foreign plated cars and the new immigration law

A friend emailed me the link below regarding importing of foreign cars by permanent residents. It seems every time I read something about this, it is a different story. I am wondering what is happening in the real world. Has anyone gone to the new permanent resident classification who has a car and what happened?

http://www.tiocorpinsurance.com/index.cfm/driving-in-mexico/importing-a-car-into-mexico1/

Gravy did, and started the thread a few days ago...even Spencer didn't have the answer.

Gravy seemed to still be in process about his car. I was hoping there was someone who had actually finished it up one way or the other. Of course, then there probably would be someone else who finished up with an entirely different result.
Luckily, I do not have to deal with this for another six months or so, but I wish I knew if I could keep my car without spending thousands of dollars to "import" it. It is a good car and I really like it.

From all reports, ADUANA has not provided any new updates to their regulations that take into account the new INM rules & regs. Anyone claiming to know is full of it and following the rumor mill!

Lady Otter Latté wrote:Gravy seemed to still be in process about his car. I was hoping there was someone who had actually finished it up one way or the other. Of course, then there probably would be someone else who finished up with an entirely different result.
Luckily, I do not have to deal with this for another six months or so, but I wish I knew if I could keep my car without spending thousands of dollars to "import" it. It is a good car and I really like it.

Lady Otter, When Gravy started the thread, he had already received the new Permanente docs. His concern was/is the same as yours. IMHO, this whole thing is a mystery, 1000's may convert status, only to discover serious issues with foreign plated vehicles. Many that are converting have been here over 10 years, and it is unlikely that their vehicles are even road worthy for a 1500-2500 mile round trip to border.

I would believe that TioCorp has done more research than any "opinion"
stating that all info is from the rumor mill

That was a good link. I wish they had continued on to say "how to import your vehicle for a MODEST sum".
The criteria seems to be a NAFTA car...i.e. VIN number beginning with a NUMBER and it has to be 8 or 9 or 10 years old.
It doesn't affect us since we've had a Mexican plated car since '97 but we sure have a lot of friends who are in limbo and would like to see a definitive plan of action.

Why just 8, 9 or 10 years old?
However, my car happens to be a 2003 so this would be the year for me to do it. And, it is a NAFTA car too. But the amount of money to do it seems to be steep.

Why don't you try calling TioCorp and ask them what the proper procedure is? They specifically said in the article for "a modest amount". It would be good to know what they consider "modest". I am so sick of hearing that gringos "sont puro dinero".

Part of what is on that Tio link is wrong.

There are no rules published yet for the two new visas. The names of the visas changed and you cannot find the new names in the customs law anywhere.

They will work something out.

About a year ago, I saw an article that said that MX had just issued its one millionth FM3. Most of those are US or Canadian and a lot of them have cars here with NOB plates. Conservatively, you are looking at 100-200K cars here that are not NAFTA or not in the right years to nationalize. Could be twice that many...

For the past 2 months, the rumor mill has consistantly said that there will be a reasonable solution to the residents here. It may all be BS, but we will just have to wait and see......

Thank you jrm30655. That is how it has been playing out so far. I am going to trust that the car thing will work out. But, I will leave enough time to be sure I can handle whatever does or does not happen before I renew my (now) FM3 in October.

One millionth FM3? Does that mean since the beginning of time?...or within a specific time frame? If it's since the beginning of time, we're somewhere on that list and we're now Inmigrados.
I still think it would be a good idea to phone TioCorp and ask for the info that wasn't stated in the article. If there is a way to do it for a "modest" sum, then I wouldn't wait. JMHO.

ferret wrote:One millionth FM3? Does that mean since the beginning of time?...or within a specific time frame? If it's since the beginning of time, we're somewhere on that list and we're now Inmigrados.
I still think it would be a good idea to phone TioCorp and ask for the info that wasn't stated in the article. If there is a way to do it for a "modest" sum, then I wouldn't wait. JMHO.

I read the article to mean "active". I think it said FM3 but it could have been FM2/3. A while back, someone ran a list of countries with retirees here. It was in the 30-40 range.

The only thing that would keep me from doing it is if I ever went back. Then what kind of problems would you have?

Before one gets too cocky about the number of foreigners and their imagined impact, you might take a look at the following:
http://www.inm.gob.mx/estadisticas/Estimacion_de_Poblacion/2009/ExtranjerosResMex.pdf

Scroll down to page 25 where the numbers start to appear and continue on from there. Kind of shoots down various numbers previously imagined.

CheenaGringo wrote:Before one gets too cocky about the number of foreigners and their imagined impact, you might take a look at the following:
http://www.inm.gob.mx/estadisticas/Estimacion_de_Poblacion/2009/ExtranjerosResMex.pdf

Scroll down to page 25 where the numbers start to appear and continue on from there. Kind of shoots down various numbers previously imagined.

Hard to believe only 59,000 Americans in Mexico.

I received this in my email this AM.

Importing a vehicle into Mexico has become a hot topic as a result of the new immigration rules which require that FM3 holders convert to "permanent" residency status after 4 years, which will result in the loss of their Temporary Import Permit (TIP). These folks will have to import their vehicle, or remove it from Mexico.

The link below provides more information from the TioCorp Insurance website.

http://www.tiocorpinsurance.com/index.cfm/driving-in-mexico/importing-a-car-into-mexico1/

TioCorp Insurance

376.766.4828

So, if you're an FM 3 holder why not convert to FM 2 as I did?

Awesome link Neil! Check out pages 30 and 31.

John...there is NO status called an FM2 or an FM3 any more.

ferret wrote:Awesome link Neil! Check out pages 30 and 31.

John...there is NO status called an FM2 or an FM3 any more.

Tell that to Tio Corp.

ferret wrote:Awesome link Neil! Check out pages 30 and 31.

John...there is NO status called an FM2 or an FM3 any more.

.........And it says there are less than 4800 expats in Chapala. There sure must be quite a few who either stay on FMM's or are illegal.

joec wrote:

ferret wrote:Awesome link Neil! Check out pages 30 and 31.

John...there is NO status called an FM2 or an FM3 any more.

Tell that to Tio Corp.

Guess you didn't read to the bottom of your own link.

File is from 2009, FYI

Intercasa wrote:File is from 2009, FYI

'Tis true that Neil's link is from 2009. But, considering what's happened in Mexico and the U.S. since that date, methinks that the numbers may be a little on the high side.