BajaNomad

FM-T in Cabo?

Casey67 - 11-16-2009 at 01:19 PM

I'll be picking up my sister and niece at the Cabo airport and taking them to various places around the La Paz / Cape areas for 2-6 weeks during my long Baja trip this winter. How do they get an FM-T or such for their stay?

Actually, I flew into Cabo for 2 weeks at a Cabo resort in Dec 2007 and don't recall getting an FM-T, or thinking anything of it while I was there. I only got a stamp in the passport on the way in. Is there something special/different about flying in?

mulegejim - 11-16-2009 at 01:28 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Casey67
I'll be picking up my sister and niece at the Cabo airport and taking them to various places around the La Paz / Cape areas for 2-6 weeks during my long Baja trip this winter. How do they get an FM-T or such for their stay?

Actually, I flew into Cabo for 2 weeks at a Cabo resort in Dec 2007 and don't recall getting an FM-T, or thinking anything of it while I was there. I only got a stamp in the passport on the way in. Is there something special/different about flying in?


When I have by air to Mexico the FMT was included in the fare for the flight. I would think that would be true for these folks also.

Bajahowodd - 11-16-2009 at 01:31 PM

Correct. If they are flying to Cabo from outside Mexico, the airline provides the forms, usually in-flight. The cost is built into the ticket. It gets stamped upon entering the terminal by Mexican immigration.

Casey67 - 11-16-2009 at 04:26 PM

Thanks for the info. I may remember the form on the plane but don't actually recall if Mexican immigration ever gave me anything that I gave back when I left. Oh silly tequila :)

Paulclark - 11-16-2009 at 05:05 PM

You need your copy to leave the country. If you lost it you will have to go to immigration and buy a new one ---

Bajahowodd - 11-16-2009 at 05:21 PM

Thanks for pointing that out. It's a pet peeve of mine. If I got to the Migra at San Ysidro and pay the twenty-something dollars, they give me a 180 visa. Although there has been dialogue on other threads here about it, as far as I can tell, that visa is a 6 month, multi-entrance document, inasmuch as Mexico has not established any convenient or well publicized method to surrender the visa upon leaving the country. So, Let's say I'm flying Alaska Air on the three night package to stay in Cabo. They charge me that same twenty-something dollar amount, but will refuse to let me board my return flight if I do not surrender the document. So, is there a clearly established legal difference between foreigners entering via flight? Since I can supposedly obtain a free 7 day FM-T at the border, is there a sweetheart deal between Mexico and the airlines? I know what some are going to say. In Mexico, do not expect consistency.

bajalou - 11-16-2009 at 06:48 PM

They issue them for your expected stay in Baja. If you tell them 180 days, that's what you get. But if you have plane reservations in and back out, that's the length of your FMT.

gnukid - 11-17-2009 at 09:41 AM

Casey,

You need to get an FM-T. You can speak to an expiditer though you have to explain your problem that you arrived in 2007 and are out of date and normally this requires that you leave the country and return. Ask an expiditer to help you and you will pay for their help estimated $30 for the visa $30 for the help. Otherwise you can go directly and plead your case though you don't have a good case to plead. At least you are thinking about it-that's the first step. There are no visa checkpoints in the south but you should get current immediately.

You could speak to http://www.thepaperchase.com.mx/blog/

Your pals will have their visas included in their flight as you did as well.

Good luck

David K - 11-17-2009 at 10:44 AM

Gnu, I don't think Casey arrived in 2007 and never left...

See above this: "I may remember the form on the plane but don't actually recall if Mexican immigration ever gave me anything that I gave back when I left."

In the first post this: "during my long Baja trip this winter"

Casey67 - 11-17-2009 at 11:12 AM

David is right. Part of me never left, but my body came home and went back to work. I'm driving down in ~5 weeks and will grab a 180 day FM-T on the way in.

gnukid - 11-17-2009 at 05:30 PM

No problem. All is well! When I passed the border I found the inm worker there at 3:30am and happy to help while every other official person in the vicinity explained that the border is free and open and no one needs a visa anymore. So I keep encountering people with no visa in the south who are trying to get the INM down here to help-they pay a fine and get it usually.

shari - 11-18-2009 at 08:19 AM

Last christmas my nephew flew into Loreto and the airlines kept their FMT's!!! they didnt know they should have them with them...so be aware of this and if the airline wants to hold onto them...tell them you need to have the visa on you.

karenintx - 11-18-2009 at 09:49 AM

Your posting states "picking up at Cabo airport" so I am assuming they will be flying in on an USA carrier. That being said, on the plane the flight attendants will provide each of them a Immigration form which they will fill out/sign. This form is given to the IMS agent when they enter the building...before they will get their luggage. The IMS agent will stamp passport(s) then tear off the bottom part of this form and normally place it in the passport. They need to confirm this before walking away from the IMS desk. This is their FM-T form they need to give back to the airpline the day of departure. Do not lose this as I have heard IMS can charge as high as $100 USD for a replacement. Also on the plane as a family traveling together with the same last name they will be given a second form. They only need ONE for the two of them and this form is for the Customs Agent...declaring what they are bring into Mexico. After getting their checked luggage (if they have any) they will proceed to the x-ray machine line where all carry-on and checked luggage have to be ran through the machine. Once they retrieve their belongings they will hand the Customs form to the agent and then push the red/green light" button. Red light means the agent will open all luggage...Green light means "GO".

They will then exit throught the tall sliding glass doors to their left where they are now into the "Sea of Timeshare Salesperson"...their newest BFF's! Tell they not to stop, do not listen but smile and say "No Thank You I live Here" and walk like they mean it. They can exit to the left through a second set of tall sliding glass doors where there is an area for you to wait. There is food and booze in this area. If they exit to the right they will have to walk a little futher to get out of the building and this is the area where the shuttle/hotel busses are.

This maybe too much info but it sounds like they are new to the area so hopefully it is good info.

NOW, the information I have provided is NOT, I repeat is NOT for the Alaska Airlines Terminal. I never have flown into that terminal...this is for the what we call "The First Terminal" at San Jose Airport...aka Cabo Airport.

The way the airport is set up the only people handling or touching your
FM-T form is IMS agents...there are no Airline Employees around to take/keep the form like Shari had mentioned what happened in Loreto. They just need to confirm the IMS agent put the FM-T in the passport or hands it to them.


Buena Suerte


.

[Edited on 11-18-2009 by karenintx]

Bajahowodd - 11-18-2009 at 12:25 PM

The Time Share Pit is a fixture in virtually all tourist destination air terminals in Mexico and is the same at the Alaska terminal in SSJD. That said, I am just a tad confused with Shari's post as to who or why anyone would keep a passenger's FM-T. Especially since the same airlines make the same flights regularly. It does remind me of one flight we took to SJD several years ago on American just as they inaugurated their service to Cabo. They actually did not have the forms on board. As we began our descent passing La Paz, I was quizzical. And sure enough, we literally had to line up out the terminal door onto the tarmac, as blank forms were passed out to us, and had to fill them out, best we could while standing. That was the first and only time this ever happened to us. I don't know if an LA-based employee just forgot to store the forms onboard, but it would seem unusual for the airline to be lacking in the knowledge of the requirement.

karenintx - 11-18-2009 at 01:48 PM

Yep that's what happened...part of the "Head FSM" job is to confirm before push back that the "Immigration Bag" is on board! Your are lucky they let you get off the plane...by law the airline is suppose to bring the forms to the plane, have passengers fill them out then let them deplane.

Airline probably trying to make a quick "turn" so everyone closed their eyes!