rto
Newbie
Posts: 3
Registered: 4-10-2006
Location: Coronado, CA
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Volaris TIJ to LAP - FMT?
I'm thinking of flying from TJ down to La Paz next week on Volaris.
I called their customer service to verify whether or not they provided the FM-T tourist visa like all the US carriers flying down to Mexico do but the
agent I talked to had no idea (!?) She put me on hold to go ask someone else and came and said she didn't think I needed one....?!?!?!
Does anyone know if maybe they do provide them or do we have to get one on our own?
And if so is there a place to get one at the TJ airport or do I have to deal with the hassle of getting it at the border crossing?
Thnx
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MICK
Nomad
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Registered: 11-12-2003
Location: Rio Hardy
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Mood: livin the good life on the river
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You can get it right inside the airport. Leave some time to deal with it but it is no problem. You just go to the departure gate entrance and there is
a conuter to fill out the form then go to the bank and pay and come back.
Have Fum Mick
Getting there is ALL the fun!
Ok being here is fun to
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bajabass
Super Nomad
Posts: 2016
Registered: 10-4-2006
Location: La Paz,BCS
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Mood: Want to fish!!!
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As you enter the ticketing area at the west end of the airport, there is a kiosk to get your FMM. I assumed I would get one on the plane, but no! I
arrived in La Paz as an illegal alien!!!! A minor hassle began, and wasted a
couple hours sorting it out.
Keep your eyes on the road, and your hands upon the wheel!
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sancho
Ultra Nomad
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Registered: 10-6-2004
Location: OC So Cal
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As of a yr. ago, fmm was, as posted, issued just
before you enter the boarding area at the TJ airport by a Mex
Immigration officer, you then paid at the Aeromexico
counter. This is probably of no concern,
but I might have pesos to pay for the fmm.
I'm so cautious though, I may stop at the border
to get an fmm, although I'm not sure they wouldn't
tell you to get it at the airport
It is very hard, to get by Mex Imm at the airport without being asked for an fmm, in Bajabass's case, I assume the Imm Officer was not
at his post, after all this is Mexico
[Edited on 1-31-2011 by sancho]
[Edited on 2-1-2011 by sancho]
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64834
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Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajabass
As you enter the ticketing area at the west end of the airport, there is a kiosk to get your FMM. I assumed I would get one on the plane, but no! I
arrived in La Paz as an illegal alien!!!! A minor hassle began, and wasted a
couple hours sorting it out. |
Very good to know!
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bajalinda
Senior Nomad
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Location: Pacific Coast, BCS
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rto - I would also urge you to be sure to get to the airport early. The last 2 times I flew Volaris from TJ to La Paz, the check-in area was packed.
The lines were flowing out past the INM booth and luggage x-ray machine area and down the length of the main entry concourse. Not a pleasant sight to
see when you arrive at the airport!
I am a fan of Volaris, but it's beyond me why they seem to schedule many of their flights to take off all around the same time, causing huge back-ups
at the check-in counters.
Just allow yourself plenty of time.
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
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Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajabass
As you enter the ticketing area at the west end of the airport, there is a kiosk to get your FMM. I assumed I would get one on the plane, but no! I
arrived in La Paz as an illegal alien!!!! A minor hassle began, and wasted a
couple hours sorting it out. |
Why would a Mexican airline provide FMM forms to passengers on a domestic flight? Would that not in some way be analogous to having Southwest ask for
your passport when boarding a flight between Burbank and Las Vegas? No?
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jeffg
Nomad
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Registered: 11-25-2004
Location: Vista, CA
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As Sancho noted, you pay at the Aeromexico ticket counter in the main terminal. You can save some time if you stop there FIRST and pay (you don't
have to have the FMM with you). Then they give you a receipt which you can take to the immigration booth where you fill out the FMM. Sounds crazy
but it saves standing in line twice.
The last time we did this they did have a sign up at Aeromexico that said pesos only. But, the people in front of me paid in dollars no problem.
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bajabass
Super Nomad
Posts: 2016
Registered: 10-4-2006
Location: La Paz,BCS
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Mood: Want to fish!!!
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A simple passing of brain gas Bajahowodd! I had always flown from the U.S. in the past. 250 yards across the border, eager to get to La Paz, ect. Will
not happen again, I assure you.
