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WhackAMolE
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How do I become legal down here?
I live in Ensenada. I've never gotten a tourist visa or an FMM or anything else. I don't go south of the special zone and nobody down here has ever
inquired as to my official status.
Can someone tell me, step by step, exactly what I am supposed to be doing? I have seen a lot of conflicting info online.
Is there someone in town who specializes in walking people through this? Do I just go down to the immigration office and take my chances?
My goal at the moment is to get a Mexican drivers license so that I can buy a Mexican-plated car down here.
Thanks for any suggestions.
[Edited on 7-27-2014 by WhackAMolE]
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Mulegena
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To "get legal" in Mexico you need a visa of some sort.
Take a run up and cross back into the US.
Cross back into Mexico, stop, and get a tourist visa good for 180 days.
That'll keep you legal for 180 days at a time and is probably all the visa document you'll need
to get a Mexican driver's license.
A friend down in Baja Sur just got her driver's license by presenting her foreign passport, with one copy, and original and one copy of a current
electric bill. Cost her $510 pesos. EzPz. Note that each office appears to subjectively interpret the rules.
However, buying a car wasn't so simple. Although it's not written as law, the person in charge of of registering vehicles insisted she had to get a
Temporary Resident visa. Apparently Mexico doesn't want "tourists" owning nor driving Mexican cars, at least in her town. Go to the registration
office, Oficina Finanza, and ask the requirements. Then you'll know what hoops you gotta jump. Registering your car through Oficina Finanza will allow
you to drive the car anywhere without restriction, back into the US with your Mexican driver's license and into Mainland Mexico.
She had to go back to the States, cross back in, get a 180-day FMM, then enter the immigration system with a Temporary Residency visa.
But wait, there's more:
Owning and registering a Mexican car also requires you to pay all back-due annual registration fees that were never paid. They can tell and so can
you. When looking for a car, carefully examine all the paperwork that the "owner" has. It should include all past registrations; check the dates.
You'll have to pay for all over-due fees and buy license plates if there are none, also.
You can buy a car and register it with Onapafa, but the above rules still apply and you can't drive that car off the Baja península to the Mainland
Mexico nor into the US.
Kinda a hassle and very expensive way just to legally own and drive a Mexican vehicle, me thinks. Consider a stateside address, driver's license and
South Dakota vehicle registration as an option.
Due Diligence Department
[Edited on 7-27-2014 by Mulegena]
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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willardguy
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to become a TEMPORARY resident you must show financial solvency amounting to not less than$1900 a month ( or property worth at least $103,500).
otherwise forget the whole thing and get a tourist visa every six months (if it makes you feel better) 
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DENNIS
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You're in Ensenada so go to the IMM office, tell them you just arrived on a boat and want to continue south the same way and want a six month visa.
The car thing? You're on your own.
.
[Edited on 7-27-2014 by DENNIS]
"YOU CAN'T LITTER ALUMINUM"
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BajaRat
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A boat 
And also tell them this is your first time in Mexico
I like the just start by obtaining a tourist visa route, at least your a documented visitor.
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DENNIS
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BajaRat
A boat
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People do this all the time. I have buddies who drive down and have been doing it for years.
Nothing wrong with it. You still need a passport and money.
"YOU CAN'T LITTER ALUMINUM"
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monoloco
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| Quote: | Originally posted by willardguy
to become a TEMPORARY resident you must show financial solvency amounting to not less than$1900 a month ( or property worth at least $103,500).
otherwise forget the whole thing and get a tourist visa every six months (if it makes you feel better) |
I believe that the financial requirements are only necessary for a
residencial permanente. To get anything beyond a tourist visa, you must start the process at a Mexican embassy in your home country.
"The future ain't what it used to be"
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willardguy
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| Quote: | Originally posted by monoloco
| Quote: | Originally posted by willardguy
to become a TEMPORARY resident you must show financial solvency amounting to not less than$1900 a month ( or property worth at least $103,500).
otherwise forget the whole thing and get a tourist visa every six months (if it makes you feel better) |
I believe that the financial requirements are only necessary for a
residencial permanente. To get anything beyond a tourist visa, you must start the process at a Mexican embassy in your home country.
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nope, those are the requirements for TEMPORARY. for a PERMANENT the requirement is $2600 a month!
