BajaNomad - GUERRERO NEGRO IMMIGRATION

GUERRERO NEGRO IMMIGRATION

BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 12-24-2010 at 12:20 PM

Hola, just posted on the vagabundos website.

Immigration has been removed from Guerrero Negro since Mexico requires that you get your documents validated where you cross. There is a big fine if you try to get it done at Guerrero Negro.

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT

DianaT - 12-24-2010 at 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BAJA.DESERT.RAT
Hola, just posted on the vagabundos website.

Immigration has been removed from Guerrero Negro since Mexico requires that you get your documents validated where you cross. There is a big fine if you try to get it done at Guerrero Negro.

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT

I assume that is just for the FMT----as Guerrero Negro is where we have to go for our FM3?

Bajahowodd - 12-24-2010 at 02:45 PM

I think the devil is in the details. How could one face a fine for trying to get their FMM if there is no immigration facility? Think what the post should have said is simply that FMM is not available at GN, inasmuch as recent changes in the law require all visitors to obtain the proper visa at point of entry.

That said, I was wondering what recent experience has been at the state line regarding having anyone ask for your visa? We've had to pay for the spray. Period. N/B, either ignored completely, or waived on.

woody with a view - 12-24-2010 at 02:57 PM

yep. we wave and keep on going north.

David K - 12-24-2010 at 03:10 PM

There are several 'legal' roads besides Hwy. 1 that cross into Baja Sur and don't have any people from the government standing around. :light:

BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 12-24-2010 at 03:33 PM

Hola,

in response to DianaT,

" IMMIGRATION HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM GUERRERO NEGRO ".

is anyone aware of any other immigration services in the town of guerrero negro ?

or was the little office on mex 1 the only source?

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT

DianaT - 12-24-2010 at 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BAJA.DESERT.RAT
Hola,

in response to DianaT,

" IMMIGRATION HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM GUERRERO NEGRO ".

is anyone aware of any other immigration services in the town of guerrero negro ?

or was the little office on mex 1 the only source?

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT

The little office was the only immigration office for all immigration needs---they were, however, building a new building right there that we assumed would house immigration. That little building was small and a mess.

It used to have just a couple of workers, but now there is a supervisor who is also there, or was ???

Since there are a number of people required to use that immigration location for FM2 and FM3s I just can't imagine it went away---unless it did move into town. It will be interesting to find out.

Before we could get our FM3s renewed out of the La Paz office, but this year with the new card system, we had to use Guerrero Negro. Now you don't think they changed things again, that just couldn't be. :lol:

KurtG - 12-24-2010 at 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajahowodd
I think the devil is in the details. How could one face a fine for trying to get their FMM if there is no immigration facility? Think what the post should have said is simply that FMM is not available at GN, inasmuch as recent changes in the law require all visitors to obtain the proper visa at point of entry.

That said, I was wondering what recent experience has been at the state line regarding having anyone ask for your visa? We've had to pay for the spray. Period. N/B, either ignored completely, or waived on.

I came through there northbound on Dec 8. Nobody from immigration there and the agriculture guy said that the immigration office was closed.

Bajahowodd - 12-24-2010 at 04:48 PM

Doesn't Guerrero Negro have a Port Captain? What with shipping, and the airport, just seems to me that there must be some immigration presence there.

And as far as there being no immigration presence on the main highway, just who is it that would even create a situation that would result in a fine? Having never been stopped by the Federal Police, and having never been asked for a visa at an army checkpoint, just have to wonder if there is any such thing as enforcement. That's not to say that I'm a firm believer in respecting the laws of another country.

BajaBlanca - 12-25-2010 at 11:45 PM

the same fine is applied in santa rosalia now too.

Lee - 12-26-2010 at 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaBlanca
the same fine is applied in santa rosalia now too.

Well, I"ll ask: what's the fine -- in La Paz for FMT?

