BajaNomad

Trade new FM3 Book for Card at Mexicali West

bonanza bucko - 6-7-2010 at 07:08 AM

Does anyone have experience trading a new FM3 book for the card at the border? We are going through Mexicali West next week and will need to do that.

How long does it take? Is there parking near Migration? Hope there is no cost and a trip to the bank...we already paid the $36 for the visa part of it...stamped US passports to prove it.

karenintx - 6-7-2010 at 07:30 AM

When does your FM3 expire? That is when you have to apply/turn-in your current book. Until then you will do what you have done in the past.

meme - 6-7-2010 at 08:02 AM

You can only apply for the new card 30days ahead of expiration date of your present FM-3

karenintx - 6-7-2010 at 08:11 AM

At the CSL INM they are allowing people to start their renewal process six week ahead of their expiration date. I know this for sure as my friend's FM-3 expires on July 17th and as of last Friday she has her new FM-3 card.

This may only be in CSL...finding out that there is no consistency between all the INMs in the Baja.

meme - 6-7-2010 at 08:17 AM

30 days seems to be the rule here in San Felipe.

bonanza bucko - 6-7-2010 at 08:47 AM

Sorry...guess I didn't explain enough. We have NEW FM3 booklets and the lady who gave them to us in the San Diego Consulate office said we MUST turn them in at Migration the first time we crossed the border for FM3 CARDS...the laminated ones.
So my questions have to do with that process.

karenintx - 6-7-2010 at 08:58 AM

Mmmm...now that is I am not for sure about that.

I was under the impression as of May 1st when applying for an FM-3 in the USA a person would not get "a FM book." Instead a "sticker" would be placed in your USA passport then you would have 30 days to get to an INM office were you could get a FM-3 card and the sticker would be removed.

I would be interested in hearing the outcome of your experience.

Good Luck.

bajalou - 6-7-2010 at 09:15 AM

You are probably going to be the test case for this situation, at least on the Nomad board.

gnukid - 6-7-2010 at 09:57 AM

You misunderstood, the lady said go to immigration after you cross the border and register and exchange the books for cards at your home office. You will get them stamped at the border and proceed to your regional office, if that is Mexicali West, give it a shot. Expect confusion, you will need photos and forms completed again on line in advance I would expect, simply because the cards are not created from the book, they need the requisite forms, photos and so forth. Also the time from the original book date may versus your crossing date may be significant though it's hard to know. Pls report back after you cross, stay calm, laugh and do not get frustrated, it may take a few tries.

DianaT - 6-7-2010 at 10:02 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by gnukid
stay calm, laugh and do not get frustrated, it may take a few tries.


Good advice that is not always easy to follow. :biggrin:

This one will be interesting to follow.

Riom - 6-7-2010 at 10:09 AM

Possibly you've been given FM-3 booklets if the passport labels (stickers) haven't yet arrived?

As far as I understand it the purpose of those stickers is an entry permit to allow you to enter Mexico so that you can then go through the application process for your first FM-3 in your new home town in Mexico (not at the border).

For somebody from a country where you don't need a visa to be allowed to apply to enter (such as a US citizen), it's hard to see any advantage in requesting one of these at the consulate, and there is a disadvantage - you have 30 days to apply for your FM-3, rather than the 6 months of an FMM.

Rob

oladulce - 6-7-2010 at 10:09 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by bonanza bucko
Sorry...guess I didn't explain enough. We have NEW FM3 booklets and the lady who gave them to us in the San Diego Consulate office said we MUST turn them in at Migration the first time we crossed the border for FM3 CARDS...the laminated ones.
So my questions have to do with that process.


In October, the same lady at the San Diego Consulate told us we had to have the guys at the border fill out the first page of the FM3 booklet and authenticate the document- which was not the correct information because to make the book official we had to re-apply and submit everything again in La Paz.

It seems like she should know, but from personal experience she did not provide the correct info for what happens after you leave their office.

bonanza bucko - 6-7-2010 at 10:13 AM

OK......I guess my options are to try the Migration office at Mexicali west and expect them not to be able to issue the card and keep the FM3 book. Does anyone know if we can go to our local Migration office....San Felipe in our case...and get this done? If so where is the San Felipe Migration ofice?

Riom - 6-7-2010 at 10:18 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by bonanza bucko
OK......I guess my options are to try the Migration office at Mexicali west and expect them not to be able to issue the card and keep the FM3 book. Does anyone know if we can go to our local Migration office....San Felipe in our case...and get this done? If so where is the San Felipe Migration ofice?


The San Felipe INM office is just off the traffic circle. That circle has two Pemex stations - the IMN office is the white building just north (away from town) of the newer Pemex on the north-eastern side of the traffic circle. So if you're coming from out of town, loop round the circle 360 degrees then park. From town, go past the Pemex on your right as if heading out of town, then immediatly park.

