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My husband & I have FM-3s and are currently living in Rosarito. We have a US friend visiting today for a couple of weeks and want to go down the Baja. Will she need to get some kind of visa to travel down?

I seem to remember years ago we used to have to get a visa to travel down in mainland Mexico, not sure if that's still even the case.

Originally Posted by Diane

My husband & I have FM-3s and are currently living in Rosarito. We have a US friend visiting today for a couple of weeks and want to go down the Baja. Will she need to get some kind of visa to travel down?

I seem to remember years ago we used to have to get a visa to travel down in mainland Mexico, not sure if that's still even the case.

Past maneadero, an FMT, tourist visa, is required. Above that point is considered the free zone and the law says one can be there for one week without papers. You can get one at the border.


By the way....that free zone FMT regulation is probably the least enforced law in the world.

Dennis- Seems to me that the "free" period is actually 72 hours. On that note, however, you are correct about enforcement. The issue would be if the person visiting is driving a car. The insurance thing could make for a mess.

Originally Posted by Bajahowodd

Dennis- Seems to me that the "free" period is actually 72 hours.

The 72 hour time limit was changed to 7 days several years ago.

Originally Posted by expat

The 72 hour time limit was changed to 7 days several years ago.

Correctamundo. I was told that by an inmigración official four or five years back. Doesn't necessarily make it universally true but, if they don't know, who would?

I took this from the official Baja Secretary of Tourism website...

THE VISITOR CARD IS VALID FOR A PERIOD OF SIX MONTHS.

The visitor of any nationality, except Mexican, will have to pay this fee, when entering Mexico.

IF YOU ENTER MEXICO:

• BY AIR: You will make this payment when you buy the plane ticket.
  
  
• BY SEA: The tourist that arrived by sea and their visit is not exceeding more than 72 hours will be considered local visitors and THEREFORE WILL NOT BE SUBJECT to pay this fee (D.N.I.) but all people that travel beyond the road check point or staying more than 7 days will have to pay the fee.
  
  
• BY LAND: Those who want to stay more than 7 days in areas near the border crossing will have to pay this fee at any mexican bank. The Secretariat of Tourism in Baja California establishes TOURIST CORRIDORS where the fee doesn´t have to be paid (D.N.I) and those places are:
  
  
  • TIJUANA - ENSENADA.
  • SONOITA - PUERTO PEÑASCO.
  • CIUDAD JUAREZ - PAQUIME.
  • PIEDRAS NEGRAS - SANTAROSA.
  • REYNOSA - CHINA - PRESA (DAM) EL CUCHILLO.
    
    
• TO EASE THE ENTRANCE BY LAND , THE PAYMENT CAN BE DONE EVERY 6 MONTHS, BEING ABLE TO ENTER AND EXIT MEXICO SEVERAL TIMES DURING THIS PERIOD.

Nothing like official confusion. Ron, your post prompts two questions. First, the posting omits any mention of Mexicali- San Felipe. I understand, that San Felipe is within the "zone", yet it is not listed in the text of your post. Second, maybe I'm just a cynic, but the text relieves cruise passengers from any requirements on a one day visit. Having never taken a cruise to Ensenada, I just wonder if the cruise companies actually exact a charge from their passengers, even though it appears it is not required by Mexican law. The main reason I bring this up is that the various cruise lines that visit Ensenada may carry passengers of origin from many countires around the world and I just can't imagine that the Mexican immigration officials don't care about that. It's pretty easy to walk off a ship and never get back on.

Originally Posted by Diane

We have a US friend visiting today for a couple of weeks and want to go down the Baja. Will she need to get some kind of visa to travel down?

About thirty years ago there used to be a manned immigration station at Maneadero, just like they still have at the highway entrances to Sonora. But about twenty years ago, I drove all the way to Guerrero Negro and never encountered an Immigration official. If they catch you without your FMT (or FM3), their procedures call for a small fine and getting sent back where you came from. But, really, you could always plead ignorance. It's not like there's a sign at Maneadero saying WARNING! TURN BACK IF YOU DON'T HAVE A VISA!

If you wish to take out the FMT for your friend, you ought to be able to do so in Ensenada ... there might even be an INM office in Rosarito ... certainly no reason to go all they way to the border. The INM office for Ensenada is probably still in the Harbor Master's building (Capitanía del Puerto). I don't know about Rosarito but you could always ask the city's Gringo Ombudsman, whatever he's called.

Originally Posted by Bajahowodd

First, the posting omits any mention of Mexicali- San Felipe. I understand, that San Felipe is within the "zone"

The area was originally conceived as a franja fronteriza in which everyone living within one hundred kilometers on either side of the border was permitted by international treaty to travel freely within that zone for up to seventy-two hours. Your driver's license (or equivalent) was all the Mexican government required for you to demonstrate that you were a fronterizo; the U.S. government issued "fronterizo visas", originally just a quarter-sheet of regular paper, for free and good for life. During the reign of George I, these were replaced with "border-crosser cards" that cost money and were good for ten or twelve years. Nowadays we have the horribly expensive "visa láser", which effectively dismantles the original concept of a fluid border zone from the U.S. point of view. Nonetheless, the Mexican government still views us as such a zone which ends at the latitude of Maneadero. It is most likely an oversight that left San Felipe out of the listing on the website.

I just wonder if the cruise companies actually exact a charge from their passengers, even though it appears it is not required by Mexican law.

Yes, they charge a port fee to every passenger who disembarks. That's because the state of Baja California (in the case of Ensenada) charges that fee for the use of the docks. During the elections a few weeks ago, the recision of this port fee was one of the issues being debated.

I just can't imagine that the Mexican immigration officials don't care about that. It's pretty easy to walk off a ship and never get back on.

The immigration folks refer to cruises as "closed loops" -- in this case, you get on the boat in Los Angeles then you get off in Ensenada and La Paz and Mazatlán and then you go back to Los Angeles. The cruise line keeps records of your coming and going, so they'll know if you've jumped ship in Ensenada (where you don't need an FMT) or in Mazatlán (where you do). But what a strange way to become an undocumented immigrant!

It have been a couple of years now but when I drove down to BC I was not asked for a visa until the check point at Guerrero Negro where I was sold one for $22.

As far as enforcement, I believe that is still pretty much the case...