Elimination of FMM Paperwork

RoyD wrote:We will be arriving on Sept 1. Will I still need to go online and get a tourist visa?

RoyD

You used to get a tourist visa online, or do you mean a TIP for your car? Tourists never got visas online if they flew in, as far as I'm aware- never heard of that- you just always filled out the FMM on the plane. If you are flying in, they will just stamp your passport when you go through immigration now. The cost for it is included in the price of your airfare.

RoyD wrote:That is what I m asking (excuse me for vagueness). Do I still have to fill out the tourist visa on line? We used to get them from the airline, but that was changed to on line.

RoyD

I still don't really know what you are talking about. I never filled out any tourist visa online years ago when I was still a tourist. And they were still handing the FMM forms out on the plane when I flew back from Canada last summer. And you said it's been years since you've been back, so it doesn't make sense that you had to do it online because they weren't giving them out on the plane. I do seem to recall reading that there was a shortage of the forms at one point in the past year, and some of the airlines didn't have any, but that would have been after you last came down. But that didn't matter, people just filled them out when they arrived at the airport. I would assume you don't have to do anything online, they will just stamp your passport when you enter.

P.S Roy- as far as I'm aware, you never had to fill out the visa form online, it was just an option. If they didn't have the forms on the plane, they had them at the airport to fill out before passing through immigration.

I just never heard of anyone bothering to do the online visa thing unless they were driving in and needed a TIP. That would seem pointless, as you still have to go through immigration when you arrive and if they didn't have FMMs on the plane, they did in the airports. And they take all of 3-5 minutes to fill out, so online isn't some big time or hassle saver.

What I was really responding to was

RoyD wrote: Do I still have to fill out the tourist visa on line?

RoyD

Roy seemed to be under the impression that he was required to do it online at some point, which was never the case.

In my experience, it always takes awhile for some places to "get the memo", when a new Mexican regulation or change comes into effect. Remember back when the immigration law changed and long-standing temps had  to go permanent? There was all sorts of conflicting information being given as to removing foreign plated cars for permanentes. Even Sonia Diaz was being given conflicting info by SAT and Aduana, and was posting updates, as she was told yet something else by someone else.

I actually read a post yesterday on a Baja forum by someone who was told by Immigration in Mexico City that this was a "trial" at this point, and only being done in certain airports. One of those was Guadalajara, so that just goes to show that you just have to wait and see here. Maybe they decided to carry on as usual until they run out of the forms they have on hand, or maybe the imm. official on duty at the time didn't get the memo, who knows.

I'm flying to Canada out of PV on the 12th, so I'll fill out the blank FMM I have on hand before I go, as I always do to save time at the INM desk in case it's needed.

Here's a little story about the right hand not knowing what the left is doing.
Back when I went to permanente and had to get my Canadian-plated Japanese-made Honda CRV out of Mexico (broke my heart), I first took the ferry to La Paz to visit my daughter and family in Todos Santos. Then I drove up Baja to Tecate. The border there is a bit confusing, as the incoming, where the Aduana office is, is a block over from the outgoing lane and you can't see one from the other. All the signs going north were for outgoing, and as Baja is a free zone for cars (no TIPs required), everyone just usually drives straight out.

So I was looking for an Aduana office, but they just kept trying to wave me through to the US. I finally managed to get the point across that I needed the sticker removed and the paper saying the car had been removed, and was directed a block down and a block over (there was also road work being done, with detours and typical Mexican poor signage, which added to the fun). I parked and went to the Aduana window, and explained what I needed and why. The Aduana official said he had never heard of permanente residents having to remove their foreign-plated car and asked me where I had heard such a thing. I reached out and tapped the badge on his chest and said, "Orders from your jefe in Mexico City".

While I knew Baja has different vehicle rules, this was a federal regulation for permanentes- you'd think he would have heard of it sometime during the months that had passed since it was instituted. I guess I was the first permanente who had come from the mainland who needed this done.

As you like, Roy, but it really didn't save you any time. You still have to line up and file through immigration when you arrive, and they will either give the forms on the plane to fill out, or you can fill one out while waiting in the line. That is, if they are using the forms. Otherwise, they will just stamp your passport.

Canada_Mike wrote:You can file a TIP online. I did it, and it saved the hassle of stopping at the border. Left via Columbia Bridge and got the refund registered.

The OP is flying.

I flew out of PV airport to Canada 2 days ago as RP. No more FMM, no stamping of my passport on the way out. Guy at INM booth said it would only be stamped when returning.