UnoMas - 12-26-2010 at 04:04 PM

While renewing my fm-3 in La paz recently a guy came in to get his visa that had crossed the border 10 days earlier. His fine and visa cost's were just under 1,500. pesos about the cost of my fm-3 renewal. On my next trip to pick up my documents it happened to onother person but since he didn't include everyone in the office in it I don't know all the details but think that he didn't quite get the money amount of the fine until he got to the bank. :biggrin:

Not sure if it this is time sensitive or not but you should get your visa's at the border when crossing as the penalty for not seems stiff.

Sweetwater - 12-26-2010 at 04:24 PM

I was part of a Baja Mil race team that got tagged there in November....one day before the race issued visitor visa....$50 fine, $25 fee....but they told us it was scheduled to go to $100 fine by Tgiving....looks like they spoke the truth....it cost us half a day to go to town, bank, back to the office to clear the passports...they don't check on northbound traffic...

Bajahowodd - 12-26-2010 at 04:48 PM

Can you elaborate on just how this happened? Sounds like you thought you could do your business in Ensenada.

David K - 12-26-2010 at 05:31 PM

Score had arranged a special INM desk set up in Ensenada for racers to be 'legal' since the race was going into Baja Sur.

acadist - 12-26-2010 at 05:39 PM

But will they still charge you to spray your car with water? :spingrin:

Martyman - 12-27-2010 at 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by acadist
But will they still charge you to spray your car with water? :spingrin:

The "water" had a strong cinnamon smell last month.

Lee - 12-27-2010 at 04:05 PM

I think there is a strong puritan ethic/need to be ''legal'' everywhere. I would encourage everyone to always be legal.

For those FMT's who forgot to get stamped, what are the odds of getting caught? Zero to none?

BajaBlanca - 12-27-2010 at 05:25 PM

we just crossed into mexico yesterday with 2 friends who got their FMT in TJ

it was so fast - it didnt take more than 15 minutes

1. fill out form (and the guy at immig spoke excellent English)
2. walk a bit south and pay at bank window
3. walk back to immig office and get stamped

the best part is that customs then never checked our truck nor car for anything and that ended up speeding up the process of crossing into Mexico as we were LOADED with tons of stuff. None of it illegal but it just takes time to open and look around "stuff".

Great day all around.

Bajahowodd - 12-27-2010 at 05:38 PM

Picking up on the fines in La Paz....

Although I ardently support the notion that one should respect the laws of another nation, I just have to wonder why someone would walk into IMM in La Paz to validate? As was previously posted, unless someone was actually planning to spend a considerable amount of time SOB, it's quite likely that no one will ever ask for the visa.

Oggie - 12-27-2010 at 06:00 PM

On my recent trip to Bahia de los Angeles, I went to GN to check at the Telmex office for phone and internet service in Bahia. I had my turist visa from June. I checked the date on the visa, Jun 10th, and since it was Dec 8th I thought no problems. unfortunately I misread the date. It was 3-Jun-10. The agent at the immigration pointed this out and said I could get a visa there for 262 pesos, but there would be a fine of 1149 pesos. He also said that if they had stopped me traveling north bound with out a current visa the fine would have been tripled.

So I will pay better attention to the dates in the future and count this as krama for all of the times I went to Baja without a visa.

David K - 12-27-2010 at 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaBlanca
we just crossed into mexico yesterday with 2 friends who got their FMT in TJ

it was so fast - it didnt take more than 15 minutes

1. fill out form (and the guy at immig spoke excellent English)
2. walk a bit south and pay at bank window
3. walk back to immig office and get stamped

the best part is that customs then never checked our truck nor car for anything and that ended up speeding up the process of crossing into Mexico as we were LOADED with tons of stuff. None of it illegal but it just takes time to open and look around "stuff".

Great day all around.

Did you walk over and push the button as you exited the parking area and got a green light?

