I got all of the following off of a Baja website. Some of this is news to me. These changes were suppose to have been made September 2015. Can anyone confirm?
1. An FMM is required even in the free boarder area, including all of Baja, assuming you are a non-citizen/non visa holder.
2. An FMM for less than 1 week is free, 8-180 days is $533MXN.
3. You can get them online ahead of time, but still have to stop at the border INM to have it stamped if you enter Mexico by land.
4. You can enter/exit Mexico repeatedly during the time your FMM is valid.
5. You no longer have to surrender your FMM when leaving the country. You use it until it expires.
New FMM rules
JulianDave
04 September 2018 22:35:20
26
jamesr3939
04 September 2018 22:55:01
226
That is all correct as far as I have learned from at least two travel sites. Multiple sites confirm there is no more "free zone". Hasn't been since 2015. I assume you got information from Discover Baja www site?
As near I can tell they are the only location in US that is authorized to issue FMM for 180 days electronically. Cost is $37 US and you do have to stop at the border to have it stamped the first time you enter. Apparently, buying from them eliminates the extra stop at the border crossing to go to the bank to pay the fee and then walk back to the inspection station. I guess they don't handle money at the inspection station.
I haven't done it yet. But plan to in October when we go down for a few days. I could get a free seven day FMM. But I plan to go back a few times in the next six months so figured I might as well get it an eliminate the stops each time.
I also noticed Discover Baja sells car insurance, which when I priced it wasn't all that expensive. I will probably purchase from them when we go down next month. Their annual plans aren't bad either especially if you have a SENTRI card.
JulianDave
05 September 2018 00:32:48
26
Yes, it was that website.
My last trip down was just for 5 days, so I got the FMM online through the Mexican government website (You can only do that if you trip is within 30 days, otherwise the form errors and doesn't tell you why, btw). I assumed that if I needed it for longer, I would have paid them, but it sounds like that might not be the case.
I used the CBX bridge to the Tijuana airport, so have not had to get car insurance yet.
Probably a good idea to just get the FMM for 6 months if you'll use it a few times.
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