A friend of mine recently arrived in La Paz by Ferry and she told me she was charged $200usd (equiv. in pesos) as a sort of deposit to be sure she
didn't try to sell her vehicle while in Mexico - they made her pay this when she got her temporary import sticker. I have never heard of this - mostly
because I never go to the mainland.
Has anyone ever had to pay this?
Is it possible for her to get a refund of this $200 and if so, how?
I don't quite understand how your friend managed to get their car all the way down to either Topolobampo or Mazatlan, without having had to obtain a
temporary import permit before hand.
In any case, the Banco Bajio office at Pichilingue, where the ferry docks, does not issue refunds of the deposit amount.
For a refund of the deposit amount, the vehicle and documents must be taken to a Banco Bajio office at a major port of entry into the USA. ie:
Tijuana@ San Ysidro, Otay Mesa or Mexicali. Not Tecate or Algodones.
Although not related to your particular situation, when I got my temporary import permit to take a Arizona plated motorcycle to Mazatlan on the ferry,
I was informed of the port of entry deposit refund requirements.
Oddly enough, I live in Baja and have lived here for 10+ years.
Makes zero sense for me to take that moto (which by the way, lives in my bodega here in BCS) back to the border to get my refund, only to have me turn
around and bring it right back to BCS.
Sure, I tried to explain this to Banco Bajio, but I was shoveling sheet against the wind......refunds are only done at the border offices.
I was also told by the Banco Bajio office that if I maintained my FM document as current, the import permit would not expire and stay valid as long as
my FM document is current and valid.
We shall see.
Your friend, in order to get the deposit refund, must return the vehicle to the USA, with a stop at the Banco Bajio office at the border.
Originally posted by DaliDali
I don't quite understand how your friend managed to get their car all the way down to either Topolobampo or Mazatlan, without having had to obtain a
temporary import permit before hand.
In any case, the Banco Bajio office at Pichilingue, where the ferry docks, does not issue refunds of the deposit amount.
For a refund of the deposit amount, the vehicle and documents must be taken to a Banco Bajio office at a major port of entry into the USA. ie:
Tijuana@ San Ysidro, Otay Mesa or Mexicali. Not Tecate or Algodones.
Although not related to your particular situation, when I got my temporary import permit to take a Arizona plated motorcycle to Mazatlan on the ferry,
I was informed of the port of entry deposit refund requirements.
Oddly enough, I live in Baja and have lived here for 10+ years.
Makes zero sense for me to take that moto (which by the way, lives in my bodega here in BCS) back to the border to get my refund, only to have me turn
around and bring it right back to BCS.
Sure, I tried to explain this to Banco Bajio, but I was shoveling sheet against the wind......refunds are only done at the border offices.
I was also told by the Banco Bajio office that if I maintained my FM document as current, the import permit would not expire and stay valid as long as
my FM document is current and valid.
We shall see.
Your friend, in order to get the deposit refund, must return the vehicle to the USA, with a stop at the Banco Bajio office at the border.
I entered through Nogales AZ and plan on returning home via the Maz-LP ferry, are you sure I can not get the deposit ($400)
at Pichilingue with a credit card refund?
I was told by the girl working the caja at the Banco Bajio office in Pichilingue, that they do not issue refunds.
I went over this with her several times and the answer was the same each time.
Reason being is......if you cross over to the mainland on the ferry from La Paz, what is to stop you from driving south to Acapulco and selling your
vehicle, rather than turning left and going back to the USA.
I am pretty sure you will have to apply for your refund at the Nogales port of entry were you return to the USA.
The deposit is refunded after the car permit (officially the IITV "temporary import permit" - which is the dated holografic decal attached to the
inside of the car's windshield) is returned to Banjercito (or Hacienda I'm led to believe, but NOT Immigration). I believe you'll also need to return
the “Vehicle Return Promise Agreement”.
According to the BajaBound Mexico Auto Insurance site there is a Banjercito office in La Paz (out at Pichilingue - far right/north end of the ferry terminal)
that's open 7 days a week from 9a-2p.
There's also a Hacienda office in the parking lot of the ferry terminal.
FWIW... I've read where - a few years ago - people were turned away at Pichilingue looking to return their permit there but told they could only do so
at the border.
Suerte.
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
– Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
We know we must go back if we live, and we don`t know why.
– John Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
My friend came through Nogales also and I'm not sure either how she got to Topo..... to get on the Ferry (the one at Guaymas had a problem) without an
import permit.
