Expired, Lost, or Overdue Mexican Immigration Visas (FMT) or Car Permits
A tourist permit is not a visa, but most people refer to the FMT tourist permit as a visa, so I will call the tourist permit a visa to. But remember, an FMT is a tourist permit, not an immigration visa. If you neglected to turn your FMT immigration tourist permit (visa) or permit into Mexican immigration (Migracíon not customs or aduana) before leaving Mexico, you will have trouble getting a new immigration permit (visa) when you return to Mexico. I know. I got caught. I paid fines. So did a friend.
Please do not write me and ask me to solve your problem for you unless you are willing to pay for my knowledge and time. I will not answer any questions about lost car permits for free anymore. I did this for years and now I need to take care of my family instead of strangers.
The fee is on my shopping cart. Of all the people who have asked me to help them for free, the people with car permit problems have been the most ungrateful. It is not my fault you did not turn in your permit, sold your car in Mexico or gave it away.
If you didn't turn in your Mexican car permit to Hacienda or Banjercito (NOT immigration), then you will not be able to drive into Mexico again unless you straighten things out. Period.
Note: If you travel in Sonora only or Baja, the permits are not such a big deal, but it's my belief that you should err on the side of caution and return any permits, regardless of where in Mexico you travel.
Fines for failure to surrender your immigration papers (FMT) are steep -- about $300 a month. Yep, that is USD $300. Migracíon (Mexican immigration) has a pretty accurate computer. They caught me for not turning the FMT's in since 1996. Fortunately, Migracíon let me slide on all but the most recent -- a year old. The polite Mexican immigration official only wanted $2,000 -- US dollars -- from me.
Don't Panic! There Is a Solution.
Don't panic. Keep reading. I had to go back two times to find one Mexican immigration official who was willing to negotiate. For about $312, I got cleared. I know this because when I got my next Mexican FMT tourist card, the immigration official saw that the previous ones had been canceled.
The only solution is to pay the fine.
How to cancel your Mexican car permit, the easy way.
Hacienda (the Mexican treasury department) keeps even better track of your Mexican car permits. From a confidential source, i found out that their records are tied to your name, date of birth, immigration information and vehicle VIN. So basically, you are screwed if you try to bring another car in, unless you are lucky. If you try to get a new Mexican car permit on a car that was previously driven in Mexico, Hacienda you can cancel your permit with no penalty. Anyone who tells you that you can cancel them at a Mexican consulate is years out-of-date.
So, if you have the same vehicle and want to drive it to Mexico again, or ever drive another vehicle to Mexico, take the original vehicle back to the border and cancel your car permit.
If your car was wrecked or stolen, read on. I have seen Mexican-Americans fluent in Spanish (sometimes with a calcomonia or sticker on a piece of windshield from a wrecked car) argue with the officials at the border about canceling the permit. I always saw them leave without a resolution.
How to cancel your car permit, the hard way
If you cannot drive back to the Mexican border or the car was stolen or sold in the USA, I can supply you with a phone number to call Hacienda that has some English-speaking operators. There is a procedure to take care of a lost Mexican vehicle permit, but it takes time - about six months. I charge a miniscule amount for this service. If your peace of mind is not worth that much to you, please don't write me. I have gotten irate emails from gringos who didn't turn in their permits and act like it is my fault. It's not. Knowledge is my product.
Before you order, be aware that you may not like the answer, but I will give you the right answer. There are a lot of wrong answers on the Internet.
If you sold the car in Mexico, don't order the report as there is no way you will get your car permit canceled. You broke the law. If you had your car stolen for the insurance, ditto. If your car was legitimately stolen and you got a police report, there should be no problem canceling your car permit. In fact, your insurance company may have done it for you. But you won't know until you come back to the border and try to get a new permit, or order the report and ask the Hacienda officials about your record. It is up to you.
Please do not email me and ask for the information without paying. I have been abused by ungrateful gringos one time too many. Yeah, I used to help everyone without charge, but when people started taking their frustrations out on me, I quit. This information was hard to get and is a bargain at the price.