was your responsibility to obtain an FMM Tourist Permist for yourselves, and also to purchase and place a deposit for the Importada Temporal for your vehicle.  As stated above, the slightest infraction, or even a routine checkpoint (and there could be several on your northbound route) would be likely to put you in serious trouble.  Put your car inside a garage and do not drive it.

You have no valid ID for Mexico.

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A few years ago in this thread  http://www.chapala.com/webboard/index.php?/topic/58933-foreign-plated-car-police-incident-guad/&tab=comments#comment-468735

the OP posted this comment.  

http://www.chapala.com/webboard/index.php?/topic/58933-foreign-plated-car-police-incident-guad/&tab=comments#comment-468735

 

 

Quote

 

Gerry

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I am absolutely astonished that there are still people who think that everyone else but them should pay for the cost of building and maintaining the roads which they use. What is wrong with you? I pay full annual taxes in Mexico where I drive for 3 months out of a year. Same thing in Canada where I drive for 9 months of the year. If you want the benefit, share in the cost otherwise stay off the roads. As for the righteous tone of the comments about the police office, his behaviour was wrong. However, illegal residents are equally so.

 

 
 
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Virtually all Mexican insurance policies require that the vehicle must be in Mexico legally.  Gerry's vehicle is not legally in Mexico and his insurance is very probably invalid. 

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What a pity MacIntosh and BisbeeGal couldn't resist taking a "cheap shot" at someone without bothering to get the relevant facts. For the last 18 years I have flown down to Ajijic so the car travel experience is new to me. I checked out what was required to bring the car and people in and attempted to do so. What appeared to be an Immigration office on the route was barricaded off to force traffic through a military check point. A vastly different situation from someone who deliberately drives an illegal, uninsured car. Thinking that someone on this web might be able to give me some practical advice I asked for help as soon as I arrived at the hotel.

I know this is not a "help line" but I did not expect Cyber Bullies to gleefully take advantage of my misfortune. To set you straight on a few points:

i. The car in question is not mine, I was the passenger. I have a Jalisco plated, properly insured, emissions tested vehicle at my Ajijic residence which I legally imported from Canada seventeen years ago. The necessary steps are taken every year to fully maintain its status even though I only drive it 3 months in a year;

ii. To label someone a "common felon" is defamatory unless a court of law has found them to be one, it is not a decision Mr. Mactavish is entitled to make let alone without all the facts;

iii. Since one is able to obtain personal documents at the airport if necessary I anticipate being able to do that.

In the meantime no doubt many of you are sure to be disappointed when you learn that we arrived without any problems, passing through several police and military check points on the way. I will be addressing the documents problem immediately. Please spare me irrelevant advice such as" pray" and "have lots of money". It's a problem that has to be solved - simple as that. No personal insults or cheap shots needed.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Update: Good news. Problem solved without any difficulties. Here's how: I contacted Spencer at his Chapala office. Based on comments on this web and my evaluation of his professionalism (I am a member in good standing of the Law Society of Ontario), I retained him to deal with the matter. He needed an Ontario driver's licence, proof of ownership of the vehicle, proof of insurance, and an Ontario address. After a meeting in his office (of no more than 20 minutes) the Application was in process and we were on our way. Five days later (there was a weekend in between) the Import Permit was received in Canada and on its way to Spencer's office by prepaid Fedex. We picked it up from him 2 days later. Simple, and well worth the fee of  about $200 USD. Remember, you pay lawyers for their knowledge. The more they know the simpler the problem looks particularly once it is solved! 

Apparently the problem of closed customs offices is not an uncommon one. In future I try and get the permit before leaving Canada. Failing that, I would ask at the actual crossing where the nearest open customs office is and hope to avoid the problem altogether. Still, if you do have a problem don't let people panic you. It can be solved easily.

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1 hour ago, jimmers1932 said:

Update: Good news. Problem solved without any difficulties. Here's how: I contacted Spencer at his Chapala office. Based on comments on this web and my evaluation of his professionalism (I am a member in good standing of the Law Society of Ontario), I retained him to deal with the matter. He needed an Ontario driver's licence, proof of ownership of the vehicle, proof of insurance, and an Ontario address. After a meeting in his office (of no more than 20 minutes) the Application was in process and we were on our way. Five days later (there was a weekend in between) the Import Permit was received in Canada and on its way to Spencer's office by prepaid Fedex. We picked it up from him 2 days later. Simple, and well worth the fee of  about $200 USD. Remember, you pay lawyers for their knowledge. The more they know the simpler the problem looks particularly once it is solved! 

Apparently the problem of closed customs offices is not an uncommon one. In future I try and get the permit before leaving Canada. Failing that, I would ask at the actual crossing where the nearest open customs office is and hope to avoid the problem altogether. Still, if you do have a problem don't let people panic you. It can be solved easily.

What's your relationship to Gerry, the OP?

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On 7/9/2018 at 9:50 AM, Gerry said:

What a pity MacIntosh and BisbeeGal couldn't resist taking a "cheap shot" at someone without bothering to get the relevant facts. For the last 18 years I have flown down to Ajijic so the car travel experience is new to me. I checked out what was required to bring the car and people in and attempted to do so. What appeared to be an Immigration office on the route was barricaded off to force traffic through a military check point. A vastly different situation from someone who deliberately drives an illegal, uninsured car. Thinking that someone on this web might be able to give me some practical advice I asked for help as soon as I arrived at the hotel.

I know this is not a "help line" but I did not expect Cyber Bullies to gleefully take advantage of my misfortune. To set you straight on a few points:

i. The car in question is not mine, I was the passenger. I have a Jalisco plated, properly insured, emissions tested vehicle at my Ajijic residence which I legally imported from Canada seventeen years ago. The necessary steps are taken every year to fully maintain its status even though I only drive it 3 months in a year;

ii. To label someone a "common felon" is defamatory unless a court of law has found them to be one, it is not a decision Mr. Mactavish is entitled to make let alone without all the facts;

iii. Since one is able to obtain personal documents at the airport if necessary I anticipate being able to do that.

In the meantime no doubt many of you are sure to be disappointed when you learn that we arrived without any problems, passing through several police and military check points on the way. I will be addressing the documents problem immediately. Please spare me irrelevant advice such as" pray" and "have lots of money". It's a problem that has to be solved - simple as that. No personal insults or cheap shots needed.

 

Glad to see your  comments and not putting up with criticism and attacks, which many will do on this forum. 

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Glad you were able to get that straightened out with Spencer's help.

Lot's of hysterics in some of these posts and in the U.S. press about how "harsh" Mexican immigration laws are - especially compared to the U.S. Mexico's laws changed in 2011 so the IT'S FELONY comments are no longer accurate. Always good to do a little research (like 2 minutes) and state actual facts.

Welcome back to Mexico, Gerry.

https://www.quora.com/What-happens-to-illegal-immigrants-in-Mexico-when-caught

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