mojo_norte - 1-15-2010 at 09:26 AM
Sifting through recent posts about getting FMT at Tecate.
Many people suggest parking on US side and walking through doing the FMT business and then walking back. I don't really want to go through immigration
just to do this so my question: Is there parking on the Tecate side easy and convenient to the immigration office and can I leave my vehicle there
while I go to the bank and pay? F150 - not towing.
The other post I saw was that the guy had to wait at the bank for an hour to pay - Any experiences here?
I like the concept of staying at Portrero and avoiding the San Ysidro but am wondering if it is worth it for me on the southbound leg.
rts551 - 1-15-2010 at 10:04 AM
You can park on side streets although you might be a couple of blocks away from the border. The bank (across from immigration) hours may have
changed. They used to be open 24/7 but were closed on sunday last dec. I never had a wait there longer than a few minutes. The main bank (couple of
blocks into the city means a long wait.
David K - 1-15-2010 at 10:10 AM
The word from Nomads is the bank that used to be across from INM at the border is no more. The closest bank is many blocks away.
One solution would be to buy a pre-paid FM-T at Discover Baja (member?) and then it can be validated at the border INM office.
Another solution is to cross at Tijuana which has a 24/7 bank teller for FM-T payments at the border.
Finally, if you go for 7 days or less... get a free FM-T.
mojo_norte - 1-15-2010 at 10:28 AM
Last year there was no parking at Tijuana immigration so I was unable to my FMT there. I recall that there is a pay parking lot somewhere past
immigration.
Anyone know where that is?
David K - 1-15-2010 at 10:35 AM
We got our FM-Ts at Tijuana last July... Entered the secondary 'something to declare' area (automatic gate) from the far right lane on I-805.
They were doing construction for the new gates, so it was a busy, late Saturday morning crossing and took us a while to get out, after we got our
FM-Ts.