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Taking Pets Into Mexico
Purchase of real estate in Mexico by non-Mexicans
Marriage in Mexico
Taking Your Car Into Mexico
Taking Household Effects Into Mexico
Customs Regulations On Personal Effects And Importation Of Professional Equipemnt
Taking Pets Into Mexico
Travelers wishing to travel to Mexico with their dogs or cats must obtain beforehand the following documents:
1. A Health Certificate issued by an official authority or by a licensed veterinarian provided that his signature is approved by a State Veterinarian, and
2. Proof of vaccines against rabies and distemper, administered at least 15 days before the arrival of the pet in Mexico.
No consular certification is required.
Purchase of real estate in Mexico by non-Mexicans,
Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution bars foreigners from buying real estate in what is called the �restricted zone� (sixty one miles from the international border and thirty one miles from the seacoast). Outside this area, aliens can purchase real estate property but must agree before the Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretariat to be treated, for all intents and purposes, as Mexican nationals and abstain from invoking the protection of their country of origin with respect to that property. If the covenant is breached, all rights to such property will revert to Mexico.
For the purchase of land in Mexico , the following must be met:
- An application must be filed with the Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretariat (Secretar�a de Relaciones Exteriores, Direcci�n General de Asuntos Jur�dicos, Tlatelolco, D. F.) or any of its offices in the Mexican territory. The appropriate personnel will provide the official form {S1} and will help the applicant answer any questions on technical matters.
- Prove the applicant's immigration status (FM3 o FM2 ).
- File the application and attach to it a description of surface, measurements, landmarks and adjacencies of the land.
- Pay the corresponding duties.
I f the buyer is a company, it must prove it is legally incorporated.
Marriage in Mexico
Marriage in Mexico is locally (State) regulated. However, marriage requirements prevailing in the thirty-one States of Mexico are in general very similar to those of the Federal District (Mexico City):
1. Submit to the appropriate Oficina del Registro Civil (Civil Registry) valid passports, proper visae issued by a Mexican Consulate (these must be requested with at least 4 weeks in advance, as it is a lengthy procedure to obtain the respective authorization from the Instituto Nacional de Migraci�n); filled out applications; statements opting for either joint or separate marital property; a copy of birth certificates authenticated and translated into Spanish, plus a pre-marital health certificates from a physician in Mexico.
2. All documents from abroad, except for the valid passports, must be authenticated by the authority in the country where they were issued or be duly apostilled.
3. In Mexico religious marriage does not replace in any way civil marriage. Therefore, a religious ceremony can be organized by the bride and groom after civil marriage has been performed.
4. The marriages procedure can be followed at the premises of the Registro Civil without any charge. However, if performed somewhere else, a fee determined by the local Civil Registry must be paid.
5. Persons previously married must present proof of the termination of that marriage in the form of a divorce decree or a death certificate. If the divorce or death took place outside Mexico, it must be authenticated and translated as stated above. Divorcees can marry in Mexico one year after the termination of their previous marriage.
6. Persons under the age of eighteen cannot be married without the consent of both their parents or legal guardian. If the parents or guardian cannot be present at the marriage, they must grant a power of attorney to another individual to exercise the parental consent at the ceremony. This power of attorney must be authenticated and translated in accordance with the instructions given in paragraph 1. Under no circumstances can males under the age of sixteen, or females under the age of fourteen, be married in Mexico.
7. A certified copy of the marriage certificate (Acta de Matrimonio) prepared by the �Registro Civil� should be obtained from that office after the marriage has been performed. It is desirable to have the document authenticated and apostilled by the corresponding Mexican authority to make it valid abroad.
Temporary Importation of Motor Vehicles
American tourists planning to go to Mexico by car beyond the border zone ( 20 to 30 kilometers of the border with the United States) must previously get a tourist card from the Mexican consulate or Mexican Immigration at the border checkpoint. They must also obtain a temporary import permit for the vehicle. Proof of citizenship, car title (or pink slip) and registration must be produced, along with the driver�s license, to a Banj�rcito Bank at a Mexican Customs office. The fee to process the permit will be approximately $25.00 (remember that fees change every six months according to the respective law). A bond must be posted at Banj�rcito either in cash (US$200 to 400.00 depending on the model of the car) or by credit card, to ensure foreign made vehicles will be taken out of the country at permit expiration date. Visa, American Express, or Master Card are welcome by Banj�rcito. To check the car out of Mexico, tourists must return to exactly the same Customs office upon leaving the country; otherwise they run the risk of further credit card charges and/or they forfeit the bond posted.
If the vehicle is not paid off, please submit a notarized letter of authorization issued by the proprietor. If the car or van belongs to your employer, you will be required to produce an identification as his (her) employee. If the vehicle is rented, you should submit the rental contract with the respective authorization.
The traveler can take his or her luggage and additional items up to $50.00 per person or $250.00 for a family of five, never exceeding US$1,000.00 in total, when travelling by road. If you exceed that limit, make the necessary arrangements at the Mexican Customs Office.
For more information on how to bring a car into Mexico, please consult Tips for Travelers to Mexico, which appears on the Internet at http://travel.state.gov.
Applicants, under 18 years old, traveling by themselves, must present a notarized authorization, signed by both parents or legal guardians, granting their permission to get their tourist visa.
Taking Household Effects Into Mexico
Foreign retired residents, as well as immigrants, are entitled to take their household effects into Mexico. A list of such effects must be certified by the Mexican Consulate for Customs in Mexico. The requirements to be met are as follows:
- FM3 or FM2 issued in his name.
- A typed list of household effects, in Spanish, accompanied by four additional photocopies, listing all items to be imported. Brand, model and serial numbers must be stated when listing electrical appliances.
- Pay the consular fee (please see table of consular fees).
Once the household effects list has been visaed, all furniture and appliances must enter the country within the next six months as of the date of the issue of the immigration form. Household effects can be brought into Mexico duty free only once in a lifetime.
Customs Regulations On Personal Effects And Importation Of Professional Equipemnt
Travelers visiting Mexico are allowed to take into the country only those items included in their personal luggage made up of new or used personal clothes, shoes, hygiene products, in reasonable quantities according to their planned length of stay in Mexico.
If the personal effects and additional items exceed US$1,000.00 worth, import arrangements must be made at the port of entry, for the payment of foreign trade dues. Over the amount stated, it may be necessary to hire the services of a customs broker at the port of entry.
Air and sea travelers may bring additional items not exceeding the US$300.00 worth of goods -or its equivalent in other currencies per member of the family. By road they are only entitled to bring in a maximum of $50.00 worth per person of additional items besides the luggage.
Tourists traveling to Mexico are allowed to bring into the country medication for personal use, as long as they carry a physician�s prescription when it comes to psychotropics.
However, because of the strict nature of regulations governing temporary importation into or exportation from Mexico of products such as those, the patient should contact in advance, the Mexican Ministry of Health (Secretar�a de Salud) by visiting: http:www.salud.gob.mx.
Importing Equipment: People working with the media or the cinematographic industry going on business to Mexico can obtain a temporary permit to take their professional equipment by submitting the following information:
1.- Dates of arrival and departure from Mexico.
2.- Purpose of the trip.
3.- Place where the equipment will be used
4.- Names of the people traveling with the equipment.
5.- Detailed list of the equipment (brand, model and/or serial number).
Artists scheduled to perform in Mexico should present hire the services of a Customs broker and carry a letter with the aforementioned information.
All foreigners must have a previous work permit if they will receive fees or salaries from a Mexican source. It is the employer or the institution interested in the services of the non- Mexican, the one that should apply for the work permit to the Instituto Nacional de Migraci�n.
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