Rob

bajaguy - 6-7-2010 at 10:19 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by oladulce
Quote:
Originally posted by bonanza bucko
Sorry...guess I didn't explain enough. We have NEW FM3 booklets and the lady who gave them to us in the San Diego Consulate office said we MUST turn them in at Migration the first time we crossed the border for FM3 CARDS...the laminated ones.
So my questions have to do with that process.


In October, the same lady at the San Diego Consulate told us we had to have the guys at the border fill out the first page of the FM3 booklet and authenticate the document- which was not the correct information because to make the book official we had to re-apply and submit everything again in La Paz.

It seems like she should know, but from personal experience she did not provide the correct info for what happens after you leave their office.





After the booklet is issued by the Consulate, you have to get the booklet "stamped" at the border, then registered in your municipality (which is like going through the whole process all over again).

bajalou - 6-7-2010 at 10:19 AM

Migra is located on the glorieta, almost all the way around if you're coming from Mexicali. It's a white building, you have to go up a stairway to get to the office.

gnukid - 6-7-2010 at 10:31 AM

It would seem that Mx consulates on foreign territory are not connected to Mx immigration within the country.

bonanza bucko - 6-7-2010 at 11:03 AM

WELL.....we'll see what happens. We have the new FM3 Booklets and we have the stickers in our US passports and, it seems, all we need is to turn the stickers into laminated cards....somewhere...but there are multiple opinions about that here...also about the process to get to the new laminated cards...some say we need to stop at the border to get stamped first and then go to our local (San Felipe) Migra office to get the cards. Others, including the nice lady in the consulate, said we could do that at the Migra office at the border.

So confusion.

It's also unclear how long we have to do that. The FM3s are good for a year from now but the sticker in our US Passport says it expires in December 2010.

So...if anyone has any FACTS....not opinion based on conjecture...please lemme know.

Riom - 6-7-2010 at 12:16 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bonanza bucko
It's also unclear how long we have to do that. The FM3s are good for a year from now but the sticker in our US Passport says it expires in December 2010.

So...if anyone has any FACTS....not opinion based on conjecture...please lemme know.


As you're the one with the FM3 booklet and the stickers, you're the one with the facts. :-) What is the sticker described as?

I've read elsewhere that FM3s are still being issued at consulates, with a different cut-off date for each consulate on when they will stop issuing them (maybe when they run out).

So it's probably a random blended combination of the old and new systems for a good while yet (and the new system is being applied differently at each place anyway). In other words, even the "facts" from somebody else probably wouldn't help you... :-)

BajaBlanca - 6-7-2010 at 12:53 PM

how confusing ..... :?::?::?:

bonanza bucko - 6-7-2010 at 03:07 PM

I got a reply to the nice lady at the Consulate to my questions as above. Here's what she said: 1.)We must stop a port of entry within 30 days of the date on the FM3 to have it stamped. 2.)We must then go to the Migra office where we reside and turn in our FM3 booklets and get a "temporary visitors' card...they will hold the FM3s and, 3.)We will then get a laminated card that will replace the FM3 booklets...that will take about three weeks, she said.

She asked for us to give her feedback on how it went. Guess the Mexican gummint is just as screwed up as ours is.

BB

DianaT - 6-7-2010 at 03:19 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bonanza bucko
I got a reply to the nice lady at the Consulate to my questions as above. Here's what she said: 1.)We must stop a port of entry within 30 days of the date on the FM3 to have it stamped. 2.)We must then go to the Migra office where we reside and turn in our FM3 booklets and get a "temporary visitors' card...they will hold the FM3s and, 3.)We will then get a laminated card that will replace the FM3 booklets...that will take about three weeks, she said.

She asked for us to give her feedback on how it went. Guess the Mexican gummint is just as screwed up as ours is.

BB


The instructions she gave you are the same as before with the exception of the new card now.

You need to have it stamped at the border when you enter Mexico and then turn it in at your local immigration office.

The difference is that in the past the local office processed your booklet----and it was different at every immigration office.

What the immigration office gives you at first right now is the same as before. While the processing is happening, they give you a stamped paper that says they have your FM3 and you are legal---kind of a receipt----at least that is what they are doing at Guerrero Negro.

The real question for you is if you will need the new application form available online and what else to go with it. Right now different immigration offices are requiring different things---and you won't know until they tell you.

One thing for sure is that for your new cards, you will need the very small photos---white background, 3 front views and 2 right profiles. But some offices are asking for black and white and others are asking for color. They are smaller than the one you have in the FM3 booklet.

But whatever your home immigration office has been asking for people who are renewing under the new system, is probably what they will want from you----

So facts, well they do seem to be different at each immigration office----but do get your book stamped upon entering Mexico.

Good luck

[Edited on 6-7-2010 by DianaT]