So, does she have to get the refund prior to crossing back into the USA? If so, how would she get her vehicle to the banco or wherever she needs to
take it to get the refund at the SY crossing? I guess they have to physically see the vehicle?
Edited to say: Thank you Doug, I will let her know what you said. Maybe I will go with her to La Paz just to see how it turns out, first hand. Then I
can report it here.
5. Return to your country of origin. Please make sure to register the return of your vehicle when crossing the border.
Make sure to visit any BANJERCITO module located at the border crossing when you are leaving Mexico. Present your vehicle and the Temporary Import
Permit in order to register the vehicle as having returned to the country of origin. BANJERCITO will issue a return certificate.
It is very important that you complete the vehicle return operation. If you don't complete this step, Mexican authorities will assume that your
vehicle remains in Mexico, which can cause problems in the future. The vehicle is considered returned, when you physically present the vehicle at the
border module and the authorities validate the return from Mexico.
[Edited on 1-20-2012 by BajaNomad]
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
– Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
We know we must go back if we live, and we don`t know why.
– John Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
Banco Banjercito is correct.
They are the same bank that takes your money at the border for payment of tourist visas and import duties, if assessed.
"FWIW... I've read where - a few years ago - people were turned away at Pichilingue looking to return their permit there but told they could only do
so at the border"
Bingo....that was the case, according to the girl who worked the Pichilingue office who happened to speak very good English.
And it makes sense.....to refund your deposit money, that in effect, is your promise to return the vehicle to the USA and not sell it in MX.....all
the while your 900 miles from the nearest port of entry and able to drive that vehicle anywhere in the republic.
Mexico wants to see you and the vehicle at the border, ready to cross into the USA, before they give your deposit money back.
Our experience over here is that the permit must be returned at one of the border crossings AND it must be done before the expiration date or the
funds are forfeited.
It's not hard to imagine someone making it all the way down to Topo without having to get the permit. Aduana's (or whatever agency it is) enforcement
of this is very inconsistent. There is almost never a manned checkpoint at the K98 permit office below Empalme, Sonora. So, it's very easy to drive
south and not be asked to produce the documents/sticker.
For those of us who live on the mainland and want to go further south than Empalme, the reality is that the Mexican government will always have this
bond in their account from us. And, yes, it appears that we will have to drive to the border each year to turn in the old permit and be issued a new
one.
What's confusing is that there is a bond (the 200,300,400 dollar deposit/bond based on the age of your car) AND there is an ALL of Mexico permit that
is required below Empalme. Until last June, you could simply pay for the AOM permit and no bond was required ON YOUR PRIMARY, CONVENTIONAL VEHICLE.
But now, they are forcing the bond onto most all towed vehicles, RVs, etc., EVEN THOSE SIMPLY STAYING IN THE "HASSLE-FREE" PORTION OF SONORA. The
officials explain that the "hassle-free" program is only for your primary vehicle. RVs towing a driveable vehicle (i.e., a "toad") are probably best
off separating the vehicles before the K21 checkpoint below Nogales IF THEY ARE ONLY STAYING NORTH OF EMPALME.
Once you go below Empalme in ANY type of vehicle, you are supposed to have both the AOM AND have paid the deposit/bond.
If this all sounds confusing, it is. Many of us feel like there is no more "hassle-free" zone. I use this term because that is the term used by the
Mexican government on signs along Hwy 15 between Nogales and Empalme.
As far as the automatically renewable permits based on renewing your FM-3 or 2 (some Mexican states DO allow FM-2 holders to drive foreign plated
vehicles, some do not), it appears that that only applies to the AOM permit NOT THE DEPOSIT/BOND. I tried in vain to renew my AOM permit at Empalme in
December (before it expired) and was told I would have to post the bond to get it renewed for free. My AOM was gotten before the bond requirement was
put in place last June.
Mexico has REALLY turned up the spigot on monies entering the Federal government's coffers in the last year.
BTW, there are supposed to be new rules regarding FM2/3s coming out sometime this year. I haven't seen what the new requirements are, yet. Supposedly,
there are some liberalizations of the rules for obtaining them and they may only require a renewal every TWO years instead of one. But I havent seen
anything concrete about it.
"If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen.
The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back
if we live, and we don't know why." - Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
"People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." - Theodore Roosevelt
"You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them or to them." - Malcolm Forbes
"Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others
cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you." - Jim Rohn
"The best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer." - Cunningham's Law
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