At the border between Nuevo Laredo and Laredo, I was in Mexico before I even knew it. At first I thought I was at the border, but it was really only the US side, then all I saw on the Mexico side was a guy waving cars through and then I was in Mexico.
The first problem that caused was that I was not able to get my FM3 visa finalized very quickly. I had gone to the Mexican Consulate in Omaha and gotten the FMM sticker in my passport which I thought was the FM3. After I got to Mexico city, my company put me into contact with a company that helps people with the visa process. They weren't actually able to help me get the FM3 visa at first because I didn't have a passport stamp which I needed to get at the border. It didn't matter that there was no place to get a stamp and there was just a guy waving people through. Luckily I had plans to fly back home a month later for a friend's wedding, and i was able to get the stamp at the Mexico City airport after flying home from my friend's wedding.
The other thing I didn't know I did wrong was with my car. So that is why I am writing this blog to help anyone else who might be in my position. The reason I found out I was in the wrong was because one day about 6 months after I got to Mexico City, I was driving my car and got pulled over by the police for no reason. (probably because my car had US license plates and I looked like an American) The officer spoke really quickly in Spanish and asked for my "Pedimento Vehicular" which I had never heard of and I asked him where I could get it. He shook his head and said I would have to follow him and my car would be put in the police compound and I would have to pay a fine of $2,700 pesos. I tried to explain that I was just going to work and asked him to let me go so I could fix it. He said What do I get? So then I knew he was just asking for a bribe. So I gave him 200 pesos and he let me go. I decided to go straight home and work from home the rest of the day. I tried to figure out how to make my car legal in Mexico City and went to 3 different Banjercitos, including one which turned out to just be an ATM at a private club (oops), and then to the SAT (import) office in Mexico City, everyone I spoke with really wanted to help me but couldn't do it. That got old to hear really quickly. In sum, it took forever and was a huge pain in the butt
One day I was riding in an Uber to work and I was just chatting with my uber driver. (Note when I first moved to Mexico City I took uber everywhere for about 2 months straight because the traffic was so crazy to get used to things) My uber driver happened to be from Reynosa which is on the border, so I asked if he knew anything about bringing cars across the border into Mexico. Luckily he had a contact who was a customs agent and he gave me their contact information. I got them on the phone and they basically told me that I didn't need them. I just had to get to the border, show the title and my visa and my passport and I would be good to go. I didn't believe that so I talked to another customs agent and they told me the same thing. I also called Banjercito in Nuevo Laredo and they told me the same thing and exactly what I needed to bring in perfect english. After all of the hassle it was actually pretty straightforward so here is what you need to do:
Step 1. Once you get to Nuevo Laredo you have to go here to this long building (the parking lot is huge and below (south) of Blvrd Luis Donaldo Colosio:
The name and address of this long building is: CIITEV - Importacion Temporal de Vehiculos.
Blvd Luis Donald Colossi, Sector Centro, 88000 Nuevo Laredo, Tamps., Mexico but I think if you type in CIITEV into google maps it will take you right there.
It looks like this
Entrada means entrance so go in there. You need your car's Title (the fancy piece of paper saying you are the owner), your passport, your FM3 visa card, and a Visa credit or debit card (they don't accept American Express). You also need to know your car's license plate number because they write that on the Pedimento Vehicular (I think is the name of it) It's worth a call to this office or to Banjercito in Nuevo Laredo to confirm all of this before you go.
You will need to buy Mexican insurance and there are 5 or 6 companies in this building who want to sell you insurance. At first I accidentally only bought insurance that was valid if my US insurance was in place. That basically would double the price of the insurance plus my US insurance stopped being valid when I crossed the border and they were beyond confused with my situation so it was a waste of time. Best to find a company you've heard of that will cover you. It probably wouldn't take long to get price quotes from all of them because they are right next to each other. Summary: you have to have Mexican car insurance if you are planning to drive your car in Mexico. Your US insurance is not valid. People drive like crazy and it's not that expensive so it's definitely worth it.
At first I walked into the building and went to #1, after I waited in line for a few minutes they told me I needed to go to dos y cuatro. I am fluent in Spanish but I had no idea what that meant. They were super helpful by telling me Two and Four. Then they pointed me in the right direction and that actually was helpful.
At Dos (two) they just made copies of my title, passport and visa and charged me 35 pesos or something which is about $2 so that felt kind of expensive for 3 copies and the envelope which held the copies and the originals. At Cuatro (four) was Banjercito which is the Mexican army bank which is responsible for the temporary importation of vehicles (importacion temporal de vehiculos). I waited in line for about 5 minutes and then I was at the front of the line and a number told me which window to go to. The person took my copies and typed into her computer for about 5 minutes. She asked for my car's license plate number and for some reason i had taken a photo of my license plate with my phone a few weeks prior so I checked that to tell her. The license plate number is written on the document and there is a sticker that you put behind and to the right of your car's rearview mirror. I had to pay a fee of about $50 plus a deposit of $400 that I will get back when I drive my car back across the border at the end of my time in Mexico City. They don't accept American Express, so I paid with my Visa debit card.
Easy huh? haha well it was a huge pain in the butt until I got to CIITEV in Nuevo Laredo. I thought there was going to be a car inspection before or after they gave me the sticker, but there wasn't so it turns out I didn't even need to drive to the border (luckily my girlfriend's dad drove with me so it wasn't so bad, about 10 hours from Mexico City to Monterrey on the first day, and then about 17 hours the second day going from Monterrey, to Nuevo Laredo, back through Monterrey to Mexico City). I could have flown to Laredo's airport, got a taxi to the CIITEV and done the process and then flown back to Mexico City in one day. But I didn't know that until I was in Nuevo Laredo with my new sticker which makes my car legal for as long as my FM3 visa is legal. Supposedly it's pretty straightforward to extend my car's legality once my visa is extended. But I've heard that one before, along with no, it's not spicy.
Good luck, hope this is helpful. Please let me know any questions :)
Jarryd
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