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Getting visa and TIP in US


freewilly

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I am seeing that you can get these at Mexican Consulates, and I hope to do so in Austin on my way down in 3 weeks.

I have never got a TIP before as we traveled in Sonora and Baja for 8 years. So...can I get these at the office at the consulate and then do I stop at entry to Mexico and get them validated? 

Any info or advice welcome....

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We get our TIP online and it is delivered to our home in about 10 days or often less.  The process is described at the Banjercito website.  You will be preapproved for your visa and will receive the TIP to put on your car windshield when you enter Mexico, and the cost can be put on your credit card.  The preapproved visa is exchanged at immigrado for the one you will keep and return when you leave. When you leave,  you will also stop at the Banjercito 'hut' before you hit the actual border and give in the papers that come with the TIP, and remove the sticker, and your deposit of, I believe $400 US will be refunded to your credit card.   Doing it this way makes the border crossing a little shorter when entering Mexico.    I believe doing it online costs you an extra $20 over doing it in person, but to us, the convenience is worth the cost.  

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32 minutes ago, stuphel said:

The preapproved visa is exchanged at immigrado for the one you will keep and return when you leave.

If you planning to have temporale or permanente residency you don't 'exchange' the preapproved visa. You APPLY with immigration once you are at the destination in MX that you plan on being at for at least a few months.  Once you have your residency card it is yours it doesn't get returned.  Temporale residency is usually one year, then you have to reapply for a further 3 years. After that you have the option of (a) starting the process all over again (if you want to stay temporale) or (b) becoming permanente.

Now if you are only coming in as a tourist then Stuphel might be right, although I've never heard of anyone 'exchanging and or returning' a tourist visa.

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I suspect that there is confusion here.  Does the original poster (OP) want to apply for a residence visa, which must be done at a consulate, or does he just need a tourist permit for 180 days, or less?   A visa approval must be applied for, and there are financial proofs needed by the consulate, etc.  If granted, there are strict timelines and procedures required to process the actual visa with INM at the Mexican destination, with added proof of residence. It can take months to accomplish, while residing in Mexico.

Contact the Mexican consulate, or their website, for details.

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If  you cross near McAllen at Anzalduas or Pharr/Hidalgo early morning around 6:30 or 7:00 A.M., you'll likely be very close to the front of the line to fill out your Immigration Permit and TIP forms.  Aduana is right there.  Very simple process and you'll be on your hassle free way in a half hour or less.  Laredo is a totally different story and I'd advice avoid crossing at the Laredo International Bridges I or II at all costs.  Google Border Wait Times complete listing of bridges, times of operation and usual wait times.

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One can get the TIP and a Tourist Card online and you should have time before you leave. I have never had it take more than 5 days to get mine to my house delivered by either FedEx or DHL. One still must stop at the border going in, I think, with the Tourist Card one gets online. 

IF your are talking about going to the Mex Consulate in Austin because you are/will be applying for a Residente Temporal visa, then you will also still have to stop at the border to 'present that paperwork'. IF this is the case you would NOT want to get a TIP online but rather wait until that stop at the border... as the TIP that you will get there as part of that process will be good for the 30 days as will your in-process visa. 30-days is the time you have to present all that paperwork to INM at the place you are planning on living. When you do that you will also want to go to Aduana and 'tie the 30-day TIP to your newly acquired Temporal (although you want actually have the  finished Temporal for several more weeks or a month or?).

IF you were just going to the Mex. Consulate in Austin to get a TIP and are actually coming in on a Tourist Card personally I would just get them all at the border since you have to stop there anyway.  If you are coming "through Laredo", we all highly suggest that you cross at the Colombia Solidarity Bridge in the Laredo vicinity at get both your Tourist Card and TIP there. It is a VERY lightly traveled crossing with knowledgable agents. In and out in a flash. 

BTW,  bojackson, one cannot do a vehicle crossing at the "downtown" Bridge I in Laredo... that is for pedestrians only... and maybe other privileged types but not us peons. 

 

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Yes, I should have clarified that I was talking about getting a TIP  and pre-approval for a Tourist Visa online.  In that case you must stop at Immigrado and show (exchange) your pre-approval for the actual Tourist visa---which takes very little time.  As when you fly, you keep the paper visa and return it when you go back through the border to the States.

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Wow. Thanks for your efforts....I did not think I could confuse so many folks so fast....

Some of you were right on, some tried to help and thanks.

1. I have ordered my visa approval online before and WRONGLY assumed the TIP would be provided the same way. After many attempts to get the site to work properly, I was informed that the tip would be mailed and the estimate was not timely for me leaving Canada (2 weeks tonight!). No go there.