UnoMas - 12-27-2010 at 07:54 PM

Howodd,
I don't know why these people went to La Paz IMN, could be they meant to get it at GN and couldn't or were in such a hurry to get South they just blew it off figureing they would just get it in La Paz, may be had in the past, may be they felt like they should obey the immigration laws of Mexico, take your pick. All I know is the penalty was stiff and am sure these two won't make that mistake again. :lol:

Fees

LarryK - 12-28-2010 at 09:24 AM

A friend recently got there Visa at Santa Rosalia, the fine was 1500 p. or $123

BajaNomad - 1-4-2011 at 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajahowodd
I was wondering what recent experience has been at the state line regarding having anyone ask for your visa?

We were completely ignored northbound on Jan 1.

Pompano - 1-4-2011 at 03:54 PM

I was also ignored northbound... I think.

I don't really recall anybody asking me for anything going north at GN Dec. 16 or 17th?..or maybe it was the 18th?? Anyway, if indeed there was somebody standing at the checkpoint waiting for my papers, he's probably still on my grille. I should probably look...

BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 1-4-2011 at 04:41 PM

Hola,

at the end of october, i went through going north around 2 p.m. and there were immigration types of people just sitting around in front of the old immigration office and i did stop, nobody seemed to care so i just drove right on through.

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT

Bajahowodd - 1-4-2011 at 05:51 PM

Almost seems as if there is almost a reduced interest by Immigration regarding the visas. We've never had to show visas at an army checkpoint. Once, they asked to see the vehicle registration. I'm not boasting, in that I was perfectly willing to pay a fine, but a few years back, after encountering a 2 1/2 hour trip from OC to the border, we realized that we had left our passports at home. Tried to no avail to get visas at San Ysidro, but no luck with our CDLs. So, faced with returning home or pushing on, we actually went down to Cabo, spent a week there, and 13 days overall, with never having obtained visas. As I said, I don't advise it, nor am I proud, because fundamentally, I believe that we should all obey the laws of other countries. However, I just have to wonder that if there are continual posts on this forum that document never having been asked for a visa. if it may not encourage others to become scofflaws.

mojo_norte - 1-4-2011 at 06:52 PM

No budget to fund immigration personnel in remote GN?

krafty - 1-4-2011 at 08:38 PM

We were all legal and drove down to Cabo and no one asked for anything either way-this was last month

UnoMas - 1-4-2011 at 08:53 PM

Wonder what would happen if you had a auto accident or other legal matter if you were in Mexico without permission? Would your insurance co. pay? Would you have a leg to stand on as they say..........Any one have experience with this problem.

shari - 1-5-2011 at 09:12 AM

If you have a legal matter or accident, the police usually want to see your visa and ask for a copy of it...if you are in the country illegally, it can make things tougher for you...depending on the officer you get...but you are at their mercy with no tourist visa.

the military checkpoints dont generally ask for your visa...not their department....so it's one of those things where it seems like you dont need it...till ya need it...then you are sure glad you have it.

I have heard stories about some insurance policies being invalid but I'm not sure if that is the case with all policies...hopefully Geoff will chime in with an answer.

[Edited on 1-5-2011 by shari]

David K - 1-5-2011 at 09:36 AM

Geoff has... the insurance you pay for is good, no matter if you have a tourist card or not.

Afterall, a tourist card is not required for stays of up to 3 (or 7?) days... while in the 'Border Zone' (to Maneadero, to San Quintin, to the Baja Ca Sur border???)

Perhaps now since they removed the one checkpoint they had in Baja to check for them, the entire peninsula is exempt? :wow:

Bugman - 1-5-2011 at 12:30 PM

I have not been asked for any immigration related documents going through Guerrero Negro in at least 3 years (just the 10 pesos for water spray going south). Of course, I had all the proper documents so it never would have been an issue. Had I not had these documents it probably would have been on the one day a year when there was an immigration officer there........

