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patnwayne

Jul 24, 2016, 7:37 PM

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Bringing Household Goods to Mexico

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Hello everyone! We are Pat and Wayne from Virginia. We are retirees and planing on moving to the Progreso area. We are putting our home up for sale, so until it sells, then we plan to buy. We will be renting on our limited budget.

My question is about bringing our stuff. We will be coming on the 6 mo visa at first and thinking about driving so we can have a car. If we drive, we want to bring a few things such as coffee maker and flat screen tv. I've read that you can only bring in your household goods one time with no import fees.
When we come for the first time with just a few things will they count that as our One Time? Or, since we will be on a tourist visa will they just assume that we will be taking those things back home?
FYI, we are actually selling most of our household goods so in the end we won't have that much to bring for the permanent house.
Thank you to any and all who can help me with this question.

RickS

Jul 24, 2016, 9:11 PM

Post #2 of 6 (3840 views)

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Re: [patnwayne] Bringing Household Goods to Mexico

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Don't worry at all about bringing those few items in your car on your first trip. The reality is that they won't even give them a second glance (unless they are all brand new and in their new boxes). When you enter, you will get either a green light (no need to even show anything) or a red light (where they will probably just give your car a cursory check and send you on your way).

You probably already know this, but you will need to get a Temporary Import Permit (TIP) for you car when you get your Tourist Card. It will expire when your 180 day card expires. When you leave [within 180 days], don't forget to stop at/before the border and cancel both your Tourist Card and the TIP. If you need/want any more info about this, just ask.

If you don't already know about this website, it is extremely valuable for folks coming to Mexico. Unfortunately the Saint of a man who developed it, Rolly Brook, passed away last year but his information lives on.

See: http://www.rollybrook.com/Page%20Directory.htm

(This post was edited by RickS on Jul 24, 2016, 9:13 PM)

patnwayne

Jul 24, 2016, 9:19 PM

Post #3 of 6 (3837 views)

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Re: [RickS] Bringing Household Goods to Mexico

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Thanks so much for the info RickS. I will check out the link you provided tomorrow when I'm not so tired. I have read sooo many sites and blogs about moving to Mexico, and the more I read the more complicated it gets and the more confused I become. Hopefully this forum will give me simple answers.

chinagringo

Jul 25, 2016, 6:28 AM

Post #4 of 6 (3802 views)

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Re: [patnwayne] Bringing Household Goods to Mexico

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For about five years, we always brought in various items for our house when flying or driving into Mexico. If questioned, we always indicated that the items were "for our house" in broken Spanish. Never once had to pay duty.

But keep in mind that the Mexican wearing the uniform may tend to have his/her own interpretation of the rules and you will always be at their mercy.
Regards,
Neil
Albuquerque, NM

YucaLandia

Jul 25, 2016, 6:46 AM

Post #5 of 6 (3796 views)

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Re: [patnwayne] Bringing Household Goods to Mexico

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There are several Yucatan-specific sites that describe lots of details on smooth easy ways to do these things.
http://yucalandia.com

and there's a special hidden Facebook group for Yucatan, (hidden to keep out the grouches, grumps and sour people).... with over 1,500 helpful American/Canadian/British folks who live here, who are happy to help & answer questions with detailed useful answers.

Check your mailbox for a PM on this,
steve
-
Read-on MacDuff
E-visit at http://yucalandia.com

(This post was edited by YucaLandia on Jul 25, 2016, 7:24 AM)

patnwayne

Jul 25, 2016, 2:44 PM

Post #6 of 6 (3754 views)

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Re: [YucaLandia] Bringing Household Goods to Mexico

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Thanks again to everyone who contributed to my question. I feel better about it now.