BajaNomad - tourist visa..good a year,or per visit??

tourist visa..good a year,or per visit??

micah202 - 3-17-2011 at 12:58 PM

....howdy,,,yet another tourist visa question....
.......drove down baja in january,,got a tourist visa,,,
....in early march I FLEW out of SJD for awhile....planning to come back after 2-3 weeks,,,,some official was collecting tourist visa's,,,I told her I was returning shortly,,but she took it anyways,,,,,,,I had thought those were valid a year,,,or is it 'per visit'??
.....a ~$23 curiosity...... :spingrin:

DENNIS - 3-17-2011 at 01:03 PM

I think it's good for 180 days, but airlines may have different guidelines.

mulegejim - 3-17-2011 at 01:26 PM

I believe it is per visit, up to a maximum of 180 days - this is why you have to surrender the FMM when flying back to the US because at that point they know your visit is over. Driving is different in the respect that there is no Mexican official at the border asking for the FMM so, in effect, it could be used for multiple trips in a 180 day cycle - not saying it is legal just that that's the way it is. Jim

David K - 3-17-2011 at 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mulegejim
I believe it is per visit, up to a maximum of 180 days - this is why you have to surrender the FMM when flying back to the US because at that point they know your visit is over. Driving is different in the respect that there is no Mexican official at the border asking for the FMM so, in effect, it could be used for multiple trips in a 180 day cycle - not saying it is legal just that that's the way it is. Jim

The best answer I have read in a long time! :light:

turtleandtoad - 3-17-2011 at 02:11 PM

As a typical tourist, you are allowed to be in-country for a maximum of 180 days.

When you enter you are issued a FMM, which starts the clock for that 12 month period. When you leave (and turn in that FMM), that stops the clock.

If the next time you enter the country it's within 12 months from the issue date of the first one, and you still have some of your 180 days left, they issue you a new FMM. You can do this a maximum of 6 times during the 12 month period; still assuming that you have time left on your 180 day limit.

If you use up the 180 days before the 12 months has ended, you will be denied entry until the after the 12 months expire.

This is one reason why it's so important to turn in your FMM when you leave. Otherwise, the clock is still running even though you aren't in Mexico.

It's a little confusing and I'm not sure that the migracion people are totally comfortable with it and may not be enforcing it properly. But, since it's all computerized and linked to the main office in Mexico City, I'm sure the ones that aren't doing it right will hear about it eventually.

Of course this is just the rules for the standard tourist FMM, there are 13 other tourist classification FMM's that have their own rules.

I hope I didn't lose too many people on that explanation. It's taken me months to get it settled in my own mind.

Any questions? There WILL be a test later! :lol:

[Edited on 3-17-2011 by turtleandtoad]

David K - 3-17-2011 at 02:20 PM

"If you use up the 180 days before the 12 months has ended, you will be denied entry until the after the 12 months expire."

That is how I read the new rules for FMM as well... However, when I used that in my answer here (some time ago)... I got jumped on that it wasn't true, there were no limits, when the 180 days expire, you can turn around and get another 180 day tourist card, without waiting for the 12 month period to expire first.

turtleandtoad - 3-17-2011 at 02:57 PM

That's the way the law reads.

But some people may be getting away with getting another FMM before their time. Like I said, not all the migracion people are up to speed on this, and not all the migracion offices are on-line.

Just don't depend on it! Once the migracion offices come on-line, the local officials won't have a choice; if you've used up your 180 days, the computer will refuse to print out the FMM.

bajalou - 3-17-2011 at 03:00 PM

When my wife went to get a FMM a couple weeks ago at Algodones, she handed them her passport with the FMT she got last year (she spends most of her time in the US).

The official looked at the FMT and said it hadn't been paid (no bank stamp) a she had to pay for last year's as well as the FMM she was getting. The inmigration officer made her FMM up on the computer. After she paid for both years, he gave her passport back and stamped the FMM.

David K - 3-17-2011 at 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajalou
When my wife went to get a FMM a couple weeks ago at Algodones, she handed them her passport with the FMT she got last year (she spends most of her time in the US).