David K - 1-5-2011 at 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bugman
I have not been asked for any immigration related documents going through Guerrero Negro in at least 3 years (just the 10 pesos for water spray going south). Of course, I had all the proper documents so it never would have been an issue. Had I not had these documents it probably would have been on the one day a year when there was an immigration officer there........

Murphy's Law of Mexican Migra policy :lol:

BajaBlanca - 1-5-2011 at 02:18 PM

when we were in santa rosalia, the immigration officer said that everyone needed a visa now, even going to rosarito or ensenada ... is it possible the rules have changed regarding this ???? I should have asked when we were in TJ getting our friends' visas so they could come to la bocana but I forgot ...

David K - 1-5-2011 at 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaBlanca
when we were in santa rosalia, the immigration officer said that everyone needed a visa now, even going to rosarito or ensenada ... is it possible the rules have changed regarding this ???? I should have asked when we were in TJ getting our friends' visas so they could come to la bocana but I forgot ...

There is a 'border zone' that allows tourists to be in for a limited number of days without a tourist card/ visa.

For many, many years the border zone went south to Maneadero and the max. days was 3 (72 hours).

In the past few years after they began charging for a tourist card, the tourism dropped off and Baja State Tourism people began telling folks that the entire state of Baja was in the zone and they could stay a week without a tourist card. The San Felipe tourist folks also wanted to get more folks and made quite a lot of noise about 7 days in San Felipe does not require a tourist card.

Problem is migra is a federal department and nothing from them has been printed with any changes other than a FREE tourist card was now available for trips anywhere in Mexico of 7 days or less.

Charging $23 dollars to enter Mexico where you would spend money really was a bad error in 2000... and they don't seem able to just drop it, like other 'temporary' taxes that get made!

You know it wouldn't be nearly an issue IF the migra personal could just collect the fee when you got the thing. This finding an open bank, waiting in line, returning to the border for the stamp is an insane way to get visitors into ones country! Only Tijuana has addressed this with a 24/7 bank teller in the same building as INM.

Brian L - 1-6-2011 at 09:23 AM

Is it really true that 7 days or less is free? That is a savings of almost $90 for our family. More money to spend on beer and restaurants...

My planned trip in March will be 7 days. Even if I stay a day longer, it would be north of Ensenada at that point, so I would be okay...

David K - 1-6-2011 at 10:10 AM

Well... being back in Ensenada doesn't remove the need for the tourist card... because it is required ANYWHERE in Mexico after the 72 hours period (or maybe 7 days) and ANYTIME you drive south of the border zone (wherever that is).

Americans who just stay in Rosarito on vacation need a tourist card if they stay longer than the 3 or 7 day grace period. Do they? Doubt it... The line for the INM office would be rediculous if every American and Canadian who were going to Baja for more than 3 days or south of Maneadero stopped there to get it... and that is the only place now, without a fine added.

monoloco - 1-6-2011 at 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Almost seems as if there is almost a reduced interest by Immigration regarding the visas. We've never had to show visas at an army checkpoint. Once, they asked to see the vehicle registration. I'm not boasting, in that I was perfectly willing to pay a fine, but a few years back, after encountering a 2 1/2 hour trip from OC to the border, we realized that we had left our passports at home. Tried to no avail to get visas at San Ysidro, but no luck with our CDLs. So, faced with returning home or pushing on, we actually went down to Cabo, spent a week there, and 13 days overall, with never having obtained visas. As I said, I don't advise it, nor am I proud, because fundamentally, I believe that we should all obey the laws of other countries. However, I just have to wonder that if there are continual posts on this forum that document never having been asked for a visa. if it may not encourage others to become scofflaws.

In 30+ years of traveling in Mexico, I have been in accidents, made insurance claims, had numerous infractions, and have been in civil courts cases, and the only time that anyone ever asked me for a visa is when I applied for an FM3 at the immigration office.

Brian L - 1-6-2011 at 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by monoloco

Quote:

But did you have one? Maybe you looked innocent... :coolup: