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mc151004

Dec 11, 2010, 11:57 AM

Post #1 of 11 (3786 views)

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FM3 and Temporary Vehicle Permit

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I am currently in Mexico on an FMM visa but am in the process of applying for my FM3. Due to the holiday season I will not receive it until 1/4/2011. My temporary vehicle permit, on the other hand, expires on 12/19/10. I have spoken to aduana and they stated that the vehicle has to be returned to the US by 12/19/10 or it will be in the country illegally. I am about 14 hours from the border and for obvious reasons like to avoid that area if at all possible. A thought that occurred to me was not to drive the vehicle from 12/20/10 until 1/4/11. My understanding is that once I have my FM3 then the temporary vehicle permit can expire yet the vehicle will remain legal as long as my migration status remains valid. What if the temporary vehicle permit has already expired once the FM3 is finally issued? Will the vehicle still be considered illegal once I receive my FM3 or should I be okay? From reading other forums I think the vehicle may already be illegal since I left the country several times via airplane effectively receiving a new FMM each time. Therefore, the FMM that is tied to the temporary vehicle permit was turned in long ago. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Rolly

Dec 11, 2010, 12:18 PM

Post #2 of 11 (3770 views)

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Re: [mc151004] FM3 and Temporary Vehicle Permit

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The safest thing is not to drive your can until you get your FM3. After that you'll be OK.
Don't worry about the date mismatch. Nobody is going to care.

Rolly Pirate

E-visit me http://Rollybrook.com
On Facebook as Rolly Brook

stevebrtx

Dec 11, 2010, 2:53 PM

Post #3 of 11 (3743 views)

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Re: [Rolly] FM3 and Temporary Vehicle Permit

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As Rolly says, if your FM3 is current, the date on the import really doesn't matter. I was stopped leaving the airport Tuesday morning, I presented my current FM3 and Import papers expiring March 2008, no problem, have a nice day.
www.chapalaweather.net

sioux4noff

Dec 11, 2010, 8:59 PM

Post #4 of 11 (3706 views)

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Re: [mc151004] FM3 and Temporary Vehicle Permit

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Your vehicle permit expires before your FMM? How did that happen, they are normall y both for the same length of time.

Rolly

Dec 11, 2010, 9:45 PM

Post #5 of 11 (3698 views)

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Re: [sioux4noff] FM3 and Temporary Vehicle Permit

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sioux, she wrote:
I left the country several times via airplane effectively receiving a new FMM each time. Therefore, the FMM that is tied to the temporary vehicle permit was turned in long ago.

Rolly Pirate

E-visit me http://Rollybrook.com
On Facebook as Rolly Brook

mazbook1

Dec 11, 2010, 11:02 PM

Post #6 of 11 (3690 views)

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Re: [mc151004] FM3 and Temporary Vehicle Permit

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"Therefore, the FMM that is tied to the temporary vehicle permit was turned in long ago. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated."

All the thoughts on this subject, particularly Rolly's, are correct, but I would like to make one correction to your thoughts.

I hear this "tied to" business all the time and it is just flat not true. Temporary vehicle importation permits (the sticker and the paper it was attached to) are not "tied to" any Mexican visa. Aduana requires you HAVE a valid visa of some sort before they will issue the sticker, but the only things it is "tied to" are your passport number, your drivers license number and your name. There is no cross-checking between Aduana and Migración about the status of the visa that was shown to get the sticker. Now if the Aduana cops, yes there is such a thing, ever check your papers and you DON'T have a valid visa or have an expired sticker with only an FMM visa in your possession, then you are truly busted, and they can (and will) confiscate your vehicle permanently.

sioux4noff

Dec 12, 2010, 11:01 AM

Post #7 of 11 (3646 views)

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Re: [mazbook1] FM3 and Temporary Vehicle Permit

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Rolly, I missed that totally.
Mazbook1, your point is well taken. It is probably better for people to stick to the general concept of the car won't be legal if you don't have a valid visa. The visa is tied, in a way, to your having a legal visa. If there is a gap in that time, then the vehicle permit is invalid at times.
In the case of the OP, getting an FM3 will keep that vehicle legal here in Mexico even if the person leaves Mexico and returns.

mc151004

Dec 12, 2010, 2:50 PM

Post #8 of 11 (3618 views)

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Re: [sioux4noff] FM3 and Temporary Vehicle Permit

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"I hear this "tied to" business all the time and it is just flat not true. Temporary vehicle importation permits (the sticker and the paper it was attached to) are not "tied to" any Mexican visa."

Thanks all for your thoughts and opinions. What I am hearing is that even if the vehicle permit has expired before being issued the FM3 it will still be valid once I receive the FM3. This is great since I will be able to avoid the border for some time now.

Mazbook1, on a couple other boards people had discussed this concept of the temporary import permits not being valid once the importer leaves the country and turns in their FMM. At least one claimed to have discussed with a Mexican official and the official said that once the person leaves the country and turns in their FMM even if they come back into the country on another FMM the permit is technically no longer valid and the car is in the country illegally. Of course, even if this is true I question whether anyone has actually gotten into trouble for this. I am also not so certain that most Mexican officials really know the law so I take the comments with a grain of salt. I will say that on my "Permiso de Importacion Temporal de Vehiculos" form just under where my name is located I see a line that says "No. FORMA MIGRATORIA" and has a number next to it. I presumed that this was the number from my original FMM. Do you know where this number comes from or what it's for?

Thanks again for all the comments.

mazbook1

Dec 13, 2010, 3:01 PM

Post #9 of 11 (3547 views)

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Re: [mc151004] FM3 and Temporary Vehicle Permit

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If the temp. importation permit was gotten with an FMM and the FMM gets turned in at the border (or more likely, at the airline checkin), the vehicle is illegally in México from that time until either a FM2 "rentista" visa or an FM3 visa is in the vehicle owner's possession (or the owner has paperwork showing that one or the other has been applied for). Since neither the expiration date nor the No. Forma Migratoria on a new FMM would agree with the sticker paperwork, the vehicle would still be illegal.

joaquinx

Dec 13, 2010, 4:04 PM

Post #10 of 11 (3536 views)

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Re: [mc151004] FM3 and Temporary Vehicle Permit

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Enough of this legal mumbo-jumbo, Rolly is right. Just don't drive the car until you get the FM2/3. And as for Aduana cops, where do they hang? Certainly not on the highways looking for out of date permits. Local transito don't care.

mazbook1

Dec 13, 2010, 5:50 PM

Post #11 of 11 (3519 views)

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Re: [joaquinx] FM3 and Temporary Vehicle Permit

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The Aduana "cops" are real, but they are mostly concerned with enforcing the Customs laws concerning illegal importation of "stuff", rather than vehicles. But there have been cases where they busted illegal cars, just not many. They are mostly found around port cities.