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bajagrouper
Senior Nomad
 
Posts: 964
Registered: 8-28-2003
Location: Rincon de Guayabitos, Nayarit, Mexico
Member Is Offline
Mood: happy and retired
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Quote: | Originally posted by David K
Quote: | Originally posted by bajagrouper
Quote: | Originally posted by David K
Quote: | Originally posted by bajagrouper
I picked up my FMM in TJ 2 weeks ago and I asked the officer and he stated it is a 1 entry document to be turned in upon leaving the country, read the
back under the word IMPORTANT in red....... |
SO... did you, and in 2 weeks you're going to get another one? |
See what I mean David, you read but do not comprehend.
When I entered 2 weeks ago I got the FMM, so when I leave Mexico on May 1st. I will turn it in.....got it? |
Ummm... so you're going into Mexico a second time with it. 
Instead of entering Mexico, getting the FMM, traveling for up to 6 months, and leaving Mexico (returning the FMM to someplace before you leave the
country), you got the FMM, left Mexico (without turning in the FMM) for a couple weeks, then using that same FMM are returning to Mexico and not
getting a new one. Yah, I get it alright.
Same thing I did in 2012, only I returned with the same FMM just 5 days after I got it.
You and I agree, if you pay for something that is valid for 180 days, we should be able to use it for up to 180 days.
The address has been provided to mail it back to them from the USA BECAUSE there is no drop off along the border wait line for cars leaving Mexico.
The people in D.F. who write the instructions for the FMM obviously have never been to the border to witness the lack of any way to turn the thing in
before you leave the country. The address was provided knowing this.
That you and many others cross into Mexico to get an FMM, and then leave Mexico to come back later or even that day KNOW we are doing this to avoid a
parking or hassle with our campers on the first day of our trip. We knowingly are leaving Mexico with the FMM and not turning it in so we can use it
later that day or some other day withing the period it is valid. |
David, you must a blond? I entered Mexico on Oct 27th 2013 at Nogales Mexico where I got an FMM and TIP, stayed until February 23rd. and exited Mexico
at Lukeville AZ turning in my FMM....Took care of taxes and business at my home in the USA and entered TJ on March 22nd. and received an FMM which I
will relinquish when I exit the country on May 1st...Now you understand bobo?
P.S. I also have my passport stamped when entering and exiting Mexico..
[Edited on 4-5-2014 by bajagrouper]
I hear the whales song
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MariaDeTJN
Newbie
Posts: 8
Registered: 6-28-2010
Location: San Diego Area
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So has anyone driven into Mexico and then taken a flight (originating and landing in Mexico) using that same FMM?
And does anyone just say forget it and skip the FMM purchase altogether?
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willardguy
Elite Nomad
    
Posts: 6451
Registered: 9-19-2009
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Quote: | Originally posted by MariaDeTJN
So has anyone driven into Mexico and then taken a flight (originating and landing in Mexico) using that same FMM?
And does anyone just say forget it and skip the FMM purchase altogether? | absolutely but you would get skewered by the nomads if you said yes!
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Sandlefoot
Nomad

Posts: 220
Registered: 10-31-2011
Location: La Paz
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Mood: Home
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Flying "in country" does not require an FMM. It would be to your benefit to have one if asked by IMN at either end of the flight, but there are not
requirements getting on or off the plane.
Happy trails
" Don't find fault, find a remedy; anyone can complain." Henry Ford
If you are not living on the edge...you are taking up to much space!
Just because it may not be a good idea does not mean it will not be fun!!!
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MariaDeTJN
Newbie
Posts: 8
Registered: 6-28-2010
Location: San Diego Area
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Quote: | Originally posted by Sandlefoot
Flying "in country" does not require an FMM. It would be to your benefit to have one if asked by IMN at either end of the flight, but there are not
requirements getting on or off the plane.
Happy trails |
Good to know, thanks!
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David K
Honored Nomad
       
Posts: 65100
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Lets face it, everyone here knows that Mexico has rules too, there are enforced or not at the discretion of the officer you may or may not ever see.
A vacationing/ traveling non-Mexican citizen, from the US (or Canada) is 'required' to have an FMM if he/she is in Mexico for more than 72 hours OR
any time at all south of the 'Border Zone'.
The 'Border Zone' has been flexible over the years from being a point to 20 kms. south of the border... to Maneadero and San Felipe... to San Quintin,
even the entire state of Baja California (Norte).
If you hop on a plane in Mexico to go to somewhere else in Mexico, it is a sure bet you will be leaving Baja Norte...
The FMM is free for up to a 7 day stay and about US$26 for up to 180 days.
The FMM must be validated at the border if you bought it in the USA (at a travel club for example).
The best place otherwise to get the FMM is at the border... other INM offices further south may not be as easy to find open, get to a bank from, etc.
If you drive south of the 'Border Zone' without an FMM or a stamped FMM, you are in 'violation'. A Baja Nomad has reported being fined US$100 at the
Guerrero Negro INM office (at the stop sign, just south of the Eagle Monument), for not having one.
[Edited on 4-6-2014 by David K]
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
    