2. I am only talking about the visa, not residency.

3. The site that told me the mailing time suggested attending a Banjercito in one of the US sites.  That seemed to be a good idea because on the day I pass the consulate in Austin I have LOTS of time. I also assume that the US based employee will be well trained and speak english. (Or maybe one of the two?) I have found that is NOT the case at the border, or at the Sonora only office in Empalme. They did not know their own rules. It was a real hassle.

One small wrinkle, which people (who should know) assure me will NOT be a problem...but we are talking MX here....the car is owned by me, my wife and oldest son. Son is not along, of course. So I just want to have as little hassle as possible....and know if there is a problem before I have crossed the Rio Grande.

The tips on Laredo are welcome. I was just wondering where to cross.....

Willy

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Nope, never been to UK.

Everyone I have talked to has called the 180 visitors permit a visa. You made me go look for documentation.

Apparently it is actually called a VISItante. Note the VISA part?

The fmm is called a Visa de Residente Temporal. At least according to one site.

 

All interesting but has ANYBODY gone through the process at a Mexican Consulate??????????

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Visitante means visitor in Spanish. No Residente Temporal or Residente Permanente visa/card is called an FMM.

Some countries do require a visa to enter Mexico as a tourist not a FMM tourist card.

Most people on this site do have a Residente Temporal, Residente Permanente or are Naturalized citizens of Mexico. 

RT and RP visa/card holder use an FMM to leave and re-enter Mexico. FMM stands for "forma migratoria multiple " and has several options to check off not only is it a tourist permit. The person applying for a FMM fills out the form.

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5 hours ago, freewilly said:

Nope, never been to UK.

Everyone I have talked to has called the 180 visitors permit a visa. You made me go look for documentation.  Then unfortunately you've been talking to the wrong folks. Lots of folks call lots of things by their wrong name because they don't know any better.

Apparently it is actually called a VISItante. Note the VISA part?  Willy, you are reaching here, but not even close. Alan corrected that fallacy. 

The fmm is called a Visa de Residente Temporal. At least according to one site. Again, regardless of what might have been said 'on one site', FMM is actually 'just' the form.  Since the Tourist Card....note I did not say visa .... makes use of the FMM form (only one of its many uses) many folks mistakenly refer to the Tourist Card.... or Visatante.... as an FMM when they say what they have. Understandable mistake for the misinformed.


All interesting but has ANYBODY gone through the process at a Mexican Consulate??????????   Although one can ceratainly do what they wish, I am still baffled as to why one/you want to go to a Mexican Consulate to get a Tourist Card and TIP.... unless it's just to use up your 'Lots of Time in Austin'. You will be able to accomplish what you want at ANY border crossing coming into Mexico. It's what those folks do every day all day. The fact that the vehicle title has several names on it is of no consequence to getting a TIP as long as YOUR name is one of the names on it and YOUR name is spelled on the title EXACTLY as it is on your US Passport..... No Bill on one and William on the other.  Past that, it's child's play to get either/both a Tourist Card and a TIP at the border. Like I said it's what and all they do all day long.   

As far as what crossing..... for the easiest and quickest crossing many/most folks use the Colombia Solidarity Crossing just a few miles west of downtown Laredo. Usually not much of a line and VERY easy to find. The downtown Laredo Bridge II crossing is pretty hard to find and is not intuitive unless you've been there before. FYI, Bridge I also downtown is not used for auto crossings.... at least not the type you will be doing. 

If you want to break up the 11+ hour trip from Laredo to the Chapala, many folks stop 'about' half way in Matehuala. Several hotel/motels there including the well worn Las Palmas Midway Inn. If you stay there.... and they also have a restaurant.... I recommend walking across the street and treat yourself to dinner at the La Noria Restaurant. 

 

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My plan is shaped by my experience...standing in the cold at the Nogales KM 21 is one experience.

The other is being sent back for more paperwork at Empalme, only to find that was not acceptable anyways.... And that is a place where they do Vehicle permits all day!

Glad you have good experiences. THAT is why I will stop in a Banjercito in Austin and will share my experience there...since nobody has ever done it, apparently.

We are leaving from Blanco TX, passing through Laredo mid morning. 

Stopping in Saltillo overnight at the City Express as suggested.

Then spending 3 nights in Zacatecas as it is our first time in the area.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just thought I would close up this thread with my actual results. Just before I went through Austin I looked at Google reviews for the Mexican consulate. Wow that is one messed up place from the reviews. So I skip that option and decided to take my chance at Laredo Colombia bridge.

We had the best experience we have ever had coming into Mexico. Big contrast to nogales. we didn't wait in line at any of the three places we had to do business inside the one building. All of the staff spoke enough English for us to get by. Was no problem with my title which technically might have raised eyebrows. To detail to go into that. We were in and out of there in half an hour and there were possibly three other couples doing business in that half-hour

Wish our earlier passages....about 8..... I've been half as efficient and easy.

Biggest mistake was not eating before we turned towards the Columbia bridge....

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