I have always gotten my tourist visa at Tecate when I cross but this takes finding a place to park several blocks away and walking back to the border.
Is it any easier in Guerrero Negro?Cypress - 9-26-2008 at 01:09 PM
It's very easy in Guerrero Negro. Just north of town at the agricultural road
block on Hwy 1. Not sure if the tourist visa crew are on duty during the weekend or what their weekday schedule is.woody with a view - 9-26-2008 at 01:09 PM
at the state line eagle monument. if the migra guy isn't there i guess you just go on south and if he's there on the way north then you will get it
and have to go into GN to the bank to pay the $20. try to time your passing the monument after 6pm and he won't be there.
FMT
akshadow - 9-26-2008 at 01:50 PM
You can no longer get the document in San Felipe. I was under the impression that all needed to be obtained at the border.
The San Felipe web site states "This visa must be picked up at Immigration office as you enter Mexico. (If you cross the border from Calexico to
Mexicali, the Mexican immigration office is immediately on the right as you cross the border.) You may no longer purchase a tourist visa in San
Felipe."
I know I can no longer sign in and out of Mexico on my FM3 in San Felipe like I did in the past.CaboRon - 9-26-2008 at 03:09 PM
If you now wait until GN you are in violation and will probably be fined. You cannot legally go much further than Ensanada without at least an FMT
....
CaboRonTMW - 9-26-2008 at 04:40 PM
Everytime I've crossed at Tecate and got a visa I just pulled up into the yellow parking spots at the bank on the left just before the crossing island
where the Mexican guards are. I don't know if it's legal to do so but nobody has ever told me not to or run me off.Bob and Susan - 9-26-2008 at 04:45 PM
if you don't get the fmt at the border your fine is $26 plus the visa cost
AND...you get a "toung lashing" for being illegal
don't get i a wreck without the fmt either...bad...805gregg - 9-26-2008 at 06:07 PM
Discover Baja in San Diego, you can get one in the mail.bajabound2005 - 9-26-2008 at 09:34 PM
stop at the border, wherever you cross, and get your FMT!Phillip - 9-27-2008 at 10:21 AM
I always get mine in Tijuana. The office is open 24 hours, which makes early morning departures viable. Pull over to the right just as you're crossing
the border and park (like, 20ft to the right of the pase / no pase lights). There's a row of small offices near the parking spaces. The place to go is
behind that, just ask one of the border agents.
Also, if you ask him to, he will write it for 180 days, which means you'll be able to use it again on subsequent trips with out having to stop for a
new one for every trip. Cost is around US $22.Mango - 9-27-2008 at 05:42 PM
Yeah, this gets covered here every now and again. Basically, get it at the border. Otherwise be prepared to pay a fine and deal
with some hassles.
As Bob and Susan pointed out.. don't get in a wreck without an FMT. I read in at least one insurance policy that the driver needed a valid FMT for it
to be valid!fishsticker - 9-28-2008 at 09:50 AM
I have always been able to get my FMT at Guerrero Negro across from the ag check station at the imagration office. Has something changed in the last
few months? I have never been hasseled there. They always give me 180 days.Bob and Susan - 9-28-2008 at 10:54 AM
since last year...
you NEED to get the FMT at the border or pay a fine
no exceptionsmulegemichael - 9-28-2008 at 12:18 PM
thanks bob/susan.....good info...guess i'll just have to keep finding that parking space..Fred-o - 9-28-2008 at 06:16 PM
You are correct, get the FMT at the border...But, the FMT is only good for a max of 180 days, and you cannot get two of them in the same year. So what
do you do during the second six months? They now keep track by computer. Any other comments on this...please?woody with a view - 9-28-2008 at 06:22 PM
Quote:
You are correct, get the FMT at the border...But, the FMT is only good for a max of 180 days, and you cannot get two of them in the same year. So
what do you do during the second six months? They now keep track by computer. Any other comments on this...please?
i promise you, if you use 180 days on your FMT and go to GNegro (or wherever they issue FMT's) and act like it is your first time thru (figure out
how!) the guy WILL NOT know you are in country already with a soon to be expired FMT. tell them you forgot to get FMT at the border and are WILLING to
pay the fine, along with the fees for the NEW 180 day FMT..... has anyone ever seen them scan ANYTHING that would ID you as being a holder of an FMT
within a year? i think this is wrong info.
report back.....
edit: content
[Edited on 9-29-2008 by woody in ob]robrt8 - 9-28-2008 at 07:08 PM
There is no rule that limits FMT's to one a year and they are not computerized at this time.
No way, if you ask me.David K - 9-28-2008 at 07:16 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Fred-o
You are correct, get the FMT at the border...But, the FMT is only good for a max of 180 days, and you cannot get two of them in the same year. So what
do you do during the second six months? They now keep track by computer. Any other comments on this...please?
Hi... please don't think I am being mean... just the facts as I know them and have been posted hundreds of times, I wish you well in your Baja
future!:
Fred, an FM-T is a TOURIST VISA... Tourist are people on a vacation... Mexico thinks that anything over 6 months (180 days) is there for more than a
vacation and wants you to get a Visa for being a 'foreign resident' in Mexico... an FM-3.
That allows you to rent or own in Mexico, leave personal property behind when you leave Mexico, and is what they ask for to be LEGAL in Mexico.
We in the U.S. complain about illegal Mexicans in the U.S., right? Well, to be in Mexico more than 72 hours or south of Maneadero without an FM-T is
being an illegal Norteamericano tourist... To be in Mexico in a home or trailer to live part or full time without an FM-3 is also being illegal.Bob and Susan - 9-29-2008 at 05:25 AM
this is new...
i got an fmt for my daughter a couple of weeks ago...
the bank imputted a BUNCH of info into the computer off the visa before they took the cash
maybe this is a new tracking method
i always wonder where the copies go when the guy that issues the visas puts them in "the pile"woody with a view - 9-29-2008 at 06:22 AM
i'll observe all of their "new" methods in 10 more days. i'm also going to see if a border crossing card will be accepted in place of a passport or
birth cert for an FMT.CaboRon - 9-29-2008 at 07:21 AM
Good Luck Woody,
And be sure to let us know .... if they accept the smaller passport card it would be one less thing to carry .
CaboRonbiglar - 10-9-2008 at 09:00 PM
I cross at Tecate on my trips south, and have used my alien registration card (I'm a Canadian citizen living in the US) when getting the FMT. 7
times, I had no problem. This year - trip 8 to GN for whale watching - the man at the counter demanded "passeport." I gave him the AR. "PASSEPORT,"
he demanded. "This is my passport," I told him. "NOT PASSEPORT........Go Away ! ! !" I was told. When I persisted, he got very hostile. We had to
drive clear to Ensenada, walk a long way to the bank, and pay the fine. Otherwise, no problem, and no demands for "passeport." Looks like it depends
on the agent you draw. (BTW, I now have a shiny new Canadian passport, so's to avoid future problems)
Just north of town at the agricultural road
block on Hwy 1. Not sure if the tourist visa crew are on duty during the weekend or what their weekday schedule is.