"John Seeliger" wrote in message
news:bpohvl$1qkgtr$1@ID-146094.news.uni-berlin.de...
> I was in México from 28 May to 31 May this year. Before leaving, I forgot
> to register my car at the border and when I went to the Mexican Consulate in
> Dallas, they told me it had to be done at the border. I have not been
> outside north Texas since 1 June so I didn't go down there and do it. I
> emailed the consulate in Laredo and he told me that the Dallas consulate was
> right: That Mexican customs requires cancellations be done at the border
> and the penalty for not doing so could be denial of a future permit. My 180
> days are up tommorrow 23 Nov.
>
> Based on the experience of those here who have driven into Mexico, will I
> experience a problem when I next try to get a permit, if I don't return my
> car by tommorrow? Will I be fined or unable to get a future permit?
All I know is that the Mexican Consulate is full of shit. I had a
problem with getting a tourist card. The lady at the Mexican Consulate
(probably the wife of some PRI official) gave me the tourist card
(actually a triplicate paper form) but told me I had to pay the fee
"at the bus station." So I got to the bus station and began asking
several uniformed officers (who were just standing around with their
thumbs up their asses) and they all told me I couldn't pay at the
bus station, that I had to pay at the checkpoint just south of the city.
So I get on the bus and it leaves the station and proceeds to breeze
through the checkpoint without stopping! (What is the checkpoint even
for if vehicles aren't required to stop?) So 2 weeks later I'm on the
bus back and this time it does stop at the checkpoint. Uniformed
officials board the bus and immediately single me out because I'm white.
I show them my passport and tourist card (unpaid and unstamped) and
they drag me off the bus and take me into a room and begin harassing me
telling me what a terrible criminal I am because I was unable to pay
the 170 peso fee due to their incompetence. I had almost no money left,
I showed them a bag of coins with maybe a 20-peso note. Fortunately,
they realized there was nothing they could do so they took my name and
address and said they would report it to the consulate who might send
me a bill. Nothing ever became of it.
But while Mexican officials might let a tourist card fee pass, they are
NOT going to let a vehicle fee pass. They are absolute freaks when it
comes to importing American cars into their precious country. And they
also want a mountain of paperwork filled out when the car leaves their
country. And it doesn't matter how hard you try to comply with their
various rules, fees, etc. Mexican bureaucracy sucks. If they say
something or another must be done at a specific location, then there is
no way out of it. My guess is that if you miss the deadline you can
still smooth things over with a $100 "fee" paid to the guy doing your
paperwork.
|
|
|
|