The official looked at the FMT and said it hadn't been paid (no bank stamp) a she had to pay for last year's as well as the FMM she was getting. The inmigration officer made her FMM up on the computer. After she paid for both years, he gave her passport back and stamped the FMM.

Lucky they didn't yell at her for not turning in the FM-T before it expired!

BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 3-17-2011 at 03:35 PM

hola turtleandtoad,

thank you for the great explanation !

will someone please post what the cost of an fmm currently is.

i thank you in advance,

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT

bajalou - 3-17-2011 at 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K

Lucky they didn't yell at her for not turning in the FM-T before it expired!

Couldn't expire if it hadn't been stamped as issued.

Last Thursday the cost was 262 pesos.

sancho - 3-17-2011 at 04:48 PM

This thing gets beat over and over. When flying
into Mex from the US, your ticket has, embedded in the taxes,
the price for an fmm, I don't believe any tourist
can avoid that fmm fee on a flight to Mex.
Perhaps holders of fm3's can.
The 180 day max per yr., is 100% FALSE. Turn your
current fmm before it expires, and you can get a new
one. There is no mythical clock some keep reporting
of 180 days. Can DK or Turtle give ANY example of
a Gringo Tourist being denied entry into Mex beacuse
of a previous fmm living out it's 180 day time?
Of course not, it DOES NOT HAPPEN, the fmm's are
10 1/2 months old, that is the first one's were issued
May1, 2010. The continued reporting of this myth
is INCORRECT, don't you think someone would have
surfaced by now, as being denied a second fmm
in a yr? Stop with the one per yr. it it misinfo

micah202 - 3-17-2011 at 06:37 PM

SANCHO,,that would mean that they'll give me a new tourist card when I head back through SJD,,and I've already paid for it with my ticket and 'taxes'?? ...thanx!

mulegejim - 3-17-2011 at 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K

Quote:

The best answer I have read in a long time! :light:

Thanks, Jim

FMM not returned upon departure

maplea - 3-17-2011 at 07:52 PM

New, to the board but been skulking about since before january when we drove to baja for the first time--fantastic time! Lots of great info and people on this forum--appreciate it all.

We paid for our FMM at the TJ border, had passports stamped, and stayed three weeks and drove back the same way. Couldn't figure out where to return the FMM,and after the chaos of the TJ border crossing (for first timers, anyways), we just continued on to san diego.
So I have my FMM, and my passport was stamped going into mexico. Will I be able to return next january, a year since I went in before.

My FMM expires sometime in early june of 2011.
Should I mail it somewhere so I don't have any problems next january, or just forget it and take my chances. We will be driving down again, thru TJ, again.
thanks.
Maplea

DENNIS - 3-17-2011 at 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by maplea
We paid for our FMM at the TJ border, had passports stamped, and stayed three weeks and drove back the same way. Couldn't figure out where to return the FMM,and after the chaos of the TJ border crossing (for first timers, anyways), we just continued on to san diego.
So I have my FMM, and my passport was stamped going into mexico. Will I be able to return next january, a year since I went in before.

Welcome to BajaNomad, Maplea.
They stamped your Passport? I didn't know they did that.

.

[Edited on 3-18-2011 by DENNIS]

David K - 3-17-2011 at 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by maplea
New, to the board but been skulking about since before january when we drove to baja for the first time--fantastic time! Lots of great info and people on this forum--appreciate it all.

We paid for our FMM at the TJ border, had passports stamped, and stayed three weeks and drove back the same way. Couldn't figure out where to return the FMM,and after the chaos of the TJ border crossing (for first timers, anyways), we just continued on to san diego.
So I have my FMM, and my passport was stamped going into mexico. Will I be able to return next january, a year since I went in before.

My FMM expires sometime in early june of 2011.
Should I mail it somewhere so I don't have any problems next january, or just forget it and take my chances. We will be driving down again, thru TJ, again.
thanks.
Maplea

Yes, there is an address to mail it to... I posted it a few months ago... It came from Discover Baja Travel Club (who sells pre-paid FMMs to members in San Diego). If I can find it tomorrow, I will post it here... Until then feel free to use the Nomad search to find it.

