TalkBaja.com » Baja Mexico Forums » Visas for travel and living in Baja California, Mexico

Does anyone have any insight on procedures or tips on leaving Baja for a two month vacation to the USA. We both have FM2's and will be driving a US MN plated F-150 outbound. On return we will be bringing back with us our F-150 with SD registration and plates and a 7x14 tandem axle enclosed box trailer, SD plates, with the remainder of our stuff from the States.

My questions are in regards the procedures for leaving Baja and returning with an FM2.

Thanks

Warren

There are restrictions to your FM2 on foreign travel, one being that if you leave Mexico for more than 18 months in a period of 5 years, you may not be able to apply for permanent resident status. Some risk entering and leaving without notifying but if caught it can affect your visa status and face fines or worse. I suggest you just have it stamped at the border by the INM office before leaving and again when returning...

We have the new photo Id cards and no place to stamp it. Guess I better ask down town about it.

Thanks

Driving in & out is the pretty on the honor system, but if/when you travel by air, it's a mandatory stamping out & back in process. I totally agree with BG that it's best to adhere to the laws & rules of out host country.

Uh oh!! The fly in the ointment is that it's illegal to own a foreign registered vehicle on an FM2. To keep your vehicle here legally, you could import it & get Mexican plates. Depending on the year of the vehicle, importation can be a spendy process. Also laws on allowable years of vehicle manufacture to qualify for importation have tightened up a BUNCH over the past few years. For starters, what year is your rig? There's good information here:

http://www.rollybrook.com/car-in-M%C3%A9xico.htm

Keep in mind as you're reading that vehicle permits apply only to mainland & don't apply to Baja. So you'll need to hunt 'n peck for which information is applicable to Baja. If you need more information about the importation process, you know how to find me!

In the days of FM3 & FM2 books, they were physically stamped in & out....under the new card system, your departures & returns are scanned or otherwise tracked online.

**Cards are a fairly recent development, most of us are still using the former process vernacular....sorry for the confusion!

Rolly's site says that it's okay to have a foreign vehicle with an FM2 Rentista.

The "new" way of keeping track of entries and exits is supposed to be the FMM card. No idea how that works for land crossings. You could also try to get them to stamp your US passport out and in.

Originally Posted by longlegsinlapaz

. Also laws on allowable years of vehicle manufacture to qualify for importation have tightened up a BUNCH over the past few years. For starters, what year is your rig?

:

Hi LLIL, I'd like to know more about models years etc for vehicles, is there a info site for that? thanks.

Thanks Kate!! That's what I get for failing to notice that Rolly updated that page yesterday!!

domack here's the Aduana website with information for vehicle importation:

http://www.aduanas.sat.gob.mx/aduana...144_11273.html

Originally Posted by longlegsinlapaz

Thanks Kate!! That's what I get for failing to notice that Rolly updated that page yesterday!!

domack here's the Aduana website with information for vehicle importation:

http://www.aduanas.sat.gob.mx/aduana...144_11273.html

Thank you We have a lot of things to consider as my wife and I are looking into where to buy our retirement/ vacation home. So far San Quintin sure looks nice and not too far from where we live now. She was born in Mexico and has duel citizenship. We'll be going down there this Sept....

Down here in our neck of the woods (San Quintin), the auto registration thing is mostly a non-issue. It seems that the local cops here could care less what plates you have on your car.

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

Down here in our neck of the woods (San Quintin), the auto registration thing is mostly a non-issue. It seems that the local cops here could care less what plates you have on your car.

I'm a firm believer in complying with rules and regulations and I do obey the laws. That said, if we try to micro-manage our levels of compliance, we wouldn't be able to leave the house without violating something..
Respectful interpretation is the method that works best for me.

Originally Posted by DENNIS

I'm a firm believer in complying with rules and regulations and I do obey the laws. That said, if we try to micro-manage our levels of compliance, we wouldn't be able to leave the house without violating something..
Respectful interpretation is the method that works best for me.

I do agree with you Dennis - but I have to admit that I do find it amusing that while I drive a vehicle with Baja plates, almost all of my neighbors who are locals drive cars with expired California plates. The local cops here just don't seem interested in that stuff...