Keep your eyes on the road, and your hands upon the wheel!
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tjBill
Senior Nomad
Posts: 516
Registered: 10-6-2007
Location: Tijuana
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4 months ago I flew out of TJ,I had the same experience as Sancho described.
An immigration officer was asking everyone entering the departures there immigration status and requesting id. He filled out the paper work for those
who needed an FMT and they paid at the aeromexico counter.
A large percentage where flying with US passports.
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MitchMan
Super Nomad
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Registered: 3-9-2009
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If you are crossing the border at San Ysidro on foot and then taking a taxi from the border to the TJ airport, get your FMM at the border just before
getting a taxi. It is faster than getting it at the airport. Upon crossing the border on foot, you come to a row of offices on the left. The first
office is the INM. Fill out the forms there, and then you will have to walk outside along this row of offices about four offices away from the INM
office and there you will find a bank window/office at which to pay for the FMM. Take the payment receipt back to the INM office and give it to the
INM officer with/by whom you filled out the forms. Done, about 8 15 minutes total.
If you don't get the FMM as just described in the above paragraph, then you can get it at the TJ airport as described in the other posts in this
thread. Hint, sometimes the Aeromexico window has a long line. You can pay for the FMM inside the ticketing area at a desk that is on the opposite
side of the ticketing counters in the ticketing area. It is usually faster than the Aeromexico window when the Aeromexico window has a long line.
Word to the wise. When I go to La Paz from the TJ airport, I make sure that I cross the border 2 to 2.5 hours before the flight departure time
(mostly 2.5 hours before). When I do that, I have plenty time to take care of FMM for my wife, check in, and then go through the security check. You
never know when the airport ticketing area will be really crowded and when it is crowded, everything takes longer. Crossing the border 2.5 hours
before take-off/departure time works in every case.
[Edited on 2-3-2011 by MitchMan]
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MitchMan
Super Nomad
Posts: 1856
Registered: 3-9-2009
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BTW, there have been many threads on this forum about the new FMM and its requirements. What never made sense to me was that some nomads have
indicated that an FMM is required even if you have an old paper booklet FM3 or that new laminated FM3. Someone posted that the rationale for FMM
requirement for the FM3 holder is that the FMM is used for tracking the actual entry and exit of the FM3 holder and therefore provided a means by
which the Mexican government can be formally aware of who was/is actually in their country at any given point in time.
To me, this flies in the face of the previously held maxim that it was a real no no to have two visas at one time. Also, it just plain doesn't make
sense to have two visas in general. If the Mexican government is really concerned about being able to track the FM3 holders, then they should have
made the new FM3 bar coded and then swipe the card upon entry and exit (as if they would actually provide the logistics to do so at the border
crossings - fat chance of that).
When I recently crossed the border with my wife who had to get an FMM, the INM guy asked me for my ID and I showed him my new laminated FM3, he made
no comment on, suggestion for, nor mandated that I also get an FMM. I didn't ask any questions, and he didn't volunteer any comments.
Also, when I had my paper FM3, plenty of various govnernment officials, even INM guys, examined my paper FM3 and they never commented on the fact that
there were many more entry stamps on it than exit stamps. To me, that indicates a strong pattern of actual indifference to tracking the presence, or
lack of presence, of FM3 holders in/out of their country.
At this point, I feel quite comfortable not getting an FMM for myself when I travel to Baja. I am, however, going to ask the question directly to an
INM guy in La Paz at the INM office there in March 2011.
[Edited on 2-3-2011 by MitchMan]
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sancho
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2524
Registered: 10-6-2004
Location: OC So Cal
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Mitch Man, I read with some interest your experience re:
more entry stamps than exit stamps. Seems sometimes
Mex immigration stamps an entry, sometimes not.
At the airport they seem not to stamp an entry,
border crossings maybe so. I've always been careful
to get an exit stamp behind an entry, but I'm a bit uptight
with Mex paperwork. I don't believe and have seen no
indication they track fmm's, however the myth persists
with some, that a person is allowed 1 fmm per yr.,
that is no more tha 180 days as a tourist in Mex per yr.
I don't believe that to be true, I believe a tourist can
get so called back to back fmm's, by coming back and
then returning to Mex with a new fmm
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