BajaNomad

Any issues lately with getting a 7 day FMM?

John M - 7-27-2022 at 08:06 AM

We are making a several day trip south from San Ysidro next week and need only a 7-day FMM -

I've seen some comment that they'll only sell you a 180 day for about $30.

Any recent experience lately?

John M

sancho - 7-27-2022 at 09:38 AM

Have read Mexicali West, at times, will only issue 7 day
if you have a pre printed 7 day off their internet site.
On a side note, quite to the contrary to every recent
Mex Imm info, a post, last week or so, flying into
La Paz, on an AA flight, Mex Imm at the La Paz airport
didn't stamp nor issue fmm's, instead stamped Passports
with the entry date and the number of days allowed
to be in Mex. The entire plane was processed that way
Es Mexico

DawnPatrol - 7-27-2022 at 07:39 PM

we had the immigration guy at Mexicali West try to tell us if we were fishing or hunting we needed the 180 day lol. we had the pre-printed 7 dayers and we said "politely" NO WAY JOSE
this was early in the AM and he was the only person there, and the bank was closed.
he didnt put up much of a fight and stamped our 7 day ones
we thought he was going to pocket the $35 fee for the 6 of us

[Edited on 7-28-2022 by DawnPatrol]

David K - 7-27-2022 at 07:51 PM

The immigration desk has a cash box and can take the payment whenever the bank teller window is closed... at least that was the case many times through 2019.

Whiskey Witch - 7-27-2022 at 09:27 PM

As a side note. We have driven in through both Mexicali West and San Ysidro and paid for our FMMs with a credit card. At Mexicali W we did the transaction right at the immigration desk, we did not have to go to a separate cashier.

chatolj - 7-28-2022 at 07:21 AM

If you know your crossing location and date why not just fill out form on line and print it. You have to have it stamped, but no bull from senor official.

DawnPatrol - 7-30-2022 at 07:22 AM

Not getting off the subject but my issue is why would the officer give us incorrect info about needing the 180 day when obviously we did not?

Lost in translation?

mtgoat666 - 7-30-2022 at 07:44 AM

Quote: Originally posted by DawnPatrol  
Not getting off the subject but my issue is why would the officer give us incorrect info about needing the 180 day when obviously we did not?


Perhaps the agent told you correct information based on what he understood at the time, and there was miscommunication due to translation.

If you say you are going fishing, you might get lumped into maritime fmm which has fee regardless of trip length.

In any case, you got into mexico, and had some immigration paperwork, so all turned out OK!




[Edited on 7-30-2022 by mtgoat666]

Alan - 7-30-2022 at 07:53 AM

Lately the only consistency in the FMM process is its inconsistency.:biggrin:

sancho - 7-30-2022 at 09:56 AM

Quote: Originally posted by DawnPatrol  
is why would the officer give us incorrect info about needing the 180 day when obviously we did not?









Haven't looked lately, but the clients fishing San
Felipe on the T Reyes boat, that fish the B of LA area, the fisherman were required to get the free 6 nt 7 day fmm at Mexicali West, which were always granted. Whether that has changed to the 180 day don't know





surabi - 7-30-2022 at 01:33 PM

Quote: Originally posted by sancho  

On a side note, quite to the contrary to every recent
Mex Imm info, a post, last week or so, flying into
La Paz, on an AA flight, Mex Imm at the La Paz airport
didn't stamp nor issue fmm's, instead stamped Passports
with the entry date and the number of days allowed
to be in Mex. The entire plane was processed that way
Es Mexico


This is correct and it wasn't just some abberation in La Paz. The FMMs have been discontinued for both tourists and residents everywhere. They will now just stamp your passport with entry and exit dates. I'm not sure how that works for tourists- did they put a date in your passport as to when you are suposed to leave the country?

It'll sure save a lot of paper. I wonder how many trees were needed for a year's worth of FMMs. :--)


[Edited on 7-30-2022 by surabi]

karenintx - 7-30-2022 at 06:02 PM

Interesting info that "FMMs have been discontinued for both tourist and resident everywhere". We flew out of SJD on July 28th, since we are R/Ps we did the "normal" procedure of going to the INM office at the SJD airport. The bottom portion was collected at the gate before boarding our flight.

We fly back to SJD tomorrow afternoon July 31st, so when we go through the MX INM line (with the top portion of the FMM) I will see if I can find out more info.

It would be great not to have to jump through this hoop every time we fly!

BajaGringo - 7-30-2022 at 07:08 PM

Quote: Originally posted by surabi  
This is correct and it wasn't just some abberation in La Paz. The FMMs have been discontinued for both tourists and residents everywhere. They will now just stamp your passport with entry and exit dates. I'm not sure how that works for tourists- did they put a date in your passport as to when you are suposed to leave the country?

It'll sure save a lot of paper. I wonder how many trees were needed for a year's worth of FMMs. :--)


I spoke with a federal official in Mexico City earlier and he told me the program is only being tested in trial runs on certain flights at a few different airports. The changes are not supposed to be fully implemented until the end of the year he said. Flights into La Paz did participate as well as Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta and Cancun, as best as I could confirm.

https://talkbaja.com/eliminating-the-fmm-cards/



[Edited on 7-31-2022 by BajaGringo]

surabi - 7-30-2022 at 08:24 PM

My info on this comes from an INM facilitator who works out of San Miguel de Allende and Puerto Vallarta. She doesn't say it's a trial only at certain airports, but who knows. I have never known her to post incorrect info, and if she thinks something is subject to change or is only taking place in certain areas, she always says that. This is what she posted:

"FMM's being Eliminated - update
Please note, the FMM cards are being eliminated starting July 28, 2022. When a person enters Mexico, you will not be issued a FMM. You will have a stamp in your passport and in that stamp will be written the number of days you may be in Mexico.

Similarly, when a person has a pre-approved visa from a Mexican consulate, in their passport, a FMM will not be issued and a date will be stamped on the pre-approved visa. As well, it will be written CANJE 30 days.

When a TR or PR resident leaves Mexico your passport is stamped with date and written is your visa status and SALIDA. And when entering Mexico, stamped with date, visa status and the word ENTRADA."

[Edited on 7-31-2022 by surabi]

AKgringo - 7-30-2022 at 08:32 PM

Does all of this pertain only to travel between airports?

David K - 7-30-2022 at 09:02 PM

It must be since land travelers, like most here, can use the passport card. Can't stamp that!

BajaGringo - 7-31-2022 at 08:00 AM

Quote: Originally posted by surabi  
My info on this comes from an INM facilitator who works out of San Miguel de Allende and Puerto Vallarta. She doesn't say it's a trial only at certain airports, but who knows.


My info comes directly from a conversation I had yesterday with a senior INM official in Mexico City who spoke on conditions of anonymity as INM does not want to make an official announcement until they know exactly how the program is going to work; hence the test runs now on only certain flights at a few airports while the program is still being evaluated.

Members of Talk Baja reported flying into Cabo this weekend and the old FMM system was still in place. But this is Mexico, so anything's possible.
Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  
Does all of this pertain only to travel between airports?


When I asked that question I was told "yes, for now." When I probed further they said there was no consensus yet on whether the program would be extended to land border crossings.



[Edited on 8-2-2022 by BajaGringo]

karenintx - 8-1-2022 at 12:59 PM

As promised in my July 30th post on this subject...

We arrived in SJD on Sunday afternoon around 5:15 pm. Since we are R/Ps we went through the MX INM line where I asked the INM agent about "Loreto & La Paz not using the FMM forms anymore." She had that "surprised look" on her face like how did you know that!! She
finally said..."Yes, maybe in 3 months no more FMM here."

That is all the info she would give out.

surabi - 8-1-2022 at 06:28 PM

Quote: Originally posted by karenintx  
As promised in my July 30th post on this subject...

We arrived in SJD on Sunday afternoon around 5:15 pm. Since we are R/Ps we went through the MX INM line where I asked the INM agent about "Loreto & La Paz not using the FMM forms anymore." She had that "surprised look" on her face like how did you know that!! She
finally said..."Yes, maybe in 3 months no more FMM here."

That is all the info she would give out.


So were you given the FMM forms to fill out on the plane, or handed in the other half of your outgoing FMM, as normal?

karenintx - 8-2-2022 at 10:38 AM

As I said in my July 30th post, we are R/Ps. Since we had already started the process we had to surrender the top portion of the FMM to INM agent upon entering the SJD MX Custom line on July 31st.

I was sitting in the front of the plane with my headphones on while watching a movie so I really do not know what the passengers behind me were doing. We were the first off the plane and the first in line at the MX INM desk.

Since the INM agent would only say..."maybe in three months no more FMMs here", I can only assume that meant that at the SJD airport it is business as usual...meaning FMM forms are still being required. She would not give me any more info and I honestly I didn't want to pee her off by asking too many questions so I thanked her and moved on.

I find it hard to believe the MX Government is going to "stop collecting" an extra FMM Tourist Fee which is about $30 USD per person. What I mean by that is passengers have already paid for their FMM Tourist Fee in their airline ticket so if they lose it, can't find it or throw away the bottom portion of the FMM they are required to purchase a second tourist form to get on the plane...It is a "cash cow" for the MX Government!

Every time I have departed from SJD there is a line of tourist outside of the INM office, especially during Spring Break. Watching the kids asking each other if they can borrow some money to get out of the country can be entertaining...and a life lesson they will not forget.

The SJD INM office only accepts pesos, no cashless payments so I wonder how many of the pesos that they are collected actually goes to the MX Government and not into "some ones" pocket.


surabi - 8-2-2022 at 11:40 AM

Quote: Originally posted by karenintx  
As I said in my July 30th post, we are R/Ps.




Yes, I am, too, and flying up to Canada next week, that's why I asked.

A friend of mine (and definitely not a teenager) who came to visit a couple years ago threw her FMM tourist card in a garbage bin at the airport before I picked her up. She didn't realize what it was and no one had told her she needed to hang on to it. I just happened to ask her the day she was leaving, when making sure she had checked that she hadn't left any of her chargers plugged in, and had all her stuff, including the tourist card. "What? What tourist card?" "The other half of the form you filled out on the plane." "I thought that was just a receipt- I tossed it in trash on the way out of the airport."

At least it wasn't a total shock when she got to the airport and had to pay the tourist tax again.

Now when I have friends or family come down, I alert them to make sure to hang on to that.

[Edited on 8-2-2022 by surabi]

[Edited on 8-2-2022 by surabi]

SFandH - 8-2-2022 at 11:56 AM

The first time I flew into Mexico, decades ago, I had no idea anything needed to be returned and lost the paper. They let me get on the plane anyway.

I bet it happens all the time and is one of the reasons for a procedural change. It could all be automated, especially with air travel. The world has moved way beyond pieces of paper and rubber stamps.