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
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Quote: | Originally posted by bajagrouper
Sancho and Bajahowodd, What an immigration officer does or does not do is not the point, the point is that on the back of the FMM which is an official
Mexican document it states:
IMPORTANT
During your stay in Mexico,you must retain
this immigration form and surrender it upon
leaving the country........
It is right there in Black and White, the Mexican Government rule no matter what some illiterate border guard says......... |
Except for the fact that absolutely no one asks for the FMM at the border. So, for so many on this forum, who make frequent short trips into Mexico,
it just seems like totally ridiculous to return your FMM, say after a week's stay.
I would really love to hear from anyone on this forum who has had an experience of purchasing the FMM, and spending a week or two, returning the FMM
to the Mexican authorities, and then going back down a month later and telling the IMM guy at the border that they already purchased one.
If, and when, the Mexican IMM has a really good data base and can follow everyone who crosses the border and returns, I really feel that holding on to
your FMM and using it multiple times is the right way to go.
I am not a scofflaw. And if the proper thing to do is purchase the FMM every time I enter Mexico, even if has been just a couple of weeks since I was
last there, so be it.
However, I just want to state that in over 25 years of traveling in Baja, including multiple trips to Cabo, I have NEVER been asked to show the
document to anyone.
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Bob53
Senior Nomad
 
Posts: 661
Registered: 2-24-2014
Location: Fallbrook, CA & Bahia de los Angeles
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Quote: | Originally posted by msteve1014
Quote: | Originally posted by David K
That sounds like my post from July, 2012...
Yes, everyone reports that either the INM office will take the fee or a teller will be open next door. |
Not everyone. I posted when I went down in July 2013 that the bank was not open and the INM officer would not take the payment. This was at the new
San Isidro crossing. |
I just got my FMM at Tijuana a couple weeks ago and the officer said that he could not take payment and that I had to walk over and pay at the bank.
He also said that the bank will be open 24 hours every day.
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MariaDeTJN
Newbie
Posts: 8
Registered: 6-28-2010
Location: San Diego Area
Member Is Offline
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Quote: | Originally posted by willardguy
Quote: | Originally posted by MariaDeTJN
So has anyone driven into Mexico and then taken a flight (originating and landing in Mexico) using that same FMM?
And does anyone just say forget it and skip the FMM purchase altogether? | absolutely but you would get skewered by the nomads if you said yes! |
Well, we absolutely wouldn't want to be blamed for any sort of skewering, would we?! Thank you for your reply, the knowledge is good to have. And we
will continue to be good little gringos and get our FMMs unless we really, really have to make time. Kidding, I'm kidding! We'll get the dang cards.
It seems we now have bigger concerns anyway as Aeromexico changed our outbound flight from TIJ to a midnight departure going through Mexico City.
Then they tried to shorten our vacation by a day by putting us on a returning flight the day before our original one. After an hour on the phone,
they finally gave us a returning flight on the original day, but I suppose there's nothing stopping them from booting us off this flight if they get
the urge...
Our tickets and seats were confirmed, but they're saying both of our original flights were canceled and that's why they moved us. I don't believe the
flights were canceled, I believe they resold our seats (purchased last November) at a higher price. Oh well, lesson learned. Will not be flying
Aeromexico again. Have heard good things about Volaris, will try them next.
Again, thanks for the info!
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flyguy
Junior Nomad
Posts: 34
Registered: 1-2-2014
Location: BC, Canada
Member Is Offline
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Flying out of Cabo i completely lost my visa and was suprised when they made a HUGE deal about it, made me follow an officer a long way down a dark
hallway to an office where a grumpy fella took my passport and wrote a big 'W' for 'warning' over my stamp and told me next time "big fines" ... I had
to chuckle a bit :/
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
    
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
Member Is Offline
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Right now, it is really only the airlines on international trips that enforce the rule of one entry and one exit.
As I stated in a previous post, if Mexico ever gets their computer system into the 21st century and has a means of determining whether this is your
first or forty first trip during the 180 days, I just don't see the need to surrender the FMM after a 2 week stay when I plan to return the next
month.
If and when they finally get their act together, then so be it.
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IslandAngler
Junior Nomad
Posts: 35
Registered: 3-19-2011
Member Is Offline
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Thanks Nomads for once again staying on point and giving honest and direct answers to a basic question. I will go to San Ysidro and find out myself if
I can pay for a FMM in office. Thanks again, and stay positive.
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