[Edited on 3-18-2011 by David K]

sancho - 3-18-2011 at 11:58 AM

Micah202, If you are flying into Mex from the US,
maybe Alaska Air, doesn't matter, your plane ticket
you purchased in the US will have in the Taxes/fees
section of your ticket cost, the embedded fee for
a new fmm, $22 or so. I've had my passport stamped,
on occasion, I then get an exit stamp behind the entry
stamp. I've read it doesn't matter though. They tend to
take fmm's when flying out of Mex, they tend not
to on a Mex domestic flight, say to TJ. On the fmm form,
it states 'to be returned when leaving Mex', that doesn't
leave much room for interpretation to me. But you
obviously can keep it for repeated land crossings.
Mex Imm can be irritating, you can get a different slant
even from the same Imm Office. Baja Imm will still,
I'm sure, tell you no fmm needed for 7 days or less,
this seems to be strictly a Baja Imm position, no where
on the mainland does this 7 day theory exist. These regs
are Federal, applying to the entire country of Mex,
Baja Officials seem to play loose, it doesn't matter except
in an extreme circumstance, but then it may REALLY matter,
it is rarely clear

[Edited on 3-18-2011 by sancho]

Bajahowodd - 3-18-2011 at 12:11 PM

This topic seems to have a life of its own.

There were some posts that cited the new law. And some posts that noted the new law is either not enforced, or sporadicaly enforced. Similar to the stamping of passports.

The new and current FMM requirements were seemingly implemented to ferret out those people living in Mexico full time on a tourist visa. There are actually some additional benefits to those traveling on business.

However, as history shows, the procedures and enforcement have seemingly always been random.

If and when all Immigration points of entry are in lockstep on procedures, which will also require a cebtral data base to track the time and entry/ exit of FMM holders, there may actually be an unintended consequence, in that very frequent tourists/ vacationers, could ultimately be denied entry until a year expires on their prior FMM.

David K - 3-18-2011 at 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K

Quote:

OKAY, found it... posted a year ago!:

posted on 3-6-2010 at 11:29 AM

Here is that info...

(This came from Discover Baja Travel Club):

Return Tourist permits before they expire to any Mexican Immigration office OR send by mail to:

Instituto Nacional de Migracion
Puente Puerta S/N
Colonia Federal
Tijuana, B.C. Mexico C.P. 22310

(postage is 79 cents from U.S.)

If you fail to have you tourist permit validated when you enter Mexico (using a pre-paid FM-T) or fail to return them before they expire you could be fined up to $220 dollars for each permit.

DENNIS - 3-18-2011 at 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajahowodd
However, as history shows, the procedures and enforcement have seemingly always been random.

More often non-existant. It's just so many bullcrap rules on the books [or not] that may come in handy for enforcement should an instance call for some government muscle. Make a rule against everything immaginable and the government is never wrong....legally, anyway.
Just more Napoleonic Nonsense.

maplea - 3-19-2011 at 09:37 AM

Thanks for the address, David. I will send them there.

I want to make sure I can get back into Mexico, next January, without any huge fine.
Maplea

David K - 3-19-2011 at 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by maplea
Thanks for the address, David. I will send them there.

I want to make sure I can get back into Mexico, next January, without any huge fine.
Maplea

OK, but keep in mind that was one year ago... and things like this in Mexico are far from consistant! Maybe call Discover Baja Travel Club and ask if that address is still the right one to send tourist cards to? Their 800 number is on the web site http://www.discoverbaja.com open half day on Saturday (today).

[Edited on 3-19-2011 by David K]

maplea - 3-19-2011 at 02:31 PM

Thanks David.
I went to their site and found the same address recommended by you, to mail them it back.
On this page:
http://www.discoverbaja.com/fmt.html

Yes,from all the conflicting information I have read, on this forum, and others, I want to be sure to send it to the right address.
thanks again.
Juliann