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BajaRat
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Mood: Ready for some salt water with my Tecate
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
| Quote: | Originally posted by BajaRat
A boat
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People do this all the time. I have buddies who drive down and have been doing it for years.
Nothing wrong with it. You still need a passport and money. |
I've arrived many times by boat in Ensenada, just made me laugh.
We usually had a case of whiskey and a case of cigarettes for the Port Captain not a song and dance.
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BajaBlanca
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You can marry a Mexican. You can have a Mexican baby. Changes the whole scenario. With the marriage, I believe you must be married for two
years?? With a baby, I think automatic.
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monoloco
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| Quote: | Originally posted by willardguy
| Quote: | Originally posted by monoloco
| Quote: | Originally posted by willardguy
to become a TEMPORARY resident you must show financial solvency amounting to not less than$1900 a month ( or property worth at least $103,500).
otherwise forget the whole thing and get a tourist visa every six months (if it makes you feel better) |
I believe that the financial requirements are only necessary for a
residencial permanente. To get anything beyond a tourist visa, you must start the process at a Mexican embassy in your home country.
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nope, those are the requirements for TEMPORARY. for a PERMANENT the requirement is $2600 a month!
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I stand corrected, I know about the financial requirements for a permanent residency, because I have one,
but I didn't realize that there was one for a temporary residency.
"The future ain't what it used to be"
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wessongroup
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Aren't those the same requirements as we have in the United States ... 
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Mulegena
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my best answer
1. Check with your Mexican immigration officer upon entering Mexico at any US-Mexican border crossing as to the rules and requirements on getting a
180-day entrance visa.
2. Check with your local driver's license office (don't know the name, probably in the pólice station) as to the rules and requirements on getting a
Mexican driver's license.
3. Check with your local Oficina de Finanza and Onapafa offices as to the rules and requirements on owning and registering a Mexican car.
4. Check with your local Oficina de Aduana as to the rules and requirements on importing a car from the US or elsewhere.
4. Check with your local Oficina de Inmigrado as to the rules and requirements on entering the Mexican resident immigrant system.
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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BajaRat
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Mood: Ready for some salt water with my Tecate
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BajaBlanca
You can marry a Mexican. You can have a Mexican baby. Changes the whole scenario. With the marriage, I believe you must be married for two
years?? With a baby, I think automatic. |
Its automatic for the baby and fast tracked for the foreign parent.
Stick with the visa, babies poop a lot
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gnukid
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Best to apply for Residente Temporal or Permanente back in the US at Mexico Consulate. Yes it does require proof of income. $$$$$
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Mulegena
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| Quote: | ...
My goal at the moment is to get a Mexican drivers license so that I can buy a Mexican-plated car down here...
[Edited on 7-27-2014 by WhackAMolE] |
Hey, WhackAMolE only wants to drive a car, not necessarily immigrate.
How about just getting a US-plated car registered in South Dakota? That's legal, cheap and easy.
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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gnukid
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You can register a ca car and use it in baja, if you are south a bit, smog is not required. And the dmv will mail the reg to you in baja.
[Edited on 7-28-2014 by gnukid]
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bajaguy
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Information
You cannot get a Baja drivers license with an FMM
If you want correct information, contact Carlos Victorica
carlosvictorica7@hotmail.com
His office is located at the old Immigration office building in Ensenada, down by the Port Captain.
Just before you would walk in the front door to the old Immigration office, make a right turn. It's a little closet size office.
646-112-5408
646-154-2962
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BajaBlanca
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whackamole could be male or female.
they want to become legal and perhaps they are already married or have a kid and did not realize this path was an option.
if you are latin, whackamole, the process is also fast-tracked. Mexico and lainoamerica have agreements.
good luck!
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WhackAMolE
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Mulegena
| Quote: | ...
My goal at the moment is to get a Mexican drivers license so that I can buy a Mexican-plated car down here...
[Edited on 7-27-2014 by WhackAMolE] |
Hey, WhackAMolE only wants to drive a car, not necessarily immigrate.
How about just getting a US-plated car registered in South Dakota? That's legal, cheap and easy. |
Yes thanks, I was looking at that. I've heard the SENTRI people are starting to give everyone a hard time about that. I have a California license and
I need to apply for my SENTRI at some point.
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