Forum Discussion
- He sure took a long time to not say much.
It was interesting though. - I posted it because it helps to clarify some misconceptions many people have about Mexico and how rules can easily be circumvented.
Things are changing, more than I would like with the current government, but some of the changes are for the better. - Thanks Chris. That video was very informative.
I'd heard of this "perpetual tourist visa" happening many years ago in Mexico (more than 20 years ago) when I was in Campeche. I asked a friend of mine, who was Minister of Justice for Campeche State about it, but the PRI wasn't interested in pursuing the weakness in the migracion (system) back then.
This same side-stepping of the rules was wide-spread across the Republics down the Isthmus. The tourist visa rules started changing in Republics like Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador around 2000 / 2001, making it difficult for tourist visa "border hopping" to renew their 90 days back and forth to occur, thereby chasing out a certain cohort of "tourist". I think that Panama was more strict in "those days" about border hopping, if I recall. - It was only time until the technology caught up with all off us, I used to enter by Reynosa and exit by Reynosa, go up to my brothers in San Antonio for a week and re-enter by Nuevo Laredo and exit by Nuevo Laredo, and back by Reynosa and never had a problem and was never questioned, wait until the Mexican Immigration system has access to HSI system of cameras that take a photo of the license plate and driver going out and entering, Canada has access to this system, things will get interesting.
So all of you do not worry, if the old regimes come back in a few years we will be back to the old graft and corruption and business as usual.
No hay nada de que preocuparse unos cuantos refrescos (money) lo arreglan todo
navegator - When computers first were introduced in N. Laredo's immigration offices Maine was not listed as a US state on the software they were using. We/they had to use Massachusetts as our home state.
navegator wrote:
So all of you do not worry, if the old regimes come back in a few years we will be back to the old graft and corruption and business as usual.
navegator
X2
If you are referring to the "old" regimes of Lopez Portillo and the like :)- We just spent 4 months this year living in Mexico in a lovely little town called Puerto Morelos , 30 minutes from Cancun. I met many and many people living there on a tourist visa and going out of the country once in a six months and going back the same day. People just got used to this lifestyle now. Good for us that more and more countries start to approve visa applications online https://evisa.express/. Only few years ago i spent hours and hours in a different embassies and collecting millions of different docs.
- We have all been told times are changing. and they are!!!
The computer systems are always being updated, one way or another.
The video that you are referring to has been discussed in earlier posts, and at least two of them, with the exact same person and script, in different locations have been posted.
They do state the actual legalities.
Here in Zihuatanejo, and elsewhere that I have been reading about, when you get off of the plane you aren't automatically being given 180 days on your FMM. People get lazy and don't pay attention. We have very good friends that we picked up at the airport in late October on the first direct flight from Canada to our Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo airport. They are here for 5 months, never think about things, and were given 20 days. They didn't notice until I asked them.
What to do? Looks like you just go the airport on your departure date, act clueless and pay a fine and next year, pay attention, ask for the time you need and be ready to show proof of lodging and/or a return booking.
So, what? The rules have been in place for a long time, be smart and work with them.
Residency? It's not hard, just a hoop to jump through. If you plan to actually live in a country other than the one you hold a passport for, why not do it right and be legal? We did it! It was easy!!! - If you are not a perpetual tourist, why do you care if someone else is?
playaboy wrote:
If you are not a perpetual tourist, why do you care if someone else is?
This is a pretty common approach to things these days, "live and let live" and that is probably why there are so many problems.
It has a lot to do with a person's moral compass.
You might ask, "How does this affect you?". For starters, as a foreigner, something of which I will never escape, it leaves a bad taste in the mouths of many Mexicans. "You gringos come here and do whatever you want". I've heard all the lines.
Now, because of the foreigners coming from the southern part of the continent illegally, we have now been put on alert so that INM might stop us and check to see if we have our papers with us. That's what happens when people don't follow the rules and everyone else has to pay the price.
Americans and Canadians in SMA are breaking federal, state, and local rules by paying mafias that provide a plastic license plate to avoid paying taxes and import fees on their vehicles. It looks pretty silly to see, as I did last week, a current model Mercedes and a Lexus both owned by gringos flaunting those plates. What is the message being sent to Mexicans, "Oh you come here in your big fancy cars and then not pay anything while we have to pay coyotes, Aduana, and cartels upwards of $450 USD so we can cross our cars into Mexico legally?" ?
Americans and Canadians come here thinking we have no rules or that they can easily be broken. Yet in their respective countries, they would never think of doing such things and frown upon those foreigners who do.
What does a Rver in Mexico actually pay for that adds to the general economy?
Many rvers come with their rvs loaded with foodstuffs, fuel, wine, the sacred Canadian butter, and the cheddar cheese. Buying veggies off the food truck is self-serving and the RV park owner employs but a handful of people most of which make next to nothing.
The list goes on. Don't brag to a Mexican that "I'm an American" because first off, we are all Americans, and second turn around and think you can break all the rules, it's not a show of one's true colors.
Buy Mexican and follow the rules. JMHO
