Forums > General > Traveling Mexico

lancetailor

Sep 25, 2011, 5:19 PM

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Bringing van into Mexico

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My wife and I along with an adult friend of ours will be driving into Mexico from Texas in December. We are planning on staying for 5 months and then flying back to the States to work for a couple of months, thus leaving our van in Mexico while we are away. My question is what all do we need to do at the crossing? We are planning on applying for an FM3 once in Puerto Vallarta because we have heard that we can leave our van for longer than 180 days if we get an FM3. I am open to any advice you can send my way.........None of us speak any Spanish, that being said, would it be foolish to attempt the drive? What should I expect at the border crossing (planning on the Columbia crossing because we heard it was easier than Nuevo Laredo)? What about insurance on my Honda Odyssey, do I have to get Mexican insurance? Will our Verizon phones work in Mexico if we break down and need to make an emergency phone call? If we cross at 8am, how far can we make it before sundown? Again, we are newbies to this and would appreciate any wisdom you can share with us. Thanks!

(This post was edited by lancetailor on Sep 25, 2011, 5:31 PM)

chinagringo

Sep 25, 2011, 6:29 PM

Post #2 of 8 (1412 views)

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Re: [lancetailor] Bringing van into Mexico

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Way too many questions and I would suggest some diligent research. One thing that you need to learn about Mexico is that the only consistent thing is the inconsistency! An answer given for one particular border crossing may not be relevant at another. The same can be true between one Immigration Office to another. To compound this, Mexico recently passed a new Immigration Law without any rules or regulations as to its implementation. There has been an abundance of speculation as to how the new law will be applied but they are still working on the details.

If I were in your shoes, I would probably start here:

http://rollybrook.com/...Directory.htm#Useful
Regards,
Neil
Albuquerque, NM

YucaLandia

Sep 25, 2011, 7:19 PM

Post #3 of 8 (1395 views)

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Re: [lancetailor] Bringing van into Mexico

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According to the requirements of the new immigration law, there should be new INM Regulations written by the end of November. There will be no FM3/No Inmigrante or FM2/Inmigrante or Inmigrado permits under the new law and new regulations.

The characteristics of the new INM categories of Residente Temporal and Residente Permanente (replacing FM2's & FM3s) have not been fully described, and as such, the future rules for Temporarily Import permits for foreign plated vehicles has not yet been described and are not known for December entries. You can notify Aduana and Banjercito at the border that you intend to get Residente Temporal approval from INM, and ask them how to get a Temporary Import permit for your vehicle. Since the new rules have not been issued, none of us can tell you how things will work in December, which will likely be just a few weeks after the new rules are due to be issued.

Most likely, you will be able to get a Temporary Import permit for your vehicle, and have it recorded to be linked/attached to your INM approval.
steve
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Read-on MacDuff
E-visit at http://yucalandia.com

lancetailor

Sep 26, 2011, 3:33 AM

Post #4 of 8 (1362 views)

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Re: [YucaLandia] Bringing van into Mexico

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Looks like I will just have to wait to see what changes are that will be made. Gracias!

RickS

Sep 26, 2011, 12:02 PM

Post #5 of 8 (1295 views)

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Re: [lancetailor] Bringing van into Mexico

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Well, I'll tackle some of your questions.... Rolly's site will be of great help to you also.

"None of us speak any Spanish, that being said, would it be foolish to attempt the drive?" No, of course not. Thousands do it every year.... maybe every month! And you are headed along a route taken by many non-Spanish speaking travelers.

"What about insurance on my Honda Odyssey, do I have to get Mexican insurance?" You will definitely need/want to have Mexican car insurance but it is easy to get on-line. Rolly's site mentions several.

"What should I expect at the border crossing- Colombia?" Rolly's site will cover this in detail. As has been stated, new rules are currently being implemented so stay tuned!

"Will our Verizon phones work in Mexico?" ***Yes, according to the post below.*** Also if you stay mostly on toll roads (cuotas), they are patrolled by the Green Angels.... Mexican trucks who will help you if you break down. And, included in the fees for the toll roads is a towing service.... free.

"If we cross at 8am, how far can we make it before sundown?" You route is heavily traveled by many tourists. The general rule of thumb is to cross early as you have indicated. Getting through Colombia crossing shouldn't take more than 1 hour, probably less. You didn't say where you were coming from in Texas and there are other good crossing if you are coming from a more northerly area. If coming from Colombia, you will stay on the cuota and skirt Monterrey, skirt Saltillo and probably stay in Matehuala for the evening. Then maybe Guadalajara the next night and on to PV the next day.

P.S. This site has a search function... just go up to the top, click on Search Posts, then put something in the 'search string' (say, border crossing) and then Search. You'll get all the past posts which talk about your 'border crossing' topic. Be aware that some of the posts may be real old and may be out of date so look at the date on the post.

(This post was edited by RickS on Sep 26, 2011, 6:39 PM)

chinagringo

Sep 26, 2011, 12:17 PM

Post #6 of 8 (1289 views)

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Re: [RickS] Bringing van into Mexico

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With respect to Verizon, you may wish to look at:

http://b2b.vzw.com/...ationwidemexico.html
Regards,
Neil
Albuquerque, NM

RickS

Sep 26, 2011, 12:21 PM

Post #7 of 8 (1287 views)

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Re: [chinagringo] Bringing van into Mexico

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Good. I stand corrected!

lancetailor

Sep 26, 2011, 5:03 PM

Post #8 of 8 (1261 views)

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Re: [RickS] Bringing van into Mexico

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You guys are awesome! Thank you all so much for the help. I'm feeling much more confident that our trip will be a success!

(This post was edited by lancetailor on Sep 26, 2011, 5:04 PM)