TalkBaja.com » Baja Mexico Forums » Moving to Baja Full/Part Time

Hey I do not have a visa yet as I will not retire for 1 1/2 years. I will use my 1 time free move at that time. I need to bring a couch and a few chairs across the border in the mean time for the house that I will have completed soon. I know I need to declare these at the border. What amount will they charge me? Is there any border crossing which is best for this? I typically cross at Mexicali but have crossed at Tecate, Los Algodones, San Luis Colorado, and the TJ main crossing.
Thanks.
Keith

From our experienes, a couch and a few chairs are no big deal. If the total value is under $1000, , you can enter at any border crossing and avoid using a broker.

We've only declared at Otay Mesa and San Isidro. I'm not familiar with the others. At either of those you go into secondary and find the customs area. If the furniture is used, you wont have a receipt, so they'll want to take a look at what you have. They'll ask you what it's worth. Declare a low but reasonable value.

You'll pay a duty of 15%. Make sure you have PESOS to pay the duty. The last time we were there, I saw a guy turned away who tried to pay in dollars.

If the value is over $1000 you'll need a broker. If that's the case, the only crossing I'm familiar with that has brokers is Otay Mesa.

Pay attention to BigWooo's advice. In these changing times of Mexico customs enforcement at the border I think the best route is with a broker for larger loads. It will actually save you time and money...

With such a small load, I would try Tecate.......do they look used????......you may want to get a 'receipt" for about $150.........just in case

Hi, BajaGringo:

Seajay44 again: I really only want to bring a few "furniture" items with me--some filing cabinets, microwave ovens, a few small tables, but most of what I want to bring is boxes of papers and books. I could probably fill a small box truck (lots of boxes of papers, books, and small items of no value other than personal). Can I do that? How best?

Seajay44....

I'd like to know about this, too, because if I moved, I would do the same thing as Seajay -- "save" my one-time free move until I were sure I wanted to stay. Seajay -- do you happen to know how long, after obtaining an FM3, you have to use the 1-time freebie? I have read it is (only) 6 months, which could be a problem for me, but a few have posted that they think the 6-month limit is not enforced.

Other, related questions: I am thinking that I would move all of the things I want while I am renting a house (before I use my 1-time freebie) to a storage facility in the US near the border. (This would not include large furniture or most electronics -- just things like kitchen stuff, extra sheets & linens, lamps and other household goods to which I am attached.) Then, each time I drove from Baja to the US and back again, I could take a few things from storage and carry them back with me. Does that make sense, members?

Thanks. Hope my additional questions did not offend you, Seajay! :)

When I moved the bulk of my things I had a 20ft car trailer behind my 36ft motorhome i made sideboards for the trailer and it was packed plus the motorhome under side storage I crossed at San Ysedrio the young female agent looked at the trailer and all that was visable was the top of the refigerator she charged me 45 dls at that time i had NADA not even a FMT. In 6 years of living here i have had to pay duty twice I have found that if it looks used they dont bother much if it is new take it out of the carton. I think as humans we try to over complicate things as far as free move I really dont think they know or care how many times you bring things inn and the only place in Baja I have had to show any documents is crossing at Guerro Negro

Originally Posted by Msterieus

Other, related questions: I am thinking that I would move all of the things I want while I am renting a house (before I use my 1-time freebie) to a storage facility in the US near the border. (This would not include large furniture or most electronics -- just things like kitchen stuff, extra sheets & linens, lamps and other household goods to which I am attached.) Then, each time I drove from Baja to the US and back again, I could take a few things from storage and carry them back with me. Does that make sense, members?

Hey, Ms.....send me an e-mail.....we rented a storage locker at Otay and did the same thing...was quick and easy

Originally Posted by J.P.

When I moved the bulk of my things I had a 20ft car trailer behind my 36ft motorhome i made sideboards for the trailer and it was packed plus the motorhome under side storage I crossed at San Ysedrio the young female agent looked at the trailer and all that was visable was the top of the refigerator she charged me 45 dls at that time i had NADA not even a FMT. In 6 years of living here i have had to pay duty twice I have found that if it looks used they dont bother much if it is new take it out of the carton. I think as humans we try to over complicate things as far as free move I really dont think they know or care how many times you bring things inn and the only place in Baja I have had to show any documents is crossing at Guerro Negro

J.P. if you have pictures of that one... would really like to see it... did you have your "tie wire" on your hip... and a pair of klien's..

No it wasnt that bad. actually it looked pretty good. The point i was trying to make dont make moving down here a job enjoy the experince.I cross the border frequently and coming into Mexico has always ben a enjoyable experince. I do know if the load you dont look right or is too big they will not let you across at San Yisedro they will send you to Otay I do know a fellow that lives in Maneandereo that moves people all the time.

Originally Posted by J.P.

No it wasnt that bad. actually it looked pretty good. The point i was trying to make dont make moving down here a job enjoy the experince.I cross the border frequently and coming into Mexico has always ben a enjoyable experince. I do know if the load you dont look right or is too big they will not let you across at San Yisedro they will send you to Otay I do know a fellow that lives in Maneandereo that moves people all the time.

Just funning with an old iron worker... my best friend retired from being an "iron worker".. used to call him self the 'KING OF THE IRON PILE"

and used to go fishing with him and some of his "friends" from the jobs... oh, my...

