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yodave

Jun 14, 2011, 1:43 PM

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Getting vehicle permit online

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I'm wondering if anyone out there has gotten their temporary vehicle import sticker online and, if so, how complicated did they find it to do? I went to the Banjercito site for doing it but found I had a # of questions about the process, e.g. does one have to cross the border on the exact date the sticker has on it? Or can one cross a day or two after that date-how flexible is that date? Would love to get it online-if it's not a big hassle to do so. Thanks in advance for any help.

Reefhound

Jun 14, 2011, 9:15 PM

Post #2 of 2 (3117 views)

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Re: [yodave] Getting vehicle permit online

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I've gotten it online 4 or 5 times. You can cross after the start date. Or at least I'll say we have always crossed after the start date (we give us room to leave earlier than our planned departure date). There is no check at the border. I wouldn't want to try entering *before* the start date though. You don't want to enter before the start date on your insurance policy, either. We usually get that online the day before departure.

There is some debate as to whether the permit is single entry or multiple entry. If multiple entry is allowed, as I personally think the evidence supports, then it's really a moot point as that would inherently allow entry after the start date.

You must apply at least 10 days prior to your entry date to allow for processing and delivery but in our experience it has always arrived in 3 - 5 days. It comes DHL and they say you are supposed to show the credit card used to pay but the delivery guy has never asked for that.

As for documentation, you are supposed to mail or fax that in. We always bring copies of that with us but have never been asked for it even when stopped at checkpoints and asked for the permit (the sticker alone is not enough, keep the document the sticker was on in the car). The first few times we did not bother to email it in but they tightened up a few years ago and one year after the permit was issued we got a nasty email saying we had like ten days to get it in or we would not be allowed to get another permit. Scanned and emailed the docs, got a reply within 48 hours that we were all good.

You'll pay about $20 more than at the border but i think it's worth it to have that documentation hurdle crossed ahead of time and avoid a sometimes rather long line inside the immigration building. Good luck.