Me too, moved all kinds of stuff down and just took two vehicles back up stuff full... even the Army did pull me into inspection, nor crossing at SY... in the SENTRI... lanes.. took 3 minutes at 9:50 AM.. piece of cake.. and the gal at the Gate was cute as a bug.. "taking anything back?"... nope just my first load back north... "fine, and I like that song" .. it was Sheryl Crow.. The Difficult Kind

When we moved our stuff, we rented a storage unit in Otay Mesa........took small amounts of stuff in the car, then hired an Ensenada mover to haul all of the big stuff and appliances.......they loaded it, passed through Mexican Customs, unloaded it and put it in the house where I wanted it........Easy Squeezy!!!!!

The wild bunch, I dont run into those guys often, but last year I happener upon two of them at the Shrimp Festival in San Felepi.WOOOW.The funny thing was as we relived the past all the antics we talked about didnt seem as funny to me as it did to them.But of course they were Roaring Drunk and its been 25 years since i was that Drunk. It was good to see them,brought back lot's of memories and it was a relife to see them I figured someone would have shot them by now.

Bringing smaller loads of used items shouldn't be a problem, unless they're 60" plasma flat screens, etc...

Here's a little summary of what we learned about importing through our experiences this year:

If it seems like a lot of stuff, or it's over $1000 dollars in value, go to to Otay Mesa. If you go to San Isidro and they think the value may be over $1000, or there's a lot of items, they'll just turn you around and send you to Otay anyway.

At Otay Mesa, pull into secondary and look for one of the broker representatives that patrol the parking area. They will most likely come to you. Give him a list of the items you are importing and let them determine a value. The value they assign will be much less than you would come up with. Your list doesn't have to be very detailed, and can be in english:

Coffee Table
Dining Table
Sitting Chairs
Dining Chairs
Couch

The broker rep will check your load, you'll barter over a value, then he will type up a manifest. You'll pay about $150 dollars for their service, and around 15% on the value of the items.

There's a bank adjacent to the customs office where you can pay. You must have PESOS! I don't know if the broker is open Saturday, but they're definitely closed on Sunday and holidays.

Each time we went through, while the documents are being typed up, a customs inspector had us pull some of the items out of the trailer to check that we didn't have any large ticket items that weren't claimed.

Earlier this year we moved ALL our household items in three trips. Two trips with a 16' cargo trailer, importing through Otay Mesa, and a smaller load through San Isidro with a 10' cargo trailer.

Each import went smoothly. If you don't want any hassles, make sure you claim everything. Otay Mesa importing took 1 1/2 to 2 hours. All depends on how busy they are.

Note: For some reason clothes are a big issue, even if they're your own. We didn't have many, but they were VERY interested in the amount of clothes we were importing. Also, to be safe, I made a much more detailed list that detailed the exact amount of each item we had in case the generic list didn't work. One in English and one in Spanish. We didn't need either.

Below is a picture of what we had to unload for the customs inspector. Kind of a pain, but not that bad.

Good luck and I hope it goes as smoothly as it did for us.

We have had similar experiences as BigWoo. If you have a significant amount of stuff, go to Otay. We are getting ready to take our 16' trailer across for the third time and we kinda like the Otay crossing. It's easy to get a broker to do the paperwork and it helps if you have a list and recipts. Last time I told the broker that I really didn't want to unload the trailer if at all possible and he told me, "I'll take care of you and you'll take care of me'. I said fine and we didn't have to touch a thing. A discrete "tip" at the end of the transaction and everyone was happy. There is a bank right across the parking lot with an ATM if you need Pesos. The whole thing is actually pretty easy and Woo is right, the broker will "undervalue" your stuff if you let him. Good luck.

Originally Posted by J.P.

The wild bunch, I dont run into those guys often, but last year I happener upon two of them at the Shrimp Festival in San Felepi.WOOOW.The funny thing was as we relived the past all the antics we talked about didnt seem as funny to me as it did to them.But of course they were Roaring Drunk and its been 25 years since i was that Drunk. It was good to see them,brought back lot's of memories and it was a relife to see them I figured someone would have shot them by now.

Ya got that right... San Felipe in 1968... had one on top of my VW bus.. pissing on everyone.. won't even go into why he was up on top of my bus...

Was able to get out to town.. they were going to kill us... (should say those crazy ass iron workers) had a guy hanging on my steering wheel as I was getting out of town with people throwing rocks at us...

First night in town.. we slept in the San Felipe dump.. and I used to have pictures of it... lost them a long time ago.. but, they were funny to see... three iron workers sleeping in tin cans and trash in their sleeping bags... didn't even make them blink... some wild and crazy guys...

Used go with them to get drunk, won't call it fishing, over a Willow Beach ... oh my... then driving into Vegas at 2-3 am cuz, they were bored just drinking and howling at the moon... one guy Mad Dog.. was the worst... and of course he was my old grade school friend ... now an iron worker at about 28 or 29 at that time.. my.... my hair still hurts...

Appears you certainly were an "iron worker"... glad you made all the way... a tough job.. at times ...

IN the early 60s most of us were runnng from the law for one reason or the other so we could either go to Vegas or Nor Ca.and still work.even today the woods up in Nor Ca are full of guys that made it to retirement age.some of them i have known 40+ years.
My brother and our sons and most of the younger male members of our family were in the trade but my brother and myself were the only ones that hung with it.

Sorry, Msterieus, I don't know the answer to that questions. One of the other experts here can probably tell you.

Thanks for the rest of your input.

Seajay44....

I'd like to know more about taking a motor home into Mexico. I know that other vehicles have some restrictions. What about a motor home? Any particular problems crossing the border or legalities (other than insurance) I should be aware of?

Seajay44....